Cranford, NJ – Today, American Atheists joined more than 100 organizations in calling for the immediate restoration of the Community Relations Service (CRS), which Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice unlawfully dissolved earlier this year.
Created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and colloquially known as “America’s Peacemaker,” the CRS has for 60 years helped communities prevent violence and resolve conflicts involving race, religion, national origin, disability, gender, and sexual orientation. Its conciliators have responded to some of the nation’s most grievous hate-motivated tragedies, including the mass shootings at a Sikh gurdwara in 2012, the Pulse nightclub in 2016, and the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018.
“The CRS is one of our federal government’s quiet success stories and an indispensable guardian of peace and defender of civil rights,” said Geoffrey T. Blackwell, Legal Director for American Atheists. “The Trump Administration’s elimination of it speaks volumes about their priorities, but it was also clearly illegal. The executive branch is not above the law or the legislative branch. We contend the court must order the immediate reinstatement of the CRS.”
In late November, American Atheists also filed an amicus brief in The Buckeye Institute, et al. v. IRS. In this case, the national civil rights organization joined a coalition of other nonprofit groups challenging the IRS’s requirement that only 501(c)(3) charities — and not other types of nonprofits — must disclose the identities of their major donors even as the agency has acknowledged this sensitive information is unnecessary to enforce tax laws.
“Singling out 501(c)(3) organizations while exempting political and other nonprofits violates our First Amendment rights to free speech and association,” said Nick Fish, President of American Atheists. “All nonprofits should be treated equally under the law.”
Read the amicus briefs here and here.
American Atheists will provide updates as these two cases proceed and will continue to safeguard the freedoms that are essential to a peaceful society and healthy democracy.
