11/21/2003

2003 YEAR-IN-REVIEW REPORT

In a letter written roughly 10 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams said, “It has ever been my hobby-horse to see rising in America an empire of liberty, and a prospect of two or three hundred millions of freemen, without one noble or one king among them. You say it is impossible. If I should agree with you in this, I would still say, let us try the experiment, and preserve our equality as long as we can.”

Over 200 years later, that idealistic willingness to “try the experiment” has become one of our most treasured virtues as a people. At The Rutherford Institute, this same idealistic willingness continues to guide our legal and educational work. Whether defending the constitutional rights of individuals in the courtroom, calling on others to raise their voices or challenging the public with our educational materials ranging from freedom resource briefs, legal features and commentaries to interviews and feature articles, we understand that the continuing rise of liberty and equality in America is dependent on our fight for freedom.
This past year has seen both highs and lows in the ongoing battle to preserve our liberties. The following are some highlights of The Rutherford Institute’s battle in this eternal struggle for freedom and justice for all:

January 2003:
• The Rutherford Institute is called on to assist SSgt. Patrick Cubbage, a Vietnam combat veteran and evangelical Christian, who was fired from his job as an honor guardsman at a veterans memorial cemetery for saying “God bless you and this family, and God bless the United States of America” as part of the formal color guard flag ceremony for deceased veterans.

February 2003:
• Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute reach a mutually agreeable resolution with the Marion County Health Department on behalf of Janice Turner, a public health nurse who lost her job with the health department due to her deeply held religious belief that life begins at conception. As part of the settlement agreement, a new policy was enacted preventing discrimination of employees based upon religious or moral beliefs regarding abortion or contraception and requiring the health department to accommodate those beliefs.

• The U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of the rights of pro-life protesters in Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, the most significant pro-life protest case to come before the court in several years. The Justices ruled 8-1 that abortion providers may not use the courts to prosecute pro-life protesters under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which was originally created to combat organized crime. RICO outlaws “racketeering activity,” including extortion. The Supreme Court’s decision affirmed the view argued by attorneys for The Rutherford Institute in a friend of the court brief that RICO cannot be applied against protesters because the protesters did not seek to “obtain” any form of property from abortion clinics.

March 2003:
• John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, urges President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to ensure that American servicemen and servicewomen stationed in the Middle East are fully permitted to affirm their religious beliefs and take refuge in their faith as the United States prepares for war. The appeal was made after the Institute learned that unnamed military officials had ordered troops presently being deployed to the Middle East not to wear religious jewelry or other outward symbols of their faith.

April 2003:
• The Rutherford Institute succeeds in forcing the U.S. Postal Service to revise its mailing regulations regarding religious material sent by individuals to American military personnel stationed in the Persian Gulf area. Attorneys for the Institute filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of the free speech, religious and equal protection rights of a U.S. serviceman and his family. The serviceman’s family members were prevented from mailing religious materials to their son stationed overseas, based on a USPS prohibition against the mailing of “any matter containing religious materials contrary to the Islamic faith or depicting nude or seminude persons, pornographic or sexual items, or non-authorized political materials.”

May 2003:
• The Rutherford Institute succeeds in protecting the right of a high school senior to sing a song containing the word “God” at her graduation exercises. School officials at Winneconne High School in Winnebago County, Wisc., had informed Rachel Honer that she would have to substitute the words “He,” “Him” or “His” for the word “God” in a song she intended to perform at her graduation ceremony. School officials acknowledged that Honer would be permitted to sing the uncensored version of “He’s Always Been Faithful” at her commencement exercise.

June 2003:
• Institute celebrates its 21st anniversary. Lt. Col. Martha McSally and SSgt. Patrick Cubbage address Institute staff, supporters and friends about the importance of taking a stand for one’s religious beliefs. McSally, the highest ranking female fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force, turned to the Institute for help when military officials forced her to wear a Muslim robe over her uniform while stationed in Saudi Arabia, despite her objection that it conflicted with her Christian beliefs. Working in cooperation with members of Congress, The Rutherford Institute drafted legislation, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush, prohibiting government officials from forcing servicewomen to wear the Muslim robe.

July 2003:
• Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute support the successful petition to the U. S. Supreme Court to address the question of whether the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. In filing a friend of the court brief on behalf of the Elk Grove Unified School District in Sacramento, Calif., Institute attorneys requested that the June 2002 ruling issued by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals be overturned.

