Legal Activity

Current Activities

The AHLC's first solo litigation was filed on November 29, 2006, in the Florida Southern District Court. Attorney James Hurley, the AHLC lawyer serving as lead counsel, filed suit against the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections on behalf of Plaintiff Jerry Rabinowitz, whose polling place was a church in Delray Beach, Florida. The church featured numerous religious symbols, including signs exhorting people to "Make a Difference with God" and anti-abortion posters, that clearly demonstrate a violation of the Establishment Clause.

The case was bolstered by a recent study released by Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, which found that environmental cues in polling locations have a measurable and significant impact on electoral results.

The defendant won summary judgment on July 31, 2007, which means Rabinowitz v. Anderson will not go to trial. AHLC has decided not to appeal the adverse decision.

AHLC continues to believe that houses of worship are inappropriate places for voters to cast ballots. We anticipate filing suit in another Florida district on behalf of members who contact AHA to share their stories of voting in often extremely religious settings.

As churches are currently the most common polling location in America, this is an incredibly distressing fact to Humanists and other concerned with church-state separation. As the wall of separation seems to erode regularly and citizens are more and more frequently asked to vote on religiously tinged legislation, the effects of voting in a religious building cannot be ignored.

Complete Press Releases: http://www.humanistlegalcenter.org/cases/cp/cppressrelease.html.

Press Package: Complete Materials including Photos, Filing, and Summary Judgment.

Bloomfield, New Mexico

John Kistler, AHA member and Humanist activist, recently notified the AHLC that the Bloomfield, New Mexico City Council plans to install a Ten Commandments monument on public land using private money. This clearly violates the First Amendment, and it defies legal precedent prohibiting the erection of new Ten Commandment monuments on public land. The AHLC sent the Mayor and City Council two letters demanding that the monument be removed. At this time they have not responded to either of our requests, and the AHLC is in the process of determining the appropriate legal action.

Matt Junker, a high school junior in San Diego, has been attempting to start an atheist student group at his public school. The school district claims that the group’s name, Coalition of Heretical Radicals Implementing Scientific Truth, is misrepresented by the acronym C.H.R.I.S.T. Keeping in mind that this school already has a established group called C.I.A (Christians In Action), which also appears misrepresentative of the name since it has nothing to do with central intelligence, the AHLC has sent a letter to the school district. The school is still unwilling to work with Matt or us, and may be trying to postpone the decision until the next school year.

Texas "Under God"

While no action has been taken so far by the AHLC, we are watching the developments surrounding the law passed by both state houses which adds ‘under God’ to the state pledge. The bill is currently waiting for Gov. Perry’s signature. Action will involve a solicitation to AHA members in Texas to see if anyone has been or will be adversely affected by this law. Assuming an affirmative reply from Texas members, we will explore the potential of litigation against the State of Texas.

Recent Actions: Amicus Activity

The AHLC has already submitted two amicus letters, both in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Our first amicus letter was filed on behalf of AHLC founding attorney Mike Newdow in his case Newdow et al. v. Carey et al. In our letter, we argued that the Elk Grove Unified School District and the Rio Linda Unified School District requirements that schoolchildren recite the monotheistic Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. Our other amicus letter was on behalf of longtime AHA member Phil Paulson in Paulson et al. v. City of San Diego et al.; in it, we argued that the Mt. Soledad cross in the city of San Diego is an unconstitutional breach of the Establishment Clause and represents a clear preference for the monotheistic views of Christians.

Continued amicus activity will remain a benchmark of Appignani Humanist Legal Center, as it remains the most effective and efficient way, aside form direct litigation, to ensure that Humanist perspectives are heard in the courts.

Ongoing Projects: Coalition Activity

The AHLC is more broadly involved in progressive challenges to legislation through our coalition work, which it does on behalf of our parent organization, the American Humanist Association. Already the Appignani Humanist Legal Center has made a significant impact in the political arena, taking steps toward spreading the ideological perspectives of Humanists through activity in various local and national coalitions headquartered in Washington, D.C. While we are active in over twenty coalitions, recently we have been particularly involved in the Coalition Against Religious Discrimination, the Coalition Against Discrimination in the Constitution, Pledge Act, the National Coalition on Public Education, and the Washington Interfaith Committee on Human Rights.

In the past few months, the AHLC has focused its attention on proposed legislation concerning same-sex marriage, the federal courts' right to hear religious liberty cases, voting rights, civil rights, and symbolic speech. We have also sent numerous letters to Congress and urged our elected representatives to voice our concerns regarding these issues through Action Alerts.