| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 3/12/2013 11:11:49 AM Mike Smith--HSLDA Nevada--Please Call to Support Religious Freedom |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Nevada--Please Call to Support Religious Freedom Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, Sponsors: Senators Cegavske, Hutchison, Hammond, Hardy, Denis; Ford, Goicoechea, Gustavson, Jones, Kieckhefer, Kihuen, Parks, Roberson, Segerblom, Settelmeyer, Smith and Woodhouse Summary: A bill that will put Nevada on record as protecting religious freedom, SB 192, http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=17529 the Nevada Preservation of Religious Freedom Act, will face a crucial hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning. The senators need to hear from you! Historically, government agencies could push aside someone's right to exercise their religion only if the government had a super good reason, and used the least restrictive means possible. But freedom lurched backward in 1990 when a U.S. Supreme Court case treated this foundational right as if it were ordinary--empowering governments to trump your religious freedom for virtually any reason. When the public demanded change, a federal law was passed to restore the historic level of protection. But in 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court said the new federal law could not be used to hold back individual states from violating the religious freedom of its citizens. This gave states the green light to give your religious freedom the lowest imaginable level of protection. But the Supreme Court left the door open for states individually to pass laws giving more protection. That is what SB 192 does. It puts Nevada on record as saying the freedom to practice one's religion must be protected just as it was before 1990. ACTION REQUESTED Please call the Senate Judiciary Committee members listed below and urge them to support SB 192. If one of the senators is your senator, please mention that when you call. Your message can be as simple as: "Please vote YES on SB 192. Please put Nevada on record as protecting religious freedom." To find who your senator is, use this link: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=17527 If your senator is a cosponsor, please call to thank him or her! CONTACT INFORMATION Tick Segerblom - Chair, tsegerblom@sen.state.nv.us (Work) 775-684-1422; (Leg. Bldg.) 775-684-8549 Ruben J. Kihuen - Vice Chair, Ruben.Kihuen@sen.state.nv.us (Cell) 702-274-1707; (Leg. Bldg.) 775-684-1427 Aaron D. Ford, Aaron.Ford@sen.state.nv.us (Cell) 702-772-5544; (Leg. Bldg.) 775-684-6502 Justin C. Jones, Justin.Jones@sen.state.nv.us (Cell) 702-265-5878; (Leg. Bldg.) 775-684-1421 Greg Brower, Greg.Brower@sen.state.nv.us (Work) 775-684-1419; (Leg. Bldg.) 775-684-1419 Scott Hammond, Scott.Hammond@sen.state.nv.us (Home) 702-523-9055; (Leg. Bldg.) 775-684-1442 Mark Hutchison, Mark.Hutchison@sen.state.nv.us (Work) 702-233-2049; (Leg. Bldg.) 775-684-1475 Or toll free: 800-978-2878, 800-995-9080, 800-992-0973; Northern Nevada 775-684-6800, 775-684-6789; Southern Nevada 702-486-2626, Toll Free Fax: 866-543-9941 BACKGROUND Historically, citizens had the freedom to practice their religion unless the state had a "compelling" reason to limit it and the state did it in the "least restrictive" manner possible. The U.S. Supreme Court upended this traditional level of protection in 1990 in the case of Employment Division v. Smith. The Court shocked the nation and ruled that the government can restrict religious freedom if it has a merely "rational" reason. That is the lowest level of protection possible for any right! Citizens almost always lose when the government only needs to show it has a "rational" reason to restrict a freedom. In response, U.S. Congress overwhelmingly passed, and then-president Clinton signed, the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. A wide spectrum of organizations supported it. But in 1997 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in The City of Boerne v. Flores that it was not constitutional to apply the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act to individual states. The Court gave the green light to individual states to give religious liberty--one of the foundational freedoms of homeschooling--the lowest level of protection possible. Since Boerne, courts across the country have diminished religious freedom in many ways. For example: > The long-standing practice of pastor-laity confidentiality has been repeatedly violated; > A Catholic hospital was denied accreditation for refusing to teach abortion techniques; > There have been conflicts with zoning ordinances, such as the forced termination of a church ministry to the homeless because it was located on the second floor of a building with no elevator; and > A church was prohibited from feeding more than 50 people per day. If passed, the Nevada PRFA will restore the high standard of protection for religious liberty previously guaranteed. If an individual's religious belief is in conflict with a state regulation, the state will have to prove that its regulation furthers a compelling state interest and is the least restrictive means of doing so. If the state fails to carry the burden, the regulation must give way to the individual's religious freedom. Restoring this protection for religious freedom will simply "level the playing field." In a somewhat ironic twist, Congress passed a law giving this higher level of protection--but only to prisoners! Prisoners now have greater protection for their religious liberty than you do. This must be changed. Some will argue that we should just let "common law" keep on developing as it has. The flaw in that argument is that it ignores the fact that the reason governments exist in the first place is to protect our rights (read the Declaration of Independence). It's only when the legislature abdicates its duty to protect our rights that the job by default falls back into the lap of the courts. Yes, if the legislature is silent, the courts will fill the void with their own opinions. But that is the least democratic way to address the issue of rights. You may be told that the Nevada Constitution already protects religious expression. Unfortunately, neither the Nevada Constitution nor the U.S. Constitution specifies whether religious freedom must be given the strong protection of a fundamental right, or whether it can be given the minimal protection of an ordinary right. SB 192 fills that gap. For more information on religious freedom restoration acts in general, visit our website at: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=17217 Don't let one decision by the U.S. Supreme Court denigrate this priceless inalienable right. Urge your Nevada state senator now to restore protection for religious liberty in Nevada by supporting the Nevada PRFA! HSLDA and the Nevada Homeschool Network are united in supporting this bill. Thank you for standing with us for freedom! Sincerely Yours, J. Michael Smith, President, Home School Legal Defense Association P.S. We greatly value you and your support--it is a privilege to serve you! If you or someone you know is not a member of HSLDA, will you consider taking a moment today to join or recommend us? Your support enables us to defend individual families and protect homeschooling freedom for all. Join now: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=17528 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> How many of your friends would pay your legal fees? As a member of HSLDA, you have 80,000 families standing with you to protect and advance homeschool freedoms in the United States and foreign countries. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1106 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
