Pace: the final frontier, chapter 14 — Windfall for the wingnuts

When last we visited the constitutional clusterfuck that is the Pace (Fla.) school prayer issue, we learned that after securing a remarkably undeserved victory in federal district court, the crazed fundies who populate Santa Rosa County next planned to go after the consent decree itself -- the very agreement the county school district signed wherein they vowed to, you know, obey the U.S. Constitution and not have organized prayer in public schools. Leading this fight, as they did for the three Pace High School administrators cleared of wrongdoing, would be Orlando-based Liberty Counsel, a legal organization (in the loosest sense of the term) made up of fundamentalist whackjobs who actually want nothing whatsoever to do with liberty. Instead, according to their website, they are focused on "restoring the culture one case at a time by advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family," which naturally means intruding into our bedrooms, our classrooms, our bodies, and our very lives to push their special brand of Christianist uniformity. (Obviously their definition of "culture" differs from that of normal people.)

Well, thanks to all those good folks in Pace and elsewhere who ponied up over $73,000 for the administrators' defense, which cost barely more than $8,500*, Liberty Counsel will get the difference:

The Lay-Freeman Defense Fund, headed by Milton insurance agent Robert Smith, raised $73,388 for Lay and Freeman's defense against charges that they violated a court order to discontinue the practice of faculty-led religious activities at school events and on school property.

"From the outset, we told people who contributed that any money left over from the legal defense fund would be donated to Liberty Counsel," Smith said.

[...]

"We're certainly pleased with the donation," Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, said on Thursday.

[...]

"There's a lot more activity we will do on this case," he said. "We expect to spend more to prepare for this trial that is coming up."

Liberty Counsel is representing Christian Educators Association International, which is seeking to change the agreement between the ACLU and the School District. A hearing is set for Dec. 2 at the federal courthouse in Pensacola.

Yeah, I'm sure you're pleased with the donation, Mat. Just in time to do more of your nefarious, freedom-hating work, like trying to push Christianist prayer back into public schools or encouraging your deluded followers to pray for a liberal (see logo at right). What a bunch of sick fucks.

But you've definitely got one thing going for you on December 2, Mat: home-court advantage. It's clear the political and personal pressure your followers put on the federal court in Pensacola -- not the law -- won you the earlier decision ... and you're probably going to turn the screws again. So much for freedom.

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* Curiously, the article says $8,908 went to Pensacola attorney Barry Beroset, but according to the same article, $73,388 was raised and $64,840 was donated to Liberty Counsel -- a difference of $8,548. Not sure where the discrepancy comes from ... or whether it really matters. Just an observation ...