Pryor Unfit for Re-Nomination to Federal Bench! Take Action Now, Stop Bush Effort to Weaken Separation

On Monday, President Bush re-nominated former Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor for a lifetime seat on the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. A Senate filibuster stopped Pryor from assuming this post last year; but Bush gave him a temporary “recess appointment” which expires at the end of 2005. Now, the religious right and other its allies on Capitol Hill have launched a concerted effort to have Pryor permanently seated in this crucial judicial post, and stop any attempted filibuster.

Key legislators need to hear from you now about the Pryor nomination! This is especially crucial since the balance in the U.S. Senate shifted during the recent election.

The Washington Post described the nominee as a partisan “Unfit to judge,” noting that Mr. Pryor’s public speeches “display a disturbingly politicized view of the role of courts.” (April 11. 2003). He has a shabby record on civil liberties and state-church separation, and numerous organizations are now on record opposing his nomination to the federal bench. While serving as Attorney General for Alabama, Pryor often supported the antics of former Judge Roy Moore who defended the display of the Ten Commandments in public buildings. He also affirmed his support for having sectarian prayers conducted before juries. And he has frequently made reckless statements concerning gay right, abortion and civil liberties. He once compared gay sexuality to “prostitution, adultery, necrophilia, bestiality, possession of child pornography and even incest and pedophilia.”

Pryor has made it clear that he opposes a robust separation of church and state. Federal decisions protecting the First Amendment should be “left to the state,” Pryor has maintained. He has declared that America is now in “a time of moral and spiritual crisis,” due to “the increasing secularization of our Country.”

While he publicly denies advocating a theocracy (rule by clergy and religious law), Pryor stated that “...the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are rooted in a Christian perspective of the nature of government and the nature man.”

When sworn in a Alabama Attorney General, he concluded remarks by declaring “With trust in God, and His Son, Jesus Christ, we will continue the American experiment of liberty in law.”

Capitol Hill Needs to Hear From You Now!

Visit out tips page and our government contacts page. We urge you to write, fax or phone key members of the Senate Judiciary Committee immediately, and express your opinion of the Pryor nomination. Letters should be respectful and concise. Be sure to include your return address, and ask for a response to your concerns! Be sure to sign your letter.

Sample copies can be sent to American Atheists, and we will post a selection on the web site! Please distribute copies of this Action Alert!

Senate Judiciary Committee

(with the exceptions of Hatch, Kyl, Sessions, DeWine, Graham, Cornyn, Brownback, and Coburn, who are unpersuadable)

Arlen Specter, Chair
711 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 244-4254
Fax 228-1229
arlen_specter@specter.senate.gov

Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
(Ranking Democrat)
433 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4242

Chuck Grassley (IA)
135 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3744

Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA)
315 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4543

Herb Kohl
330 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
D.C. 20510
(202) 224-5653

Joe Biden (D-Del.)
201 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
D.C. 20510
(202) 224-5042 senator@biden.senate.gov

Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
331 Hart Office Bldg.
D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3841

Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Russ_Feingold@feingold.senate.gov
506 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
D.C. 20510
(202) 224-5323
TDD: 224-1280

Charles Schumer (D-NY)
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6542
Fax: 228-3027
TDD: 224-0420

Dick Durbin (D-IL)
332 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2152
Fax 228-0400

Other Senators Who Are Not a Waste of Breath or a Stamp on the Issue

All zip codes are 20510

Barack Obama (D-IL)
No post yet available
(202) 224-2854

Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
112 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-3553

Robert Byrd (D-WV)
311 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-3954
(longest-serving member of Senate; stress the nefarious circumvention of Senate’s constitutional role by recess appointment)

Hillary Rodham Clinton
476 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-4451

Susan Collins (R-ME)
172 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-2523

Jon Corzine
502 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-4744

Mark Dayton (D-MN)
346 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-3244

Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
448 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-2823

Tom Harkin (D-IA)
731 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-3254

James Jeffords
413 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-5141

Tim Johnson (D-SD)
136 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-5842

John Kerry
304 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-2742

Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
24 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-3224

Carl Levin (D-MI)
269 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-6221

Joe Lieberman (D-CT)
706 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-4041

Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
355 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-4843

Barbara Mikulski (D-Md)
709 hart Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-4654

Patty Murray (D-WA)
173 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-2621

Bill Nelson (D-FL)
716 Hart Senate office Bldg.
(202) 224-5274

Mark Pryor (D-AR)
257 Dirksen senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-2353

Jack Reid (D-RI)
728 hart Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-4642

Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader
528 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-3542

Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
531 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-6472
senator@rockefeller.senate.gov

Ken Salazar (D-CO)
No post available yet
(202) 224-5852

Paul Sarbanes (D-MD)
309 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-4524

Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
154 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-5344
olympia@snowe.senate.gov

Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
702 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-4822

Ron Wyden (D-OR)
516 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
(202) 224-5244

(AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.)

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