January, 27 2010, 10:54am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
(202) 466-3234,Joe Conn,Rob Boston,Sandhya Bathija
Ohio Judge Has No Right to Push Religion in Courtroom, Says Americans United
Watchdog Group Says Judge’s Commandments Poster Is an Unconstitutional Endorsement of Religion
WASHINGTON
An Ohio judge should remove a poster displaying the Ten Commandments
from his courtroom, Americans United for Separation of Church and State
has told a federal appeals court.
Americans United has filed a friend-of-the-court brief
arguing that Richland County Common Pleas Judge James DeWeese's poster
is an unconstitutional governmental endorsement of religion. A lower
court has already held that this display shows "a preference for
Judeo-Christian faiths" and does not belong in a courtroom.
The poster, designed by DeWeese, features the Commandments alongside
"humanist precepts." Below the text is a statement that says DeWeese
believes in moral absolutes such as the Commandments rather than the
moral relativism of the Humanist Manifesto.
Although the poster references DeWeese's acknowledgment of "the
importance of Almighty God's fixed moral standards," he claims that his
display is not religious but merely an illustration of legal or
philosophical "theory."
"Who is Judge DeWeese kidding?" asked the Rev. Barry W. Lynn,
Americans United executive director. "It's obvious that he is using his
courtroom to advance his personal religious viewpoint. That's wrong,
and the appeals court should say so."
Lynn noted that the judge has been on something of a crusade against
church-state separation. Before erecting this particular poster,
DeWeese had already been ordered by another court to remove a Decalogue
display from his courtroom.
Americans United, joined by The Interfaith Alliance, the
Anti-Defamation League, the Hindu American Foundation and the Union for
Reform Judaism, filed the brief in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals.
The case against the judge's religious display was brought by the
American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio on behalf of its member, Bernard
Davis. Judge DeWeese is being represented by TV preacher Pat
Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice.
The AU brief asserts that DeWeese's "attempt to characterize his
religious display as legal or philosophical 'theory' is one in a long
line of efforts to dress religious doctrine in secular clothing."
AU reminds the court that this argument has failed in a similar case
before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2003, the court
demanded that Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore remove a
Ten Commandments monument outside the Alabama State Judicial Building.
Moore, who refused to take down the 2.5-ton monument, was soon removed
from the state supreme court.
The brief in ACLU of Ohio v. DeWeese, was drafted by AU
Legal Director Ayesha N. Khan and AU Madison Fellow Taryn Wilgus Null
with assistance from AU Senior Litigation Counsel Alex J. Luchenitser.
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
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Norfolk Southern CEO Refuses to Commit to Giving Workers 7 Paid Sick Days, Halting Stock Buybacks
Questioned at a Senate hearing on the East Palestine disaster, Alan Shaw also wouldn't agree to end "precision-scheduled railroading," a Wall Street-led profit-maximizing approach that critics say endangers communities nationwide.
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Thursday's U.S. Senate hearing about the ongoing environmental and public health disaster in East Palestine, Ohio "did not go well" for Norfolk Southern president and CEO Alan Shaw, the progressive media outlet More Perfect Union declared.
Shaw refused to commit to providing workers with seven days of paid sick leave, ceasing stock buybacks, and abandoning Wall Street-endorsed policies that critics say contribute to the 1,500-plus derailments seen each year in the U.S., including Norfolk Southern's toxic crash near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border last month as well as a derailment that happened in Alabama just before the multimillionaire executive testified.
In remarks prepared for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Shaw wrote, "I am deeply sorry for the impact this derailment has had on the people of East Palestine and surrounding communities, and I am determined to make it right."
But during the committee's hearing, Shaw refused to use the multiple opportunities he was given to publicly commit to enacting meaningful changes.
Noting that Norfolk Southern has recently rewarded wealthy investors with $10 billion in stock buybacks, Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont asked Shaw if he could "tell the American people and your employees right now that... you will guarantee at least seven paid sick days to the 15,000 workers you employ."
Sanders acknowledged that Norfolk Southern recently agreed to provide up to a week of paid sick leave per year to roughly 3,000 track maintenance workers. However, he asked Shaw, "Will you make that commitment right now to your entire workforce?"
"I will commit to continuing to discuss with them important quality-of-life issues," Shaw responded.
Sanders told Shaw he sounds "like a politician" and reiterated his question, but the executive repeated his dodge.
Sanders, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, then told Shaw that he looks forward to discussing the matter further, hinting at a potential request to testify before the panel he leads.
