The ACLU: A Destructive Battering Ram

George C. Landrith

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is at it again -- attacking the constitutional rights of individuals to enjoy free speech, practice their religion, and peaceably assemble. At issue is whether a football coach should be allowed to bow his head while his players offer a student-initiated and student-led prayer. For some reason, the ACLU believes that government has an obligation to stop people from praying and to stop them from exercising their religious faith. But, as usual, the ACLU is dead wrong!

The First Amendment to the Constitution provides that government “shall make no law ... prohibiting the free exercise” of religion “or abridging the right of speech ... or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.” While it is true that government cannot impose religion on people or force them to pray, it is equally true that government cannot prohibit religious beliefs or ban prayer. The fact that the football coach is employed by the government doesn’t change the fact that he has constitutionally protected rights. He doesn’t lose his constitutional rights simply because he works for the government.

These constitutional rights are clearly and unambiguously laid out in the First Amendment. While I have taught constitutional law for many years, this issue is not complicated or difficult. The First Amendment speaks plainly and clearly -- government cannot prohibit the free exercise of religion and government may not prohibit speech based on its content and government may not prevent people from meeting together (assembling) as long as their purpose is peaceful. If a student wants to pray, a student may pray. The Constitution guarantees that right. And the Supreme Court has consistently upheld the right of students to pray, provided it is truly their choice to do so.

So now, we have a high school football coach named Marcus Borden in New Jersey being hauled into court because when his players choose to pray, he bows his head. The students voluntarily pray and he voluntarily bows his head. One federal district court has already ruled in the coach’s favor -- as it should have. But that is not good enough for the ACLU, so they dragged everybody back to court to argue about it some more. The ACLU thinks that big government needs to step in and use its vast power to coercively stop this terrible injustice from happening. The ACLU said that the coach’s silent show of respect by bowing his head fosters a “destructive environment.”

The ACLU should not be talking about fostering a destructive environment. They are the one’s who attack the Boy Scouts of America, and who attack the mere mention of the word “Christmas.” Let’s place the coach and the ACLU on a scale and ask this rather simple question: Who is fostering a destructive environment? An organization that spends millions of taxpayer dollars attacking the Boy Scouts of America or defending the rights of pedophiles to hang out near playgrounds and schools? Or a coach who merely stands quietly and bows his head while others around him choose to pray?

This is a pretty simple question -- with an obvious answer. The ACLU is a destructive battering ram that is tearing away at our nation’s societal fabric. They tear down, but they do not build up. They attack, but do not work toward building a better America. The football coach in this case is simply a polite man who wants to show his players respect. But to the ACLU, this coach and the Boy Scouts and Christmas represent everything that is wrong with America. I respectively disagree.

I suspect that the vast majority of Americans agree with me. The Boy Scouts and coach Borden represent an awful lot of what is good about America. America would be better off if we had more Eagle Scouts and more coach Bordens and more days of the year where the Christmas spirit prevailed. And America would be a better place if the ACLU closed up shop and stopped its assault on American society and the Constitution.

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Mr. Landrith is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was Business Editor of the Virginia Journal of Law and Politics. He had a successful law practice in business and litigation. In 1994 and 1996, Mr. Landrith was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's Fifth Congressional District. He served on the Albemarle County School Board. Mr. Landrith is an adjunct professor at the George Mason School of Law. He is recognized as an authority on constitutional law and jurisprudence, federalism, global warming, and property rights.

george@ff.org