Pence and the Indiana Legislature were warned by 30 expert law professors

[babylonsister]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/31/1374579/-Pence-and-the-Indiana-Legislature-were-warned-by-30-expert-law-professors?detail=facebook_sf#

Tue Mar 31, 2015 at 08:18 AM PDT
Pence and the Indiana Legislature were warned by 30 expert law professors

by feduphoosier


I'll get straight to the point. Pence and the Indiana Legislature were warned - in advance - that this RFRA was very different than the ones passed in other states.

An 11 page letter dated Feb. 27, 2015 was sent to Rep. Ed DeLaney from 30 expert law professors in religious freedom and civil rights (12 from IU law schools) giving their opinion on Indiana's then proposed RFRA.

Letter can be found here:
http://web.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/microsites/gender-sexuality/law_professors_letter_on_indiana_rfra.pdf

The Indiana Legislature pushed on with this bill anyway, very quickly, and before Hoosiers had time to realize what was happening. I'm sure that was intended. Pence then closed himself off from the people of this state, shut off his phones, and signed the bill in a closed room with a staged photo and no media present. The media was not even allowed to interview the people in the photo.

Read the letter above. Pass it around. Pence knew exactly what this bill meant, who it was targeting, and how it would be interpreted. He threw the whole state under the bus. Many of us here, including the Indianapolis Star, believe he has done this because he has ambitions to be president. Never let that happen.

[Hekate]

1. KnR

[samsingh]

2. when to repugs listen to facts, when made up lies are more consistent with what they want to do

anyway.

and what do fancy educators from those fancy lecture halls and their many published books really know.

[Thinkingabout]

3. They are now squirming. Their lies may work on FOX but we do not listen to FOX.

[Surya Gayatri]

4. law professors? We don't need no stiiiinking law professors.

Said the gang of idiots and bigots.

[niyad]

5. probably a bunch of liberal, commie, over-educted freaks. why would we listen to them?

[Jon82]

29. Pence said on TV that it is the same so it must be

I guess he thinks that since he says it is the same on television interviews nobody will bother to actually do a little research and read the truth for themselves.

[Skittles]

34. he knows his stupid fans will believe him

[niyad]

41. welcome to du. his followers and their ilk have some strange fear of truth and facts.

[Dustlawyer]

37. Just a bunch of elitist ambulance chasers! What do lawyer professors know anyway?

[niyad]

42. so true. I guess only graduates of liberty law count.

[packman]

6. It was that "common sense" approach

posted about this earlier. To Pence and his ilk, it just made sense:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026432474

[d_legendary1]

7. That's cuz they answer to a "higher" authority

If you can't hear him telling you what a good idea this is, then you need to get your ass to church

[randr]

8. Now is the time to permanently brand these homophobes for the un American bigots they are

And with all the passengers in the clown car on board I say hold them against the ropes.
If they do not like the freedoms all Americans deserve they need to find a new country.

[Jon82]

30. They do not care about a free America

They only care about their own agenda. Pretty much "Land of the free only if you agree with me." Thankfully, people across the nation are demonstrating the real truth that bigotry is not freedom and will not be tolerated (if only Arkansas would pay attention).

[uponit7771]

39. +1

[Stryst]

9. Trying to turn gay rights into a wedge issue for one more election cycle

And screw the rest of the state as long as he gets a chance to suckle at that fat super PAC teat.

[dembotoz]

17. yep you nailed it

need something that will rally the base and bring in the bucks

[MerryBlooms]

10. rec & kick

[Brother Buzz]

11. I don't think anybody could have predicted that they would try to use an airplane as a missile

[Enthusiast]

23. All Republicans lie. It's what they do.

[Iliyah]

12. Carnival Cruz stated that Climate Scientists were "Flat Earthers"

and anyone else who believed in the earth's warming up. So therefore, these deniers truly believe in speaking to their GAWD, that they are always on the right path and everybody who does not believe like them are stupid.

[morningfog]

13. It's clear they went ahead because of this. They wanted to intimidate and discriminate.

[Eleanors38]

19. "intimidate and discriminate:"

I find it very stupid that anyone or any entity thinks they can do these things to the LGBTQ community. This association is the most powerful pressure group in the U.S., save for the NRA.

