Washington, DC, Sep 26, 2006 - U.S. Congressman John Carter (TX-31) today supported House passage of the Public Expression of Religion Act (PERA) that will allow Americans to defend the symbols and expressions of our nation’s rich religious heritage. Specifically, HR 2679 would prevent groups from using the legal system to coerce state and local governments into removing references to religion in public places by prohibiting the award of monetary damages and/or attorneys’ fees to prevailing parties in certain cases.

“This bill is critical to ensuring that the right to freedom of religion is protected,” Congressman Carter said. “Groups and individuals are manipulating current law in order to force state and local governments to remove constitutionally protected displays of religion and discriminate against groups with religious affiliations. Clearly this disgraceful practice is contrary to the intent of the First Amendment, which was to prevent government from penalizing people for their religious beliefs. I will continue to support initiatives that defend the constitutional right to religious expression.”

H.R. 2679, the Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005, amends federal law to provide that Establishment Clause cases brought against a local or state government or the federal government can only be brought for injunctive or declaratory relief – in other words, the only relief the court could order in such cases would be that the defendant cease whatever it was that was found to be a violation of the Establishment Clause.

Currently federal law allows the award of attorneys’ fees in Establishment Clause cases, which means that a defendant who happens to lose such a case in court or on appeal could be responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees. Even if the defendant were to prevail, Supreme Court precedent prevents prevailing defendants from being awarded attorneys’ fees in most cases.

State and local governments, whose budgets are already stretched thin for priorities like health care and education, simply cannot afford to fight these cases. Thus they are ripe targets for interest groups, who essentially coerce state and local governments into removing constitutional displays of religion and discriminating against groups with religious affiliations by threatening a lawsuit.

By allowing only injunctive relief in Establishment Clause cases, the Public Expression of Religion Act will help ensure that state and local governments and the federal government and its agencies are not coerced into curtailing the free expression of religion.

Supporters of PERA include: American Legion, Religious Freedom Coalition, Eagle Forum, Traditional Values Coalition, Concerned Women for America, American Civil Rights Union, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, Prison Fellowship Ministries, Judicial Action Group, National Religious Broadcasters, and Advance USA.