• Citing the First Amendment and Equal Access Act, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit rules in favor of a case brought forward by Pennsylvania high school student Melissa Donovan and The Rutherford Institute. Ruling that school officials wrongfully prohibited the student Bible Club from meeting during the school’s regular activity period, the court declared that the student “activity period” qualified as “non-instructional time” under the Equal Access Act. The court also determined that school officials violated Donovan’s constitutional rights, stating, “When [Punxsutawney] denied the Bible Club access to the school’s limited public forum on the ground that the Club was religious in nature, it discriminated against the Club because of its religious viewpoint in violation of the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.”

• Citing the Fourth Amendment and parents’ rights, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit rules in favor of a case brought forward by Rutherford Institute attorneys against government officials who allegedly conducted genital examinations on 4- and 5-year-old children without their parents’ knowledge or consent. Ruling against the Tulsa, Okla., affiliate of Head Start, the appeals court stated, “It is not the place of a Head Start agency to usurp the parental role.” In their appeal of a lower court dismissal of the case, Rutherford Institute attorneys argued that the invasive, unauthorized examinations constituted unreasonable searches and seizures in violation of the Fourth Amendment and that the defendants’ actions violated the parents’ constitutional right to direct their children’s medical treatment.

August 2003:
• The Rutherford Institute launches “The ABCs of the U.S. Constitution in the Classroom,” a national effort to educate students, parents, teachers and school administrators about how to uphold the Constitution in the public schools. As part of its campaign, The Rutherford Institute sent a detailed legal memorandum to each of the more than 15,000 public school superintendents across the United States to educate them about the Department of Education’s “Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools” and warned them against censoring student religious expression.

• Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute successfully defend the rights of senior high students whose free speech and religious rights were violated when school officials removed tiles the students had inscribed with religious messages from the Senior Tile Project. Institute attorneys informed school officials at Green Hope High School that by excluding the students’ tiles, the school board violated the students’ rights to free speech, free expression and free exercise of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The Wake County School Board agreed to restore to the display the tiles bearing religious inscriptions.

September 2003:
• In a letter to President George W. Bush, John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, urges him to require Veterans Administration Cemetery grant recipients to recognize and respect the wishes of veterans’ survivors concerning the religious flag blessing component of a military honors ceremony that includes the simple phrase, “God bless you and this family and God bless the United States of America.”

• Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of elementary school student A.G. and his parents in their case against the Sayreville Board of Education and the principal of Wilson Elementary School. The lawsuit stems from a playground incident that resulted in four kindergarten boys being suspended from school for three days for playing a make-believe game of “cops and robbers” during recess. While the school district asserts that it has no official written policy mandating “zero tolerance” of violent behavior or threats, its actions are consistent with those of many other school districts that have adopted such blanket policies.

October 2003:
• Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to uphold the right of a Florida high school student to free religious expression and equal treatment. The appeal charges that school officials at Boca Raton Community High School violated the First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution when they forced high school student Sharah Harris to paint over the names of “God” and “Jesus” she had painted on a school mural.

• Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute file suit on behalf of Calvary Chapel of Ft. Lauderdale, which has been prohibited by county officials from displaying an explicitly religious Christmas message in an annual holiday light festival. Institute attorneys argue that the light festival constitutes a public forum and that by denying Calvary Chapel’s message the county is violating its rights to free speech, religious expression and equal protection as guaranteed by the First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

November 2003:
• In an effort to help public schools comply with the U.S. Department of Education’s “Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools,” The Rutherford Institute helps sponsor a free legal symposium for educators titled “Tomorrow’s Citizens and the First Amendment.” The event, provided as a public service to educators, education policy-makers, civic leaders, citizens and students, featured constitutional and education law experts who guided educators through the relevant legal principles and case law.

December 2003:
• As part of a larger effort to raise student awareness about the freedoms that have made America great, The Rutherford Institute and AXA Liberty Bowl partner together to co-sponsor the 2003 First Amendment Essay Contest. This year’s essay topic invited entrants to explain, in 500-750 words, the significance of one of the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution and describe how the United States would be different today if that freedom had not been guaranteed. The grand prize winner will receive a college scholarship, four VIP ticket packages to the AXA Liberty Bowl Football Classic Game and events during the bowl week, publication of his or her essay and national recognition during the game.