On Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008, the day after the nation honors our military veterans who have served and fought in peace and war, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case which threatens thousands of veterans memorials across the country.
More than 4 million veterans are asking The Supreme Court to reverse the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Pleasant Grove City et al. v. Summum (No. 07-665), which assaults all privately donated public monuments. The veterans groups, in a historic coalition, including The American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (“VFW”), the world’s two largest veteran service organizations, along with a number of other leading veterans groups, filed an amicus brief in June specifically defending veterans memorials.
“If the U.S. Supreme Court fails to reverse the 10th Circuit, any city in the nation with a memorial honoring veterans would also have to allow a monument dishonoring them,” said Kelly Shackelford, Esq., chief counsel for Liberty Legal Institute, the Texas-based legal organization representing the veterans groups. “If this law stands, we would be constitutionally required to accept and erect a bust of Ho Chi Minh on the National mall along with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.”
Pleasant Grove City et al. v. Summum arose when the religious group Summum sued the City of Pleasant Grove, Utah, for refusing to erect a monument bearing the seven aphorisms of the group in a public park which also displayed a Ten Commandments monument. Summum argued that the city violated its First Amendment freedoms, and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, ruling that the presence of any donated monument creates a public forum that then requires the acceptance of any other permanent monument.
“Our veterans memorials serve as unchanging reminders of who we are as a nation and where we have been,” said Dave Rehbein, National Commander of The American Legion. “They force us to remember that our security and prosperity has been won at a great price. I hope the Supreme Court acts to secure and protect these memorials that honor our veterans, past and present, and the tremendous service they have given this nation.”
Amici include The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, The Military Order of the Purple Heart, The Non-Commissioned Officers Association of the USA, Veterans of the Vietnam War & The Veterans Coalition, and American Ex-Prisoners of War.
For more information, visit our website at www.saveourmemorials.org.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Veterans Groups Ask U.S Supreme Court to Save Memorials, Hearing Set Day After Veterans Day
Posted by Liberty Legal at 10:04 AM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
19 comments:
Leave Veteran Memorials alone!We did our Time.We fought for the freedom of this country, and the ones who did not serve, as all the Fallen Brothers of previous wars have done.To (NOT) SAVE THE VETERANS MEMORIALS IS THE HEIGHT OF DISRESPECT!IT STINKS OUT LOUD! AND WE will contintue to fight for our Rights, after all we earned these memorials and respect!! God Bless all Our Veterans!
Write this down in *Your Black Book*
It took 25 years to even get help for our Viet Nam Vets>Now you want to dis honor us more(by (NOT) saving our memorials!> I think Not
Everyone living here in this great country has relatives who fought for our lands freedom.
Lets not insult our Great Veterans anymore.
God Bless all our Brave Veterans
We have reached the low watermark as a civilization. That seems to be where some have chosen to bury their heads in the sand. I speak to the Legislative branches of our government, the judicial and the legislative, but moreover I speak to the American people. 'Freedom of religion' does not require the 'State" to deny the free expression of religion; quite the opposite. It REQUIRES the government to STAND MUTE, that is, to say NOTHING at all.
If the symbols of one religion are force to be torn down, then all religions are open to that same destructive force. Take your stand to stand together with all peoples of faith. Join our fight!
welcome to Obama's America,I am a Vet,I served in the Navy,I served during peace time,the end of the Reagan Era.I still respect those that are serving,I respect my grandfather who served and died shortly after ww2.To remove this simple cross would show every soldier that serving in our military that it is a forced decision and not one of free choice,it shows if you serve and possibly not come home oh well.This needs too stop,if you want to see what a country with no respect to the military or laws look south of our borders.
I served my country went to Vetnam i think it is a shame that some ideot from Orgeon just might be driving past it and be offinded i say to d--- bad look the other way or stay home leave our memorals alone
If that cross goes, do we clear the cemetary in D.C.? What a ridiculous lawsuit.
If you want to put the blame on the right person for not only this outrage, but for all the others, just look in the mirror. That's right, we have allowed these Godless people to walk roughshod over us for years and haven't said a word. Oh yes, we've complained and groaned to each other but that's all. We don't vote then marvel that someone like Obama can get elected. We don't write or call our official representatives and then gripe when they don't vote the way we would like. Wake up! If we keep doing what we're doing, we're going to keep on getting what we're getting. I for one, am sick and tired of it. Start writing and voting and being vocal about what we believe. It's time the "silent majority" stops being silent!
I served as a Combat Medic in Viet Nam. I will never forget the sacrifices that my fellow GI's made and then abandoned by those we thought we were fighting for. It ripped out a piece of my heart that will never grow back. Our fallen warriors deserve to be remembered,respected, and honored, not deistained and forgotten. PLEASE don't let these memorials be taken away from us and the country, but preserved for all who come after to remember the sacrifices made.
To the Anti-Christian Lunatic Union, aka American Communist Liars Union,aka ACLU, let me remind you of Captain John Paul Jones saying: "I Have NOT yet begun to fight!"
