Pryor

[9215]

Got this e-mail this morning:

URGENT ACTION ALERT!

THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE IS EXPECTED TO VOTE THIS WEEK ON THE NOMINATION OF BILL PRYOR

CALL your Senators ASAP and urge them to REJECT
the Judicial Nomination of BILL PRYOR

Capitol switchboard: 1-800-648-3516

Send a fax or e-mail to your Representative

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the nomination of religious right activist Bill Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals - a court one level down from the U.S. Supreme Court. Pryor has mounted a divisive political and judicial agenda in which he has consistently and vigorously employed the force of government to advocate Christianity as the official religion of this country. His positions reflect his utter disregard for religious pluralism in this country and his willingness to ignore longstanding constitutional precedents in an effort to accomplish his aims. These characteristics render him wholly unfit for a position in which the most important qualifying factors are an ability to be fair and impartial and a willingness to faithfully apply the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court.

BACKGROUND:

Pryor, first and foremost a politician, had been out of law school for barely a decade when he was appointed Alabama attorney general by then Gov. Fob James. On the campaign trail and as attorney general, Pryor has "vigorously championed the causes of the religious and political right, at times even disparaging sitting Supreme Court justices," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in a May 25, 2003, article about Pryor's nomination to the 11th Circuit. Pryor's provocative rhetoric served him well with voters in Alabama; he won election in 1998 with the help of Karl Rove, now President George W. Bush's political consultant. Pryor was re-elected easily in 2002.

Pryor argues that Christianity is an integral part of the American constitutional order. In a 1997 speech at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile, Ala., he said, "The American experiment is not a theocracy and does not establish an official religion, but the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States are rooted in a Christian perspective of the nature of government and the nature of man. The challenge of the next millennium will be to preserve the American experiment by restoring its Christian perspective." (see speech) In that same address, Pryor blasted high court decisions upholding church-state separation, women's reproductive rights and civil rights protections for gay men and lesbians and blamed the justices of the high court for a two-pronged "crisis": "the increasing secularization of our country" and "the erosion of self-government."

Pryor has been a strong defender of Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who is best known for his crusade to display the Ten Commandments in courtrooms and other court buildings. That relationship has continued since Moore's days as an Etowah County judge. Moore gained notoriety for opening his court sessions with clergy-led Christian prayers and display of a Ten Commandments plaque above his bench, visible to the jury box. The ACLU, representing Etowah county citizens, sued Moore in federal court arguing that his official sponsorship of sectarian prayers and his placement of the Ten Commandments in his courtroom violated the separation of church and state. Pryor, along with then Gov. Fob James, came to Moore's defense.

Pryor's nomination is not opposed because of his personal religious beliefs or his conservative views in general. It is his strident advocacy for a merger between religion and government and his lack of respect for judicial precedent that convince us that Pryor will not be able to mute his ideological agenda while serving on the federal bench.

PLEASE CALL OR FAX TODAY

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Beth Corbin
National Grassroots Organizer

Americans United
for Separation of Church and State
518 C Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002 202-466-3234 telephone
202-466-2587 fax
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

[Name removed]

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