Judge Jesus orders school board to pay $200,000 to FFRF

[Shrunk]

A federal judge by the perfect name of Jesus Bernal ruled last week that the Chino Valley School District must pay more than $200,000 in legal fees to the Freedom From Religion Foundation after losing a lawsuit over the board’s constant Christian proselytization during official meetings....

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatches ... s-to-ffrf/

[Matt_B]

Now there's one Jesus I can believe in.

[tuco]

Jesus does not order anyone less so to pay something ;)

In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4, including the late Antonin Scalia, that local officials may open public meetings with prayers — even explicitly Christian ones — so long as the government agency does not discriminate against minority faiths when choosing who may offer a prayer and the prayer does not coerce participation from nonbelievers.

wow

It isn’t even clear to me that this was primarily about opening prayers, though those likely did violate the ruling in Greece v Galloway in and of themselves. But this board went way beyond that. Board members were constantly invoking God, pulling out their bibles and reading from them, telling people that they would go to hell if they didn’t believe. This was way beyond just opening invocations.

not sure if wow or lol

What is unclear is whether this order applies to the board, and thus the school district, or just those specific board members personally. The article linked above makes it sound like they have to pay that personally, but that would be highly unusual. Ordinarily they would have qualified immunity as elected officials.

there is no immunity from Jesus.

[Blackadder]

Good. Hopefully the god-bothering bastards will have to pay it from their own pockets and not with taxpayers' money. Fuck them upside down and sideways.

[Shrunk]

It's remarkable how many of these cases keep coming up, despite the fact that they keep losing and having to make big payouts. I guess that's how faith works.

[tuco]

That is relative, how many. How many? I do not honestly know.

[Shrunk]

That is relative, how many. How many? I do not honestly know.

Lots, I tell you! Zillions, at least.

[tuco]

We do not get any over here, not even in news, I get my info from here. Hence my curiosity about the magnitude. Not sure about the how faith works remark tho. For example environmental activists, who feel strongly, also get punished yet keep fighting for their cause.

[Rachel Bronwyn]

Praise Jesus.

[DougC]

Praise Jesus.

Hallelujah.

[THWOTH]

Amen.

[tuco]

This is not opening of public meeting .. ;)

[truelgbt]

Based on the last name (Bernal), this is not "Jesus" but a 'hay-soos'. Spelled the same though, lol.