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	<title>Comments on: License Plate CHOICE Violates First Amendment?</title>
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	<link>http://www.stoptheaclu.com/2008/06/20/license-plate-choice-violates-first-amendment/</link>
	<description>Beating Them With Their Own Sickle And Hammer</description>
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		<title>By: TR</title>
		<link>http://www.stoptheaclu.com/2008/06/20/license-plate-choice-violates-first-amendment/comment-page-1/#comment-89300</link>
		<dc:creator>TR</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:18:32 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description>If all 9 justices actually concurred with this statement: &quot;In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect ‘a wall of separation between Church and State,&#039;&quot; they&#039;d all be dead wrong. 

There is too much too say here. I will say that the wording of the First Amendment only intended to prevent the establishment of a national denomination of Christianity. Religion or sect was a common word for denomination a the time and come up frequently when looking at the committee that authored the First Amendment. I&#039;ve written at length about this ,and the absurdity of tying the Fourteenth to the First. See &lt;a href=&quot;http://truthandreasonblog.wordpress.com/judicial-precedent/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. 

Suffice it to say for this particular post, no one is being forced to take the plate. A governmental vote on something having to do with Christianity is fully within the scope of the First Amendment.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If all 9 justices actually concurred with this statement: &#8220;In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect ‘a wall of separation between Church and State,&#8217;&#8221; they&#8217;d all be dead wrong. </p>
<p>There is too much too say here. I will say that the wording of the First Amendment only intended to prevent the establishment of a national denomination of Christianity. Religion or sect was a common word for denomination a the time and come up frequently when looking at the committee that authored the First Amendment. I&#8217;ve written at length about this ,and the absurdity of tying the Fourteenth to the First. See <a href="http://truthandreasonblog.wordpress.com/judicial-precedent/" rel="nofollow">here</a>. </p>
<p>Suffice it to say for this particular post, no one is being forced to take the plate. A governmental vote on something having to do with Christianity is fully within the scope of the First Amendment.</p>
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		<title>By: rich</title>
		<link>http://www.stoptheaclu.com/2008/06/20/license-plate-choice-violates-first-amendment/comment-page-1/#comment-89264</link>
		<dc:creator>rich</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:04:14 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description>I did let that go by, but you are missing the real point of that decision in 1947, as it applies to state religions. Although it was a 5 to 4 ruling in favor of allowing tax money to be spent in busing children to church run schools, all 9 justices agreed with:

&quot;The &#039;establishment of religion&#039; clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force nor influence a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion. No person can be punished for entertaining or professing religious beliefs or disbeliefs, for church attendance or non-attendance. No tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion. Neither a state nor the Federal Government can, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups and vice versa. In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect &#039;a wall of separation between Church and State.&#039;&quot; 330 U.S. 1, 15-16.

Unanimous concurrences from any Supreme Court is a rare bird, and the unanimity of this opinion is a culmination of the due process rulings beginning in the 1870&#039;s. The idea that an American citizen would, by simply moving to another State, lose rights and protections guaranteed by the Federal Constitution has been pretty well demolished over the last 140 years. There are disagreements over the details of how the 14th applies to the 1st, but no credible (that I have seen) arguments that it does not at all.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I did let that go by, but you are missing the real point of that decision in 1947, as it applies to state religions. Although it was a 5 to 4 ruling in favor of allowing tax money to be spent in busing children to church run schools, all 9 justices agreed with:</p>
<p>&#8220;The &#8216;establishment of religion&#8217; clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force nor influence a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion. No person can be punished for entertaining or professing religious beliefs or disbeliefs, for church attendance or non-attendance. No tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion. Neither a state nor the Federal Government can, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups and vice versa. In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect &#8216;a wall of separation between Church and State.&#8217;&#8221; 330 U.S. 1, 15-16.</p>
<p>Unanimous concurrences from any Supreme Court is a rare bird, and the unanimity of this opinion is a culmination of the due process rulings beginning in the 1870&#8217;s. The idea that an American citizen would, by simply moving to another State, lose rights and protections guaranteed by the Federal Constitution has been pretty well demolished over the last 140 years. There are disagreements over the details of how the 14th applies to the 1st, but no credible (that I have seen) arguments that it does not at all.</p>
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		<title>By: TR</title>
		<link>http://www.stoptheaclu.com/2008/06/20/license-plate-choice-violates-first-amendment/comment-page-1/#comment-89112</link>
		<dc:creator>TR</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Jun 2008 05:47:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stoptheaclu.com/?p=8858#comment-89112</guid>
		<description>Rich, the last paragraph of my post addresses your comment. States are free to establish any state religion they desire, under the Constitution.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Rich, the last paragraph of my post addresses your comment. States are free to establish any state religion they desire, under the Constitution.</p>
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		<title>By: Rich</title>
		<link>http://www.stoptheaclu.com/2008/06/20/license-plate-choice-violates-first-amendment/comment-page-1/#comment-89111</link>
		<dc:creator>Rich</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Jun 2008 05:45:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stoptheaclu.com/?p=8858#comment-89111</guid>
		<description>Not sure about the Alabama situation, but all the other specialty plates in SC were created and paid for by citizens (they have to put up $4000 or 400 orders), not voted in by the Legislature. The Government voting in a preferential treatment for a particular religious message does seem to involve the Establishment clause of the First Amendment. The court case will be interesting.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Not sure about the Alabama situation, but all the other specialty plates in SC were created and paid for by citizens (they have to put up $4000 or 400 orders), not voted in by the Legislature. The Government voting in a preferential treatment for a particular religious message does seem to involve the Establishment clause of the First Amendment. The court case will be interesting.</p>
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		<title>By: TR</title>
		<link>http://www.stoptheaclu.com/2008/06/20/license-plate-choice-violates-first-amendment/comment-page-1/#comment-88953</link>
		<dc:creator>TR</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:07:51 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description>That&#039;s correct, Is. If I&#039;m not mistaken, Alabama still offers the &quot;Stars Fell on Alabama&quot; plate free of charge. Thanks for recognizing that this voluntary plate (in both states) is not a violation of the First Amendment.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>That&#8217;s correct, Is. If I&#8217;m not mistaken, Alabama still offers the &#8220;Stars Fell on Alabama&#8221; plate free of charge. Thanks for recognizing that this voluntary plate (in both states) is not a violation of the First Amendment.</p>
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		<title>By: Is</title>
		<link>http://www.stoptheaclu.com/2008/06/20/license-plate-choice-violates-first-amendment/comment-page-1/#comment-88947</link>
		<dc:creator>Is</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:37:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stoptheaclu.com/?p=8858#comment-88947</guid>
		<description>We have a similar optional plate here in Alabama.  It says &quot;God Bless America&quot;.  I&#039;m not a Christian, so I don&#039;t have one on my car.  It doesn&#039;t violate my rights, so I just go about my business.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We have a similar optional plate here in Alabama.  It says &#8220;God Bless America&#8221;.  I&#8217;m not a Christian, so I don&#8217;t have one on my car.  It doesn&#8217;t violate my rights, so I just go about my business.</p>
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