More of This

I'm a fan of the Classic American Civil Liberties Union.  You know, the one that defend ill sorts of truly horrible people, the Nazis Marching in Skokie, Illinois, opposing the internment of Japanese during WWII, the Scopes trial, etc., all of which were deeply unpopular.

These days, it seems that they have moved away their constitution absolutism, kind of the New ACLU, in the same manner of the New Coke, which disappoints me.

That being said, IO am heartened to learn that the ACLU still has some of its old chops, because they just defended a high school Satan club in Pennsylvania.

I am doubly amused that this occurred in Hellertown, Pennsylvania.

A school district in Pennsylvania must allow students to convene an After School Satan Club, a federal judge ruled on Monday.

“In a victory for free speech and religious freedom, a federal court has ruled that the Saucon Valley School District [Hellerton, PA] must allow the After School Satan Club to meet in district facilities,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced.

In a Monday filing, issued in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and shared by the ACLU, a judge found that “here, although The Satanic Temple, Inc.’s objectors may challenge the sanctity of this controversially named organization, the sanctity of the First Amendment’s protections must prevail.”

The school district must allow the After School Satan Club, which is sponsored by The Satanic Temple, to meet during the school year on three previously agreed-upon dates, but it won’t have to distribute permission slips for the club for students to take home, according to the filing.

The national ACLU, the ACLU of Pennsylvania and Dechert LLP filed the suit against the school district on behalf of The Satanic Temple in March, arguing the district violated the First Amendment by prohibiting the club from meeting in the district’s facilities.

I consider this to be the feel good story of the day.