Topic: first amendment

Clarksville activists ask court to dismiss “frivolous” lawsuit

March 5, 2009 |

CPRC member Joyce Vandemeer with the controversial ad

CPRC, Institute for Justice: Thin-skinned politician and developers filed lawsuit to stifle debate over eminent domain

ARLINGTON VA: It is time to throw out the frivolous lawsuit meant to silence the free speech of those who oppose eminent domain abuse.

That is the message members of the Clarksville Property Rights Coalition,  grassroots group formed to fight the abuse of eminent domain in their community, delivered at 8 a.m. today through their attorneys from the Institute for Justice.  A hearing on the coalition’s motion to dismiss the case will be held at the Circuit Court for the 18th Judicial District, 105 Public Square, Sumner County Courthouse in Gallatin, Tenn., in the second-floor courtroom before the Honorable C.L. “Buck” Rogers. «Read the rest of this article»

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Americans United urges Senate to reject ‘Compassion Capital’ funding in economic recovery package

January 29, 2009 |

‘Faith-Based’ funds were misused by Bush administration, Church-State watchdog group says

The U.S. Senate should not go along with a House plan that provides $100 million in “faith-based” funding as part of the federal economic recovery package, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

HR 1, the measure approved by the House yesterday, includes a $100 million appropriation for the “Compassion Capital” Fund (CCF), a key component of former President George W. Bush’s faith-based initiative.

Americans United officials say CCF money was allocated by the Bush White House without adequate oversight or civil rights and civil liberties safeguards. Administration officials also misused the fund to help political candidates and directed cash to their Religious Right allies. (TV preacher Pat Robertson’s Operation Blessing, for example, was given a grant.) «Read the rest of this article»

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AU: Litigate Ten Commandments suit on church/state issue, not free speech

November 13, 2008 |

Church-State watchdog group urges justices to require government neutrality toward religion

A Ten Commandments lawsuit to be heard this week by the U.S. Supreme Court inappropriately focuses on free-speech rights rather than church-state separation, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The justices will hear oral arguments Wednesday in Pleasant Grove City v. Summum.

The case tests whether Pleasant Grove City, Utah, can accept a Commandments monument for permanent display in a local park while turning down a monument showing the tenets of another faith. The Summum religion sued the local government after its display was rejected.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Summum had a free-speech right to display its monument next to the Commandments monument. «Read the rest of this article»

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Libel lawsuit against CPRC: It’s not over yet

By Christine Anne Piesyk | July 30, 2008 |

With the CPRC vindicated just last week, Montgomery Court now says it made “a mistake.” The libel suit against the Clarksville Property Rights Coalition has been resurrected, with motions, discovery on August 4.

Last week the Montgomery County Circuit Court dismissed a libel suit filed against the grassroots Clarksville Property Rights Coalition regarding downtown redevelopment, but late today the Court notified the Institute for Justice of Virginia, CPRC’s legal representatives, that the signing of the order was “a mistake,” that oral arguments and discovery in this case will in fact be heard on Monday, August 4.

The Institute for Justice has just been informed by the clerk’s office of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, that a mistake in that office led to the accidental signing of an order granting IJ’s motion to dismiss a libel lawsuit brought against members of the Clarksville Property Rights Coalition (CPRC). As a result, that order will be rescinded and Judge Ross Hicks will hear oral argument on IJ’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Monday, August 11. The court will also conduct a discovery hearing on Monday, August 4.

Joyce Vanderbilt, owner of Kelly's on Riverside Drive, displays the controversial ad that resulted in a libel suit against the CPRC.

The case, borne of a highly controversial ordinance passed by the Clarksville City Council in November, 2007, that “blighted” some two square miles of downtown Clarksville, culminated in a libel suit over a newspaper ad taking some city officials to task for their actions in supporting the ordinance that potentially opened the door for taking of properties by eminent domain and for private development. «Read the rest of this article»

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