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| Date: From: Subject: | 2/6/2008 1:50:09 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Colorado--Need Your Attendance at Hearing for Religious Freedom Act |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== February 6, 2008 Colorado--Need Your Attendance at Hearing for Religious Freedom Act Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: We have a tremendous opportunity to secure religious freedom for all Coloradans this Monday! We need you to do two things: 1. Call the members of the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee and, 2. Attend the hearing for the Religious Freedom Act (RFA) at the capitol Monday at 1:30 p.m.! Passage of a Religious Freedom Amendment (S.B. 112) in Colorado will help maintain your homeschool freedom and your religious freedom in general. The protection you will receive from the passage of the RFA is especially important in light of the changed, anti-freedom political climate in Denver! We are currently using RFAs to help homeschoolers successfully avoid onerous requirements under the homeschool laws in Pennsylvania and Florida. S.B. 112 is scheduled for the Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee on Monday, February 11 at 1:30 p.m. We need your calls and attendance. Otherwise this crucial bill will be killed. It was introduced by Senator Scott Renfroe and drafted by Home School Legal Defense Association. HSLDA will be there to testify in favor of the RFA. Religious freedom is one of the foundation blocks for the right to homeschool. Therefore, passage of a RFA in Colorado will strengthen your right to homeschool. ACTION REQUESTED 1. Call the senators on the Colorado Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee and give them this message: "Please vote to support S.B. 112, the Religious Freedom Act. The religious freedom of all Coloradans needs to be better protected." Members of the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee: Chair Abel Tapia, 303-866-4878, abel.tapia.senate@state.co.us Vice Chair Chris Romer, 303-866-4852, chris.romer.senate@state.co.us Bill Cadman, 303-866-2737, bill.cadman.senate@state.co.us Dave Schultheis, 303-866-4835, dave.schultheis.senate@state.co.us Sue Windels, 303-866-4840, senatorwindels@comcast.net 2. Come to the committee hearing to support S.B. 112. The hearing is scheduled for before the Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee on Monday, February 11 at 1:30 . Please RSVP to Treon Goossen of Concerned Parents of Colorado at treonelain@aol.com if you can come so we can reserve a room which will accommodate everyone who attends. It will also be an educational field trip for your children to show them how government works! BACKGROUND At present, more than a quarter of the states have acted to protect religious freedom. Rhode Island, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Arizona, South Carolina, Texas, Idaho, New Mexico, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Virginia, Nevada and Oklahoma have passed their own state Religious Freedom Acts. HSLDA's legal staff has worked with religious freedom coalitions in the states (and the national state religious freedom coalition), helped draft legislation, lobbied individual state legislators, attorney generals, and governors offices, sent out numerous e-lerts, and provided testimony at some legislative hearings in order to advance these Religious Freedom Acts. The phone calls of thousands of homeschoolers particularly contributed to the passage of the RFAs in Illinois, Arizona, Texas, South Carolina, Idaho, New Mexico, Virginia, Nevada and Oklahoma. Illinois was successful after two HSLDA e-lerts and a tremendous outpouring of calls by homeschoolers who convinced legislators to override the governor's veto. On June 25, 1997, by a 6-3 majority, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in The City of Boerne v. Flores that the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) was unconstitutional. By making this ruling, the Court gave the lowest level of protection to religious liberty, one of the foundational freedoms of homeschooling. Under this minimal standard, Colorado can override a homeschooler or other citizen's right to freely exercise his religious beliefs merely by proving that its regulation is "reasonable." Since nearly all state regulations can be determined to be "reasonable," Christians will lose. Since the devastating Boerne decision, state and federal courts across the country have diminished religious freedom in many ways. Passage of this act will raise the standard of protection for religious freedom in Colorado for individuals, homeschool parents, churches, and all who desire to freely exercise their religious beliefs. If passed, the Colorado RFA will restore the high standard of protection for religious liberty previously guaranteed in the federal RFRA and earlier Supreme Court decisions. Don't let one decision by the U.S. Supreme Court denigrate this inalienable right. Urge your state representative now to restore protection for religious liberty in Colorado by supporting S.B. 112. Sincerely, Chris Klicka HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> What's the shortest distance between two homeschoolers? HSLDA's elert service! When threats to homeschool freedoms arise, you want to be able to respond. We make it possible. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1101 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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If this is an invalid email address or you have other problems, please reply to webmaster@hslda.org. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER: This is considered a private and confidential message from HSLDA to its bonafide HSLDA E-lert Service subscribers. HSLDA cannot attest to the authenticity of copies posted, forwarded, or sent by any party other than HSLDA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: Please do not reply or otherwise use this email address; hslda@hslda.org is for broadcast purposes only and is not intended to receive incoming messages. We cannot reply to any email sent to this address. If you have comments or questions, please send email to info@hslda.org or call HSLDA at 540-338-5600. HSLDA members can also email staff directly through the Members website at http://members.hslda.org/contact.asp. Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