And,fight this Vietnam era Navy veteran will, with every breath, every muscle left in this 68 year old body. I assure you, if it comes to this, I will tear off the Plywood covering Our Veterans Memorial cross, piece by piece, bit by bit.
If God is with us, who can be against us?
As the daughter of a Vet, we need to stop screwing over our Veterans. What is next, the crosses in Arlington? They have fought for our country and our freedom. The respect they have earned and deserve is long over due. Thank You for everything you have done for us.
Amazing! The government can send us to fight to protect the rights and freedoms of this country, but they will not stand up for those who die in the process, or for those who feel that the fallen deserve respect and recognition for their sacrifice, yet they will allow this to go before the Supreme Court to be debated. Tell me, when did honor become negotiable?
It would be a disgrace to all VETS, and to our Country, if this simple Memorial does not stand.
Do we still live in the FREE USA?
Why should one person be allowed to decide that we dishonor our VETS?
GOD BLESS AND KEEP ALL VETERANS AS WELL AS THOSE WHO COME AFTER THEM. They've kept our Country free at a great expense to themselves and their families.
Please, everyone, wake up. This is not the doing of the Obama administration. The process to disgrace this memorial started before Obama was in office.
That said, I completely agree that it would be a travesty to tear this or any other memorial down. Whether it is one white cross in the desert, or in Arlington (yes, Robert F Kennedy has a grave marked by a single white cross) - we should respect these symbols as memorials to those that they stand for, and protect them as we would any national monument.
The separation of church and state does not mean that we are all athiests. I liken someone reacting to this monument as being "offensive" is like my kids saying "(s)he's touching me!" Children behave. Adults, too.
I say to those, no matter how immature this present itself, if you don't like it pack your things and move to a country where this isn't an issue. Oh I know, my son just returned from Iraq, I don't think they have crosses in the dessert, however, thanks to our young men and women they are living a better life. Maybe the ACLU could enjoy Iraq as well the idiot who filled this ridiculous charge. I am getting damned tired of the many being trampled by the few using the big mouth ACLU as their weapon of choice.
This cross has and should continue to serve as a reminder when you pass it to give thanks for our freedom and those who gave much or all for that freedom.
God Bless America and all those who have honorably served her.
Nannie of 3 cuties
USAF - Ret
It seems to me that in New Orleans many of our memorials have been destroyed from natural disasters.
This is one that has not been touched other than by human hands, has stood over 60 years, before it became federal land. If this part of the park would be considered “Grandfathered” it should be given the right to stand freely, “especially since it memorializes the men who fought for our freedom”.
This at least would seem to fall into Historical Site category. http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21381
And rightly should be since it meets the criteria of the State of California, which states…buildings, structures, sites, or places that have been determined to have statewide historical significance and meets at least on of the stated criteria. (it probably meets all 3)
If it is run by the National Park Service now, it should have the right to be preserved, given the fact that there are other religious sites within NPS already existing.
If these applications have been applied for, there may be time and the Supreme Court would not have to rule.
Much less of a point, since one man seems to have a problem and the ACLU’s anti-Christian sentiments are able to snowball over monetarily backed protestors against a moral majority, it seems more like Shakespeare’s quote “there’s something rotten in the State of Denmark” is true. (In 16th century, Denmark was overwhelmed with taxes, Religious factions fighting and as well as expansion of lands, in-which Denmark lost much…hmmm…sounds familiar)
It is time to put the ACLU in their place, a dark cold cell like many veterans had to live in when they were POW's. I spent 20 years in the Navy and I will not quietly sit by and let anyone tear down a veteran's memorial. I give thanks to all veterans who have served, are serving and those who are yet to serve! To the families of those who paid the supreme sacrifice, my prayers, heart and condolences go out to you!
I also am a veteran of the Regan Era and support that we need to keep up the fight, I still respect those that came before me and those after me, including my Grandfather whom was in WW2, and my relatives that fought prior to him, as well as numerous Uncles and Cousins. Today this cross, tomorrow the crosses in our National Cemetaries, Then what, The Washington Monument, or Lincoln Monument, Montecello, Reflection Pond, Where will it end? Is our country tring to remove all signs of our past in order to re-write it their way? It is truely a shame that our past is FOR SALE, in exchange for VOTES!
Msgt USAF (Retired) If we tear down this single white cross we might as well find the nearest whole in the ground and put our constitution in it and buried it with the bible. Because we do not desive to live in this great land. My heart hurts to hear this kind things may even be concided, even with the right of free speech, which I spent 24 years of my life to defend this very same right this person has to hate this symble. I do not belive that we even would concider taking it down, it or even take it to the highest court in the land, which may I remind you has already shot down our Plege of Allegiance because it had the word "GOD" in it. All Veterans must stand up and take a United Stand against this as we did in WW1,WW2,Korea,and Nam, we can not lose this fight. Our heros are at risk.
I am not a Christian, or even religious for that matter. But I am a Veteran. I did two tours in Iraq in the Marine Corps. I am a patriot. To take down this memorial is to spit on the flag of the United States of America that millions have bled and died for. Is it possible to charge the ACLU with treason! Im outraged!
Post a Comment