Caboose Loc: South Carolina

Nearly a dozen leading law professors from Harvard, Stanford, George Mason, Notre Dame and other top institutions across America have endorsed the controversial legislation in Arizona that would strengthen the state’s religious-rights standards.



The bill, which is pending on Gov. Jan Brewer’s desk, would bring the state’s 1999 Religious Freedom Restoration Act into conformity with federal law.

But its critics have flooded the headlines with criticism about how it would violate civil rights, discriminate against homosexuals and prompt the return of “Jim Crow laws.”

NFL officials have hinted they may pull the 2015 Super Bowl out of the state if the religious rights protections are signed into law. USA Today claims supporters “have not pointed to any instance in which a business owner has been compelled to provide a service to someone who offends the business owner’s religious beliefs.”

But the law professors say the online chat, commentary postings and the like have gotten it all wrong.

“The bill has been egregiously misrepresented by many of its critics,” the professors said in a letter to Brewer. “We write because we believe that you should make your decision on the basis of accurate information.”

The professors, who describe themselves in the letter as Republican, Democrat, religious, not religious, supporters of same-sex marriage and opponents of same, note that nine of their number believe the bill should be signed while two were unsure.

“But all of us believe that many criticisms of the Arizona bill are deeply misleading,” they write.

The signers are Mary Ann Glendon of Harvard, Douglas Laycock of the University of Virginia Law School, Michael W. McConnell of Stanford, Helen M. Alvare of George Mason, Thomas C. Berg of the University of St. Thomas Law School in Minnesota, Carl H. Esbeck of the University of Missouri, Richard W. Garnett of Notre Dame, Christopher C. Lund of Wayne State, Mark S. Scarberry of Pepperdine, Gregory C. Sisk of the University of St. Thomas and Robin Fretwell Wilson of the University of Illinois.

The letter was compiled and released by the Alliance Defending Freedom.

It points out that the U.S. government and 18 states already have Religious Freedom Restoration Acts and another dozen states interpret their state constitutions to provide those protections.

“They say that before the government can burden a person’s religious exercise, the government has to show a compelling justification,” the letter explains. “That standard makes sense. We should not punish people for practicing their religions unless we have a very good reason.”

Arizona’s law is 15 years old, the national law is more than 20 and “there have been relatively few cases.”

“If you knew little about the Arizona RFRA until the current controversy, that is because it has had no disruptive effect in Arizona,” they tell Brewer.

The current legislation, SB 1062, would provide that people are covered when their state or local government requires them to violate their religion in the conduct of their business. It would also cover anyone who is sued by a private citizen invoking state or local law to demand they violate their religion, the letter explains.

“But nothing in the amendment would say who wins in either of these cases. The person invoking RFRA would still have to prove that he had a sincere religious belief and that state or local government was imposing a substantial burden. … And the government, or the person … could still show that compliance with the law was necessary to serve a compelling government interest,” the professors wrote.

“Arizona’s RFRA, like all RFRAs, leaves resolution of these issues to the courts. … First, it is impossible for legislatures to foresee all the potential conflicts between the diverse religious practices of the many faiths practiced in Arizona … and when passions are aroused on all sides, as they have been in this case, it becomes extraordinarily difficult for legislatures to make principled decisions about whether to make exceptions for unpopular religious practices.”

They continued: “So to be clear: SB1062 does not say that businesses can discriminate for religious reasons. It says that business people can assert a claim or defense under RFRA, in any kind of case … that they have the burden of proving a substantial burden on a sincere religious practice, that the government or the person suing them as the burden of proof of compelling government interest, and that the state courts in Arizona make the final decision.”

The professors tell Brewer: “Wh**ever judgment you pass on SB1062, you should not be misled by uninformed critics. … It resolves ambiguities that have been the subject of litigation elsewhere.”

Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Doug Napier said the government “has no business telling its citizens what they can’t say or what they must say, and it must be prevented from punishing its citizens for their ideas and beliefs as has occurred to people in other states.”

“That’s all SB 1062 is about,” he said.

