The House Judicial Commitee is considering HR-2679 aka the Public Expression of Religion Act (PERA). If this bill becomes law it will effectively limit access to the courts in cases involving the Establishment Clause as it will strip plaintiffs of the right to seek attorney fees and costs in successful challenges.
Without this right officials will have no true obstacle to imposing their religious beliefs on the general public.
If this bill passes, the only penalty for violations of the Establishment Clause will be the court’s injunction to end that particular unconstitutional practice. Appointed and elected officials will simply modify their practices just enough to circumvent the court’s ruling, knowing that they will face no penalty for their actions and that eventually the plaintiff will be unable to afford to pursue additional cases through the court system. Clearly, the only purpose of PERA is to deny Americans access to the courts to protect their constitutional rights. Passing this type of legislation virtually guarantees that plaintiffs will be unable to afford to seek redress against unconstitutional government action. This would make the freedoms guaranteed in our Constitution worthless, which will encourage a tyranny of the majority and relegate the nonreligious to a state of second-class citizenship.
The Secular Coalition has a sample letter to get you started on urging the HJC to vote No on this bill. The members are:
- Bachus (R-AL)
- Berman (D-CA)
- Boucher (D-VA)
- Cannon (R-UT)
- Chabot (R-OH)
- Coble (R-NC)
- Conyers (D-MI)
- Delahunt (D-MA)
- Feeney (R-FL)
- Flake (R-AZ)
- Forbes (R-VA)
- Franks (R-AZ)
- Gallegly (R-CA)
- Gohmert (R-TX)
- Goodlatte (R-VA)
- Green (R-WI)
- Hostettler (R-IN)
- Hyde (R-IL)
- Inglis (R-SC)
- Issa (R-CA)
- Jackson Lee (D-TX)
- Jenkins (R-TN)
- Keller (R-FL)
- King (R-IA)
- Lofgren (D-CA)
- Lungren (R-CA)
- Meehan (D-MA)
- Nadler (D-NY)
- Pence (R-IN)
- Sanchez (D-CA)
- Sensenbrenner (R-WI)
- Schiff (D-CA)
- Scott (D-VA)
- Smith (R-TX)
- Van Hollen (D-MD)
- Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
- Waters (D-CA)
- Watt (D-NC)
- Weiner (D-NY)
- Wexler (D-FL).
You can look up your representative here.
