October 11, 2012

Connellsville Lawyers Up

In the protracted agitation surrounding the unconstitutional placement of the 10 Commandments on school grounds in Connellsville, PA, there's some news:
Connellsville Area School Board members agreed on Wednesday night to appoint Andrews and Price LLC of Pittsburgh as special legal counsel in the legal battle over the Ten Commandments monument located near Connellsville Junior High.
They've lawyered up.

And I think they got some bad advice:
While there were a few dozen people who attended the board meeting to show support for the monument, Jeff Zito of Apollo was the only individual who spoke during public comment.

Zito told board members he read of the issue in the newspaper and was facing the same issue in New Kensington, which is near his hometown.

“You might say it’s just a monument, but if you let a secular organization win in our own hometown, what will happen when they come back again — and they will,” Zito said.

“I’m here in the opposition of the removal of the Ten Commandments monument.

“If you decide to fight and allow them to take you to court, realize that these battles have been won before,” he added.
Um, I don't think they have (but I could be wrong).  I'd think that since the Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that posting the Ten Commandments in a public school has no secular legislative purpose and therefore violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, these battles are pretty much pointless.  Expensive and pointless.

But what do I know?  I'm not a lawyer.

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