“As these legal scholars rightly point out, the misrepresentations about the bill have been egregious,” Napier said. “It has nothing to with refusing someone a sandwich. It has everything to do with making Arizona a safe place for people to freely live out their faith. The falsehoods need to be exposed for what they are.”


Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/02/gays-twisting-arizona-bill-say-top-law-profs/#oYBU1fEdHsqABsXp.99

Ronald Hatt Loc: Lansing, Mich

It's obvious, that in America.....{ & other countries }......There are 2 types of humans. Hetrosexuals, & homosexuals! Let's provide a "state", for Homosexuals, & allow them to live intheri self appointed immoral, & evil lives!......{ wait a minute }........That has already been done.....Sodom & Gomorrah.......We all know how God dealt with that "society".........Maybe America, is on to something here......."another".....Sodom & Gomorrah.....San Fran Cisco! Let all Hetrosexuals, leave this Nasty Pelosi stronghold, & allow the "Q***rs" to breed themselves out of existance!.....{problem "gone"}.......& with it....."aids" would be gone also!....{ except for the needle users, & that wouldn't take long either!}......... :shock: :arrow: :roll: :arrow: :lol: :arrow: :hunf: :arrow: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

For years, ever since the 60's and the beginning of the serious activism on the part of L***Qs there have been claims that "there is no Gay agenda" it is a figment of our imagination. Once again it has been proven to be a lie. Just like there is no c*******t agenda even though the country is being slowly manipulated in that direction, the "No Gay Agenda" is working by means of fraud and deceit to change the entire format of our country.

Ronald Hatt Loc: Lansing, Mich

To say nothing of the Moral decay, of the Obama administration, & absence of: integrity, personal responsibility, decency, common sense, Patriotism........{ just to name a few }....................... :thumbup:

The American "Gay Agenda", is "SOOOOO" prevalent American on television, in Hollywood, in politics.....{ Bawney Fwank }.....et al

Gimme a break.......no agenda......? { look at the emperor's new cloths! }........................ :hunf:

PoppaGringo Loc: Muslim City, Mexifornia, B.R.

The 'Gay Agenda' is better known as the 'Gaystapo'.

boatbob2

the gay agenda lives in our white house !!!!

Ronald Hatt Loc: Lansing, Mich

{ & the world is in mourning }

Neal

Well Caboose, yer at the end of the line again. I've lost track of how many times now I've urged folks to investigate the reliability of their data sources before quoting them. When you use an i***t source like WND Caboose, it makes you look like an i***t too.

Ronald Hatt Loc: Lansing, Mich

Where does one get "reliability of Data"? Certainly "NOT" from the "Al Franken institute of Liberal Idiocy".......OR, the memoires of John Kerry's "Military genious, & purple heart stories"!

Try the "swift boat" Veterans accounting of John Kerry's military service! { there's "real" accuracy in History }.....DON'T rely on any information from "Slick Perverted Willie", or "K**lery"..........{ none there } Or, simply rely on the integrity in reporting, from Fox News.....The Drudge Report.......Most "any" Conservative publication, or "air" media coverage.......Want T***h?....{ DO THAT }............. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Neal

RELY - ON FOX NEWS :!: :roll: :roll: Ron, either your cognitive capabilities have been seriously c*********d, or you've become another of the many brainless stooges addicted to rightest propaganda.

Ronald Hatt Loc: Lansing, Mich

GET "REAL NEAL"!.....................


I guess I'm included in many "millions" of viewers, & they have bee at the "top", for "many" years! If only "you" would wise up, & seek "t***h" instead of the Libturd propaganda of deceit, & ignorance, your "somewhat" grasp of the English language would not be in vain!

C'mon......You are incarcerated intellectually, & have not the ability to seek a venue that would "feed", your intellect, instead of drain it of it's very essence ......... free your mind of C*******tic, & socialistic/progressive repression.....Join the ranks of the free thinking peoples, you once "learned about"!....................... :shock: :arrow: :mrgreen: :arrow: :roll: :arrow: :lol: :arrow: :hunf: ....... :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :shock: :arrow: :?:

Neal

Oooo, Ron - I guess the t***h really does hurt . . .