Later during the hearing, Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon asked Shaw, "Will you pledge today that you will do no more stock buybacks until a raft of safety measures have been completed to reduce the risk of derailments and crashes in the future?"
Once again, Shaw refused to give a straight answer, saying that he will commit to "continuing to invest in safety." Merkley repeated his question, to no avail.
More Perfect Union has calculated that payouts to Norfolk Southern's shareholders surged by more than 4,500% over the past 20 years, from $101 million in stock repurchases and dividend bumps in 2002 to $4.7 billion in 2022.
In response to Merkely's inquiry, Shaw claimed that thanks to his company's safety investments, "the number of derailments, hazardous material releases, and personal injuries has declined" over time.
Not helping Shaw's case, a Norfolk Southern train careened off the tracks in Calhoun County, Alabama around 6:45 am ET on Thursday, about three hours before the hearing began. The rail giant was also responsible for other derailments last month in addition to the highly visible one in East Palestine. Moreover, a Norfolk Southern conductor was killed in a collision in Ohio early Tuesday.
More Perfect Union shared data showing that Norfolk Southern's accident rate grew faster than the industry average over the past decade and accused the CEO of lying about his company's safety record.
According to Railroad Workers United and others, industry-led deregulation and Wall Street-backed policies such as "precision-scheduled railroading" (PSR) have made the U.S. rail system more dangerous.
During Thursday's hearing, Sanders brought up PSR, which forces fewer workers to manage longer trains in less time.
The profit-maximizing practice championed by Wall Street has enabled Norfolk Southern to rake in billions of dollars while reducing the size of its workforce by nearly 40% over a recent six-year period, said Sanders, but that has come at the expense of safety.
"Will you make a commitment right now to the American people that you will lead the industry in ending this disastrous precision-scheduled railroading?"
Despite Sanders' request for a "yes or no" answer, Shaw danced around the question, saying that he has increased hiring since becoming CEO last May.
Sanders characterized the recent uptick in hiring as an attempt to recover from a preceding round of mass layoffs and asked once again if Shaw "will lead the industry in doing away with" the PSR model that was "imposed" by profit-hungry Wall Street actors.
Shaw, however, refused to commit to such a change.
Thursday's hearing comes two days after the National Transportation Safety Board—which is already probing the causes of the East Palestine disaster—announced a "special investigation" into Norfolk Southern's "organization and safety culture."
It also comes less than a month after Shaw angered East Palestine residents by skipping a town hall where people expressed their concerns over the long-term consequences of air pollution and groundwater contamination stemming from the release and burnoff of carcinogenic chemicals, a move that was made to avoid a catastrophic explosion.
Following the hearing on Capitol Hill, Food & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter said in a statement that "Shaw's apology today rings hollow," coming as it did "after years spent pushing to roll back the very sorts of safety regulations that would have prevented an accident like this."
"If Norfolk Southern had real concern for the safety of the countless communities like East Palestine through which their trains run, they would be calling for more safety measures for the industry," said Hauter. "Instead they offer voluntary steps that can easily be undone, prioritizing profit margins over people."
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Ellen Sherratt, board president of the Teacher Salary Project, applauded the legislation and lawmakers who are"fighting for teacher salary levels that are professional."
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The president's budget proposes $842 billion for the Pentagon alone, including nearly $38 billion for widely criticized efforts to "modernize" the United States' massive nuclear arsenal.
Robert Weissman, the president of Public Citizen and a vocal critic of excessive military spending, said Thursday that Biden's request for an $886 billion budget is "madness."
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The president's military budget request is part of a sprawling $6.8 trillion framework that was largely praised by progressives for its proposed tax hikes on the rich and large corporations—revenue from which would be used to fund Biden's plan to bolster Medicare and increase spending on Medicaid, public housing, and childcare.
But with austerity-obsessed Republicans in control of the House, much of the president's budget is dead on arrival.
However, recent history shows Congress is almost certain to build on Biden's military spending request.
Last year, lawmakers agreed on a bipartisan basis to add $45 billion to the president's topline proposal, bringing total military spending to $858 billion for fiscal year 2023.
"The proposed Pentagon topline level makes no sense," Lisa Gilbert, Public Citizen's executive vice president, said of Biden's new budget request. "There is no excuse for our country's reckless overspending on the Pentagon, and the FY24 proposal continues this dangerous trajectory."
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While the White House claimed Biden's military budget would help the world confront "pressing global challenges," Sara Haghdoosti of Win Without War countered that "more F-35s aren't going to solve climate change or make sure families can afford basic supplies like eggs."
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