[irisblue]

35. Eleanors38, I need a clarification

"This association is the most powerful pressure group in the U.S., save for the NRA." not sure what you are implying or meaning here. Can you explain this to me, thanks irisblue

[Eleanors38]

46. Well, policy and governance are affected by pressure/interest groups. Among the most...

powerful, IMO, are the constellation of organizations making up the LGBTQ community, and the NRA. Different interests, different goals, different ways of acting, but both hugely powerful and both capable of turning votes around. I'm not a member of either, but I note their respective power.

[salin]

14. great letter

The public comments in the Indy Star coverage of the gov.s presser today - reflects that readers do not buy the "confusion"/"misunderstood" line which just needs some "clarification".

Thanks for posting this.

[gordianot]

15. And Pence claimed "minimal opposition "

He also forgot there was a party line vote. It will be fun to see the fix later this week now that he acknowledges it will not go away.

[Adrahil]

16. And THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of other Hoosiers n/t

[The CCC]

18. Pence and the Indiana Legislature were warned by 30 expert law professors

If you can't figure out why someone does something it's because they want to.
Occam's Switchblade.

[Bluenorthwest]

20. And yet DU is full of straight people claiming the law is the same as the Federal law and other

States. It's not.

[riderinthestorm]

21. Yup. Surprising ones as well who purport to be lawyers even

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026440775#

[Zorra]

22. dirty business, dirty laundry. nt

[mobeau69]

24. Q.

The letter was addressed only to DeLaney. How is it you know that other lawmakers and Pence were made aware of it? By the way, it is a great read and thanks for posting it. I want to share this with others but I just need to be able to respond to the question herein.

[handmade34]

25. "a solution in search of a problem" n/t

[Delphinus]

26. Thank you.

Hope these lies keep on falling.

[ErikJ]

27. He's going for Supreme Leader of the Christian States of America

[Nye Bevan]

28. Of course he saw this as a feature as opposed to a bug (nt)

[Midnight Writer]

33. Pence believes Christianity is so inherently bigoted

that Christians need special laws to protect their intolerance.

Christians should be insulted.

[bvf]

40. I can't speak for what Pence actually believes

but his political calculus told him that signing this into law was a win.

As long as Christians (or any otherwise religious people) by-and-large are comfortable with authority dictating their "reasoning," things aren't going to change, IMO.

[Major Hogwash]

31. Pence is small potatoes.

Compared to other heavyweights like George HW Bush, Bob Dole, John McCain, hell, even Jeb Bush, Pence is just a pencil pushing douchebag!

[MFrohike]

32. That law is a piece of work

From what I've read, it seems as though it would permit ANY discrimination based on religion, whether sincerely held or not. I'm waiting on the Christian Identity people to open a business and start using it as a shield for their bullshit. I'd love to see Pence and the legislature defend THAT.

[B Calm]

36. Pence is a right-wing teabagging Bigot!

[Hugin]

38. Experts don't matter to zelots.

It's how they roll.

Yet, there are those among us who think they'll compromise.

[Grammy23]

43. This is what I told my husband yesterday before I knew about this letter

From the legal scholars. Every one of those big corporations that asked Pence and the Indiana legislature to reconsider this law have legal departments whose primary function is to examine the company's Liabilty risks, as well as to be prepared to defend that company in the event of legal action against the company. Those legal teams knew what was going to happen if the law was signed and enacted and more than likely had a "come to Jesus" meeting with their CEOs and other leaders in the company and explained the legal risks they would encounter. And the law suits that they would face. Nothing clarifies the issue for a company like the prospects of facing litigation. Thus, the United front by some of the major companies in Indiana.

Now that Arkansas has entered the fray with their own legislation regarding "religious freedom", we see the same thing happening....companies speaking to the state leaders asking them to hold up on legislation, without much success, I might add. Guess time will tell if Arkansas' Governor will sign the law.

[valerief]

44. So whatever PTB wanted this bill passed is a Grand Pubah of the PTB. nt

[WestSeattle2]

45. Pence is a demonstrable liar. His national aspirations are finished.