American Civil Liberties Union

The right to practice religion, or no religion at all, is among the most fundamental of the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. The ACLU works to ensure that this essential freedom is protected by keeping the government out of religion. Learn more about how the ACLU works to preserve Freedom of Religion and Belief and take action to protect the rights guaranteed to all Americans.


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Religion and Belief : Legislative Documents

ACLU Coalition Letter Urging Restoration of Religious Liberty and Civil Rights Protections in the Faith-Based Initiative (07/10/2008)
As you evaluate and formulate policies on the role that community-based and faith-based organizations should play in providing government-funded social services, we write to urge you to restore religious liberty and civil rights protections into these partnerships. We believe that the policies pursued under the title “Faith-Based Initiative” in recent years lack the proper accountability and constitutional safeguards necessary to preserve the independence of religious organizations and protect the civil rights and religious liberty of the employees and beneficiaries of government-funded programs.

The National Coalition for Public Education Letter to the Senate Regarding Opposition to DC Vouchers (07/09/2008)
Dear Senator: The undersigned organizations of the National Coalition for Public Education (NCPE) wish to comment on the expiring Washington, D.C., private school voucher program in conjunction with the markup the Committee will hold Thursday, July 10 on the District of Columbia appropriations bill. NCPE strongly opposes the funneling of public money to private and religious schools through vouchers, and wants to comment on the bipartisan bill that was passed out of the subcommittee earlier today.

The National Coalition for Public Education Letter to Senator Durbin Regarding Opposition to DC Vouchers (07/08/2008)
Dear Senator Durbin: The undersigned organizations of the National Coalition for Public Education (NCPE) wish to comment on the expiring Washington, D.C., private school voucher program in conjunction with the markup the Committee will hold Wednesday, July 9 on the District of Columbia appropriations bill. NCPE strongly opposes the funneling of public money to private and religious schools through vouchers, and urges you to oppose the reauthorization or continued funding of the Washington, D.C., voucher program.

Coalition Sign-On Letter Opposing the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (05/15/2008)

The National Coalition for Public Education Letter to House Committee on Education and Labor Urging Opposition to 21st Century Community Learning Centers (03/10/2008)

The CARD Coalition Urges the HELP Committee Not to Advance SAMHSA Until Religious Liberty and Civil Rights Concerns Are Addressed (01/29/2008)

Coalition Letter to Senate regarding "Creation Science" Earmark (10/10/2007)
Dear Senator: We, the undersigned religious, civil rights, education, science, and advocacy organizations write to urge you to remove an earmark from the Fiscal Year 2008 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill’s Committee Report. The Fund for Improvement of Education, under Title III, contains an earmark for uses that, if funded, would be blatantly unconstitutional. The earmark would fund curriculum that promotes teaching creationism in the science classroom, even though uniformly prohibited by federal courts.

Letter Urging Congress to Oppose Any Attempts to Repeal Longstanding, Critical Civil Rights Protections in Head Start Program (04/23/2007)

SUPPORT BIPARTISAN REAUTHORIZATION OF HEAD START BY OPPOSING ANY ATTEMPT TO REPEAL THIRTY-FIVE YEAR OLD CIVIL RIGHTS PROVISION (04/20/2007)
We, the undersigned religious, civil rights, labor, education, health, and advocacy organizations urge you to support H.R. 1429, bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize the Head Start program, and to oppose any attempt to repeal longstanding critical civil rights protections. As reported out of the House Committee on Education and Labor on a 42-1 bipartisan vote, H.R. 1429 keeps in place a 35-year old civil rights provision that protects over 213,000 Head Start teachers and staff and over 1,360,000 parent volunteers from employment discrimination based on religion in federally-funded positions in Head Start programs.

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