Press Releases

U.S. District Court Allows Voting in Churches

Contact: Michael Friedman, legal coordinator
(202) 238-9088 or (912) 399-6451 mfriedman@americanhumanist.org
Fred Edwords, communications director
(202) 238-9088 fedwords@americanhumanist.org

(Washington, DC, July 31, 2007) Summary judgment was lost today in Rabinowitz v. Anderson, the case launched by the Appignani Humanist Legal Center (AHLC) in its constitutional test of voting in churches. The case was filed November 29, 2006, in response to a specific abuse during the recent midterm elections.

U.S. District Judge Donald L. Middlebrooks disagreed with the AHLC's overwhelming evidence that the pervasive use of churches as polling stations violates the constitutional principle of government neutrality on religion. But the stakes in this case were unusually high. A decision favorable to the AHLC could have set the wheels in motion to outlaw the use of churches as polling places across the nation, resulting in the reassignment of polling places from coast to coast. The judge didn't appear up to making that bold move.

Judge Middlebrooks wrote, "This is not a case where a governmental actor actively placed a religious icon or message at a voting location, or on another piece of government property." He also said, "Voting in a secular election, even in the presence of religious objects, is not equivalent to state-sponsored prayer at a public school graduation." For the complete decision, go here.

"We're saddened by this decision," said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association (AHA), "but the struggle isn't over. We haven't ruled out an appeal in this case and will relaunch this case in another jurisdiction, challenging a similar abuse. We have members all over the United States who have answered our call to report these abuses or be plaintiffs."

Churches are the most common polling locations in America. This means that, during the process of voting, many citizens are surrounded on all sides by religious symbolism and, sometimes, politicized religious propaganda. This not only creates a religiously charged and politically biased atmosphere, but it also serves to promote the specific church hosting the polls.

Rabinowitz v. Anderson highlighted this flagrant disregard of church-state separation. The polling place of plaintiff Jerry Rabinowitz was at Emmanuel Catholic Church in Delray Beach, Florida. Even before entering the voting area he had to walk past a church-sponsored "pro-life" banner framed by multiple crosses. Then, inside, where he checked in and where he voted, Rabinowitz faced prominent religious symbols and slogans.

"Such a religiously-charged environment can serve to intimidate or unduly influence a person's vote," added AHA president and constitutional law professor Mel Lipman. "Recent studies reveal that environmental cues have a measurable effect on electoral results. Therefore, the government must provide a neutral setting for voters, free from religious or other influences. Sadly, due to Judge Middlebrooks' decision, many barriers still stand in the way of guaranteeing this kind of atmosphere on voting day for all Americans."

The AHLC will continue to oppose the constant encroachments made on church-state separation by the Religious Right under the administration of George W. Bush. "Despite this setback, we will continue to send a clear message to politicians at every level that violations of religious liberty and church-state separation simply can't be tolerated," said Lipman. "We the people value our religious and voting freedoms and will remain vigilant so these freedoms are respected."

The Appignani Humanist Legal Center is part of the American Humanist Association. Consisting of over two dozen humanist lawyers and backed by humanists from coast to coast, it is the first nontheistic legal center in the nation's capital.

"Church Polling Place is Unconstitutional" Says Suit Launching Nontheist Legal Center
Suit Filed in Florida; More States to Follow

December 7, 2006

Contact: Fred Edwords, (202) 238-9088
fedwords@americanhumanist.org - www.americanhumanist.org

(Washington, DC, December 7, 2006) Interest has grown steadily since the American Humanist Association (AHA) launched the first nontheistic legal center in the nation's capital, the Appignani Humanist Legal Center (AHLC), by filing what has become a controversial church-state separation case. The litigation emerged as a result of practices during the recent midterm elections as monitored by thousands of AHA members nationwide.

Churches are the most common polling locations in America. Some churches cover their religious symbols at this time out of respect for the principle of government neutrality on religion. But not all do so. Humanists decided it was time to learn to what extent religious proselytizing took place at the polls. "We put out a call to our members whose polling places were churches, asking them to report what they saw," said AHA President Mel Lipman, speaking at a Washington DC press conference on November 29. "The response was shocking."

"An Illinois member voted in a church that displayed a four-foot wooden crucifix right above the election judges," said AHLC attorney James Hurley at the same press conference. "Another member in California was confronted with a large marble plaque dedicated to the 'unborn children' who are 'killed' by abortion and containing a quote from the Bible justifying the notion that the soul is alive in the womb. And a New York member voted in a room featuring large religious slogans on the wall behind the voting machines."

Hurley, along with attorney Barry Silver of Boca Raton, Florida, has taken one of the most egregious and well-documented cases, that of plaintiff Jerry Rabinowitz who was assigned to vote at Emmanuel Catholic Church in Delray Beach, Florida. The case, Rabinowitz v. Anderson, filed November 29, alleges that, to enter the polling place, Rabinowitz was forced to walk past a church-sponsored "pro-life" banner framed by multiple giant crosses before even entering the church to cast his vote. Then, in the voting area itself, he observed many religious symbols in plain view, both surrounding the election judges and in direct line above the voting machines. He took photographs (right) that will be entered in evidence.

The Appignani Humanist Legal Center consists of over two dozen humanist lawyers from around the country, backed by thousands of humanists from coast to coast, who seek to have humanist values represented in the legal arena. This launch is in direct response to recent influence exerted by the religious right under the Bush administration to damage Thomas Jefferson's wall of church-state separation.

"George W. Bush has been busy appointing conservative Christian judges who don't support the separation of church and state," said AHA Executive Director Roy Speckhardt at the press conference. "And year after year we're seeing government intruding further and further into the religious sphere."

"The Appignani Humanist Legal Center will work to make sure that the First Amendment to our Constitution is honored," Lipman added. "More than that, though, the Center will pick cases that highlight our cause to the broader public. By working on these and drawing attention to injustices, the Appignani Humanist Legal Center will educate Americans on the importance of religious liberty and the plight of humanists in the United States."

The full text of all statements made at last week's press conference, as well as photographs to be entered as evidence, are online at: http://www.humanistlegalcenter.org/cases/cp/churchpolling.html