Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
Staff at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum kicked out a group of Catholic high school students and their chaperones for wearing pro-life hats in the museum on January 20, the day of the March for Life rally. Employees said awful things to the students, treated them with contempt, and lied that the First Amendment didn’t apply because the museum was a “neutral zone.”
The American Center for Law and Justice filed a lawsuit on their behalf. A spokesman for the museum apologized and said the employees would be retrained.
“Asking visitors to remove hats and clothing is not in keeping with our policy or protocols,” Alison Wood said in a statement. “We provided immediate retraining that day to prevent a reoccurrence of this kind of error.” Wood added that the museum “welcomes all visitors without regard to their beliefs. We do not deny access to our museums based on the messages on visitors’ clothing.”
The Washington Times reported on Wednesday that the National Archives and Records Administration has agreed to settle the lawsuit by apologizing in person and scheduling a private tour.
“The Proposed Consent Order is a product of good-faith, arms-length negotiation,” said the filing. “The Parties took into consideration the litigation risks, the benefits to both parties avoiding those risks and of protracted litigation, and the public interest, including that the Proposed Consent Order sends a message of NARA’s intention and commitment to upholding Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.”
The students alleged that the National Air and Space Museum employees violated their First and Fifth Amendments and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which Senator Chuck Schumer introduced and Bill Clinton signed into law in 1993.
Photo credit: Pedro Szekely (Creative Common) – Some rights reserved
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I suggest that those employees who demeaned and denied the students entrance to the NARA due to not agreeing with the message on their hats, be either dismissed or suspended without pay. That is the only way to deal with the anti-Constitutional crowd who seems to think they are the gatekeepers of taxpayer funded venues.
Of course, I also suggest that the employees had to have some reason to think that they could get away with their behavior, perhaps, they had been told from their bosses that dissent from the leftist propaganda would not be tolerated on the premises. Wanna be political and stay employed by the citizens? Do it on your own time.
Just sayin’.
Those employees should be Fined for the Total Cost of Transportation, Accommodations and Meals when the Students return for Their Private Tour!