Goshen man finally gets his "ATHE1ST" license plate after the ACLU intervenes.

Right here in Indiana.

Goshen man receives "ATHE1ST" license plate after appealing BMV's denial, by Ben Quiggle (Elkhart Truth)

After garnering statewide attention to his plight, Chris Bontrager finally has what he wanted all along: a personalized license plate on his car that reads "ATHE1ST."

The Goshen resident had his initial personalized plate request denied by the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles in February and even now he has no idea why it was initially denied. The BMV turned down the request in a letter that does not cite the specific reasoning for the denial.

After getting the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana involved, Bontrager said the appeal process moved rapidly, culminating in receiving his new license plate in the mail on Monday. Bontrager said he had filed an appeals request with the state, but that the ACLU was able to prod the state along faster than expected and that he never had to testify before an appeals panel.

The council's DemoDisneyDixiecrats: Co-option comes right after self-interest, and just before irrelevance.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana lists the rights below under the all-purpose umbrella of "equality." They're merely an opening salvo, not a detailed rendering.

It seems to me that if one must "belong" to one (or more) of these groupings in order to feel solidarity with them, and consequently to take action on their behalf, prospects are daunting indeed for ultimate success in their advocacy.

On Thursday, the only openly gay member of New Albany's city council offered a non-binding resolution expressing solidarity with the city of Orlando in the wake of the horrible massacre there. The resolution noted support of universal LGBT rights and repudiated violence. It was impeccable, and all eight council representatives in attendance concurred.

Yet, there is something nagging about this. While it is perfectly fitting and proper that councilman Greg Phipps represents the conscience of the LGBT community in his job as member of the body, if representation derives only from identity, then the body is not at all representative.

Look at the list below. There are no women, immigrants or racial minorities on the city council. Only one councilman is south of 45 years of age. None are disabled. Our council is composed of nine white males with an average age of around 60.

At Thursday's meeting, Dan Coffey ventured the view that perhaps there should be a council resolution on behalf of all those who've suffered from violence, irrespective of identifier or subheading, and he was right (though probably for the wrong reasons).

However, what is needed even more than another omnibus, non-binding resolution is some coherent notion of how the city's executive body can be part of the solution when it comes to all these human rights issues raised by the ACLU -- and don't even bother mentioning the city's Human Rights Commission, which was built to be moribund.

At the moment, this idea seems more likely to emanate from council's three Republicans and two Independents rather than its remaining four Democrats, who surely find themselves tied to a governing political party script that defines quid pro quo in exacting detail.

I'd suggest that they closely examine the "quid" before accepting the terms of the "pro quo," because co-option comes right after self-interest, and just before irrelevance.

As much as we'd all like to wave a magic wand and produce a society of love, not hate, the chances are slim. All we can do is to keep on keeping on. At the same time, municipal government can help achieve substantive progress in these human rights areas, if only incremental, but the legislative body cannot do so by deferring to the carpenters of stage scenery in the back corridors of City Hall.

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EQUALITY
"All men are created equal." While it is a simple concept, it is one that can be especially hard to put into practice. The course of American history has been paved by movements for equality — civil rights, women's rights, and most recently, LGBT rights. The ACLU of Indiana has been there to fight for them all.

Disability Rights
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation.

Immigrants' Rights
Under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the rights of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.

LGBT Rights
Religious freedom is fundamentally important; that's why it's already protected in our state and federal Constitutions. But that doesn't give any of us the right to discriminate against others. We must ensure that hardworking gay and transgender people are not denied a job, evicted from their apartment, or refused service by a business just because of who they are.

Women's Rights
The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says: "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall ...deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Youth Rights
The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides for equal application of the laws, prohibiting states from denying any person the equal protection of its laws.

Racial Justice
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana mounts epic struggles to ensure everyone in America gets to enjoy the rights, freedoms and liberties that the Constitution guarantees. Since our formation, we have been involved in all aspects of the struggle for racial justice across the United States.

REWIND: "The ACLU is committed to preserving the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom for all."

Every year around this time, a jingle-bell drumbeat of drollery sounds as the demographic we now identify as the Palin Paleolithics begins its annual assault on the American Civil Liberties Union, which is accused of trying somehow to deprive America of its favored shopping season.

As a preemptive measure, here’s a reposting of an ACLU response from 2005. For original context, travel down memory lane:

'Tis the season for ... ACLU bashing?

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How The ACLU Didn't Steal Christmas (12/7/2005), by Fran Quigley.

When the angry phone calls and emails started arriving at the office, I knew the holiday season was upon us. A typical message shouted that we at the American Civil Liberties Union are "horrible" and "we should be ashamed of ourselves," and then concluded with an incongruous and agitated "Merry Christmas."

We get this type of correspondence a lot, mostly in reaction to a well-organized attempt by extremist groups to demonize the ACLU, crush religious diversity, and make a few bucks in the process. Sadly, this self-interested effort is being promoted in the guise of defending Christmas.

