[NYTr] FFRF Files Suit Against Green Bay Creche

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Freedom from Religion Foundation - Dec 24, 2007
ffrf.org/news/2007/greenbaylawsuit.php


FFRF Files Suit Against Green Bay Creche

Dec. 24, 2007

(Madison, Wis.) The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national
state/church watchdog, filed a federal lawsuit today challenging the
unlawful display of a manger scene at the entrance of city hall in
Green Bay, Wis. (Since federal offices are closed on Dec. 24, the
Foundation has mailed its lawsuit to be received by Dec. 26 by the U.S.
District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin.)

The Freedom From Religion Foundation v. City of Green Bay includes 12
individual plaintiffs of diverse religious and nonreligious views, and
additionally names Green Bay City Council President Chad Fradette and
Jim Schmitt, Mayor of Green Bay.

"Our legal action was driven by local residents," said Annie Laurie
Gaylor, Foundation co-president. "Many Green Bay citizens contacted us
over their dismay that city government would thumb its nose at the
constitutional principle of state/church separation, and deliberately
provoke a divisive controversy in Green Bay."

"We're grateful not just to our named plaintiffs, who include
Foundation members, but also a Lutheran, a Buddhist, and a Unitarian
Universalist, and to many others who volunteered to be part of the
lawsuit if needed," said Foundation co-president Dan Barker.

The legal complaint spells out the chronology of the Green Bay
violation, which involved the Council president vowing to place a
nativity scene at city hall because the Foundation had complained about
an unlawful nativity display in Pestigo, Wis.

"Council President Fradette deliberately used his public office to
place an inherently Christian symbol prominently on government property
at the entrance to City Hall, the principal location of local
government, rather than on his private property, precisely in order to
antagonize, offend and challenge those persons who object to the public
sponsorship of religious symbols on public property."

The Complaint alleges an open records violation at the Dec. 11 meeting
in which a committee chaired by Fradette approved his request to
prominently place the nativity scene on the roof of the entrance.

"Public and private communications by the Defendants reflect their
intent to provoke and marginalize persons who do not share their views
regarding the public display and promotion of religion by the City,"
the Complaint adds.

The Complaint notes the subsequent vote by the City Council to place a
moratorium on the public display of any religious symbols other than
the Christian Nativity scene, which "preferentially conveys
endorsement, promotion and/or advancement of religion."

Among the plaintiffs are Taku Ronsman and Wendy Coriell, who sought
unsuccessfully to place other symbols at city hall, and Michael
Bergman, who had expressed concern to the city over the Christian
endorsement and wondered if he could display a Buddhist symbol to
coincide with a major Buddhist holiday May.

The Foundation Complaint charges that "objectors and dissenters are
shown to be political outsiders and discouraged from challenging the
official view that public sponsorship of religious displays is an
appropriate exercise of government authority."

"The Defendants' actions constitute government speech deliberately
intended to be broadcast as officially accepted dogma, and which
hostile message is intentionally directed at political outsiders," the
Complaint continues.

Besides the Foundation, plaintiffs are: Wendy Coriell, Michael Bergman,
Gail and Wayne Vann, Taku Ronsman, James White, Jill White, Jeffrey
Fondrliak, Robert Howe, Amy Wolf, Michael Maternowski and Angie Moon.
(Note: The Complaint has an typo. Ms. Ronsman's first name is spelled
"Taku.")

The Legal Complaint can be read at:
http://ffrf.org/legal/GreenBayComplaint.pdf