I wrote a diary a week ago about how Atheist Michael Newdow (of "Under God" fame) and several other atheists are suing government officials over the injection of religion into the presidential Inauguration.
Well, guess what, the Atheists will get their day in court, to speak out against prayer being used in the presidential inauguration at the U.S. District Court level.
A hearing has been granted on the Lawsuit to stop religion at Obama's Inauguration:
the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a hearing in Newdow v. Roberts. The hearing is scheduled for January 15, 2009.
There is already a conversation going on about the lawsuit at Hemant Mehta's blog, The Friendly Atheist.
More from the press release:
“If we prevail at the January 15 hearing, this inauguration will be secular, as it should be under the Constitution,” said Bob Ritter, staff attorney for the Appignani Humanist Legal Center of the American Humanist Association and co-counsel in the case.
…
In his order granting the hearing, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton gave the defendants until 5 p.m., January 7, 2009, to file any opposition to the plaintiffs’ motion. The hearing will take place January 15, 2009, at 2 p.m. in Courtroom 16 of the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse, 333 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001.
“From the very start, we were confident in the legal merits of this case,” declared Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association. “This is foundational litigation aimed at defending central principles enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.”
For more back story on the lawsuit, please review my original diary or go here.
The full text of the complaint, the motion for preliminary injunction, and the court order for the hearing are all available online at:
http://www.humanistlegalcenter.org/...
The original press release announcing the litigation is at:
http://www.americanhumanist.org/...
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What do you think?
The poll should read:
Do you think there’s any chance we’ll be seeing a secular ceremony?
(NOTE: The text looked fine in Preview mode, but threw up on me when I posted my diary. And, no, polls cannot be edited after being posted.)