For example, the Alliance Defense Fund celebrates the season with an "It's OK to say Merry Christmas" campaign, implying that the ACLU has challenged such holiday greetings. (As part of the effort, you can get a pamphlet and two Christmas pins for $29.)

The website WorldNetDaily touts a book claiming "a thorough and virulent anti-Christmas campaign is being waged today by liberal activists and ACLU fanatics." The site's magazine has suggested there will be ACLU efforts to remove "In God We Trust" from U.S. currency, fire military chaplains, and expunge all references to God in America's founding documents. (Learn more for just $19.95 . . . )

Of course, there is no "Merry Christmas" lawsuit, nor is there any ACLU litigation about U.S. currency, military chaplains, etc. But the facts are not important to these groups, because their real message is this: By protecting the freedom of Muslims, Jews, and other non-Christians through preventing government entanglement with religion, the ACLU is somehow infringing on the rights of those with majority religious beliefs.

In truth, it is these website Christians who are taking the Christ out of the season. Nowhere in the Sermon on the Mount did Jesus Christ ask that we celebrate His birth with narrow-mindedness and intolerance, especially for those who are already marginalized and persecuted. Instead, the New Testament—like the Torah and the Koran and countless other sacred texts—commands us to love our neighbor, and to comfort the sick and the imprisoned.

That's what the ACLU does. We live in a country filled with people who are sick and disabled, people who are imprisoned, and people who hunger and thirst for justice. Those people come to our Indiana offices for help, at a rate of several hundred a week, usually because they have nowhere else to turn. The least of our brothers and sisters sure aren't getting any help from the Alliance Defense Fund or WorldNet Daily. So, as often as we can, ACLU secures justice for those folks who Jesus worried for the most.

As part of our justice mission, we work hard to protect the rights of free religious expression for all people, including Christians. For example, we recently defended the First Amendment rights of a Baptist minister to preach his message on public streets in southern Indiana. The ACLU intervened on behalf of a Christian valedictorian in a Michigan high school, which agreed to stop censoring religious yearbook entries, and supported the rights of Iowa students to distribute Christian literature at their school.

There are many more examples, because the ACLU is committed to preserving the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom for all. We agree with the U.S. Supreme Court's firm rulings that this freedom means that children who grow up in non-Christian homes should not be made to feel like outsiders in their own community's courthouse, legislature or public schoolhouse.

To our "Merry Christmas" correspondents and all other Hoosiers, we wish you happy holidays.

New Albany redistricting plan ready for a vote

There's more excitement on the horizon as Councilman Cappuccino makes yummy hash from his day-old BBQ bologna and plots pre-emptive secession for Westendia lest pernicious outside investment monies poison the scam and render him null and void -- not that he isn't already.

New Albany redistricting plan ready for a vote, by the Tribune's Daniel Suddeath.

Committee Co-chairman Randy Smith said the six districts were shaped to include as close to 6,325 people each as possible, based on population numbers confirmed through Floyd County Clerk Linda Moeller.

The district most under the average is short 19 people, while one district is over by 27 people.

The proposal likely will be brought to the council for approval July 7. Smith said he’s hopeful the council will sanction the new map since none of its members have provided input, except the three at-large councilmen assigned to the committee.

“I expect no criticism whatsoever, since we’ve had five public meetings,” Smith said.

Randy, a plaintiff in the lawsuit that handily exposed the previous council's cavalier and Kochertian disinterest in rule of law to an eagerly waiting world, went on to suggest that the current council may well regard the judicially mandated redistricting effort in like and negligent fashion.

As a plainftiff, I can speak only for myself in saying that it would be a mistake for yet another council to wash its hands of legality.



To paraphrase Mick Jagger: "ACLU, children, it's just a call away."

"WEAR ORANGE to symbolize sadness and disgust with the national shame that is Guantánamo Bay."

I received the link to this information from a U.S. Army veteran who was posted to the Pentagon in Washington D.C. in 2001, and was driving to work when the building was struck on Sept. 11.

Her definition of patriotism does not exclude a firm commitment to civil liberties.

If only George W. Bush, serial despoiler of the Constitution, were capable of possessing such a reasoned clue as to what he was sworn to protect.

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This January 11, 2008 [that's this friday] marks 6 years since the first prisoners arrived at Guantánamo Bay. The ACLU is calling on everyone opposed to torture and indefinite detention to WEAR ORANGE to symbolize their sadness and disgust with the national shame that is Guantánamo Bay.

Here's just a few reasons I will be wearing orange this January 11th.

Because January 11, 2008 marks six years since the first prisoners arrived at Guantánamo Bay.

Because the Founders rejected dungeons and chose due process—and so do I.

Because no president should ever be given the unchecked power to call someone an enemy and lock him away indefinitely.

Because I know the difference between fairness and persecution.

Because Guantánamo is an international embarrassment and is damaging our country’s reputation in the world.

Because I believe in habeas corpus and fair trials.

Because Guantánamo is illegal.

Because I believe torture is immoral, illegal, and un-American.

Because I want the U.S. government to Close Guantánamo.