The Religious Liberty Protection Act may not be on the fast track during this session of Congress. But supporters of the controversial special rights legislation are digging in to make sure that no further public hearings on the proposal will be held. It's time for atheists and other state-church separationists to speak out!

Web Posted: September 24, 1998

he latest information from Capitol Hill is that the Religious Liberty Protection Act (RLPA), despite desperate efforts to fast track the measure, may languish in both the House and Senate until lawmakers return next year. With about three weeks to go in the current session, the RLPA -- based largely on the discredited Religious Freedom Restoration Act -- may be a victim of scheduling, as solons wrestle with the last budgetary matters. There is also speculation that the act could even be a collateral casualty of the Clinton- Lewinsky flap, especially with Representatives and Senators arguing about censure or impeachment of the President.

    Indeed, what was originally designed as a cakewalk through the Hill legal labyrinth has turned out to be a path with increasing obstacles for RLPA boosters, including the powerful Coalition for the Free Exercise of Religion. This has surprised some, considering that the Coalition includes representatives from nearly every major American religious group and sect -- evangelicals, mainstream Protestants, Hindus, Muslims, new agers, Ethical Culturalists, Unitarians, Humanists. RLPA enjoyed unanimous approval when its predecessor, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was passed by Congress in 1993 and signed into law by President Clinton. Last year, however, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down RFRA in the historic BOERNE v. FLORES case. The Coalition and its allies went back to work, first introducing a slew of "religious protection" bills in state legislatures, then concocting a "son-of- RFRA" in the form of the Religious Liberty Protection Act. Critics charge that RLPA will eventually be found unconstitutional should lawmakers enact it in its present form. An effort to fast-track RLPA on the Hill has backfired, though, despite a round of little-publicized and "stacked" hearings which involved mostly religious groups signing on to the measure.

   ¶    Scheduling and the Clinton-Lewinsky controversy, though, is chewing up the remaining time for this Congressional session in Washington. A legislative aide to one member of the Senate Judiciary Committee informed an American Atheists official earlier this week that RLPA was not on the agenda for the rest of this year, and would have to be postponed until January, 1999.

   ¶    Opposition continues to build. Last week, constitutional law expert Dr. Marci Hamilton presented a cautionary letter to SJC chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) urging that the committee hold more hearings on RLPA. Signing on to the loose coalition assembled by Hamilton are such diverse groups as American Atheists, National League of Cities, the National Trust and the National Center for Public Policy Research.

   ¶    The Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has officially broken ranks with its national parent, and no longer supports the Religious Liberty Protection Act.

   ¶    Despite the public limelight and focus on Clinton-Lewinsky, Hatch continues to frantically "try and round up supporters" for RLPA and his fast track agenda, one source told AANEWS.

THE LATEST AGENDA FOR RLPA SUPPORTERS:
NO MORE HEARINGS!

   Even if the Religious Liberty Protection Act cannot be fast tracked for legislative action in the next three weeks, supporters of the measure are taking no chances. Behind the scenes, representatives of the Coalition for the Free Exercise of Religion and allied groups are working hard to stop any call for the Senate to hold further hearings on the matter. That strategy seems to be working -- for now anyway. Sources on the Hill and elsewhere report that Sen. Hatch and his committee are still stubbornly resisting any call for more public hearings about the Religious Liberty Protection Act.

    In related news, Governor Pete Wilson of California has reportedly decided to not sign that state's version of RLPA/RFRA, dubbed the Religious Freedom Protection Act. This comes following objections from the State Department of Corrections that the act would be abused by prison inmates, and compromise security throughout the state's burgeoning criminal justice system.

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