When state Senator Stanley “Jason” Rapert of Arkansas sponsored a Senate bill that called for the placement of a Ten Commandments monument on the Capitol grounds in Little Rock, he made it clear that no taxpayer funds would go toward the construction of the monument, for which he had established a crowd-funding campaign to meet his financing goals. Of course, construction of the monument was not the only cost that should have been anticipated from his efforts, and it was clear from the beginning that this flagrant flouting of the Establishment Clause would result in expensive litigation. Now that the litigation is underway, we find the Arkansas Attorney General’s office leading the defense, at the taxpayer’s expense. And when the monument is removed from the Capitol grounds for the offense against the First Amendment that it is, it will surely be taxpayers who pay the removal fee as well.
In Oklahoma, Rep. Tammy Townley has introduced House Bill 3890 which seeks to designate “the” Bible as Oklahoma’s “official state book.” In an op-ed for The Oklahoman, the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Annie Laurie Gaylor explains that the bill is “not only unconstitutional, it is also an affront to true religious freedom,” adding that, “HB 3890 is fiscally irresponsible, too, as it would almost certainly result in a preventable lawsuit that would cost state taxpayers dearly.”
All across the nation, in fact, bills are being proposed, deliberated on, and sometimes passed, that flagrantly violate the most basic fundamental democratic principles of the Constitution, have little chance of withstanding legal scrutiny, and do not even claim to serve a compelling state interest. Many of these bills are not even authored by their sponsors, but are instead created from templates drawn up by outside interest groups, like those that comprise “Project Blitz.”
Project Blitz is a coalition of multiple Christian Nationalist groups to create theocratically-motivated model legislation templates, like Rapert’s Ten Commandments bill, for affiliated politicians, like Sen. Rapert, who merely need to fill in the blanks and submit. The Project Blitz playbook advises lawmakers that “introducing a bill can have positive effects, even if the bill is not ultimately passed,” because even failed bills can have a “significant ripple effect on subsequent measures, policies, and agency actions.”
And why not? While those who litigate against them are forced to spend significant legal costs, Project Blitz politicians lose nothing in allocating public funds toward their borrowed unconstitutional crusades. While some lawmakers spend public funds to pursue unconstitutional goals, private citizens pay from their own resources to defend constitutional values from the very lawmakers who swore an oath to uphold them. To add further insult—in the case of Sen. Rapert and his Ten Commandments efforts—he not only uses public resources to pursue a goal that does not serve the general public interest, but he profits from it, setting up a Ten Commandments Monument donation page directed toward his political campaign...
Scott, your pessimism is unwarranted. I contribute to three separationist organizations and follow their actions closely.When these xian nationalist actions lose in court, the xians pay the court costs, the fees for attorneys, and sometimes damages to plaintiffs.
While I support Greaves’ organization, it is working to expand First Amendment rights and is an edge player.
@OldMetalHead Scott, Arkansas voters are holding Jason Rapert personally accountable. If they re-elect him, they'll be giving him a passing grade.