Unitarian Universalist FaithAction NJ

July 2016

by UU FA OfficeJuly 20, 2016January 4, 2019

Monthly Liaison Conference Call Minutes

July 13, 2016, 7 PM

In Attendance:

Kim Mitchell (Plainfield)

Al Stawsky (Palisades)

Laurice Grae-Hauck, Administrator

Rev. Rob Gregson, Exec. Dir.

AGENDA:

Congregations Check-in:

Kim Mitchell (Plainfield): 6 murders this year. The mayor has started a public safety initiative. FUSP has signed on to provide meeting space, per recommendation of BLofUU, and healing space for Black Lives organizations. (Kim is interested in database research.) Admin has taken on social justice work, Sharon Maguire. New minister beginning August 1.
Laurice (Montclair): June 12 solitary confinement event with Senator Lesniak. Standing room only. The solitary cell remained on the church yard and has gotten a lot of attention.
Al Stawsky (Palisades): Social justice groups form 3 Bergen Co congregations are working closer together. BLM rally/demonstration at Hackensack courthouse on Tuesday, July 12, first BLM event in Bergen Co. Carol Loscalzo, RJ task force chair, and Ilene Gilbert were there as well. 150 black youth from the area helped to make the event possible. Police brought water to the demonstrators. See link. 6^th Juneteenth celebration on the 19^thall 3 Bergen Co. congregations sponsored a booth and shared a lot of educational materials, BLM buttons, and wristbands.

News:

Moment of Silence Rob took 30 seconds at the beginning of the meeting to remember and honor all of the victims of last week’s shootings in LA, MN, and TX.
Issues Conference- Saturday, October 15, 2016 in Morristown from 3-9. Chris Crass will be our keynote speaker! Get it on your congregational calendars now! Registration will open in September.
6th UU Black Lives Matter Summit: “Debriefing General Assembly – Where Do We Go From Here?” on Sunday, July 24th from 2:00 – 6:30 pm at Paint Branch UU Church in Adelphi (Prince George’s County, Maryland).
UU Congregations & Local Police Gregson sees any outreach to be clearly linked to our Dismantling Racism work–we reach out in order to “widen the circle” to both groups with special attention to the historic power of structural racism.
Trenton Rally Possibility Are considering coordinating a rally in Trenton to push legislators to consider and pass legislation pending that would force systemic change. Stay tuned.
Congregations Struggling to Make Sense of BLM Many congregations are struggling with their support of the Black Lives Matter movement. How can we help? Is there a way to provide a place for UUs statewide to talk? Al suggesting making available “11 Misconceptions About the BLM Movement”. How do we create a safe space for open conversation?

Task Force:

Criminal Justice: Lots of activity recently. Parole reform bill is before the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow. Rob will be presenting testimony. Solitary confinement bill S51/A547 passed senate and is in committee in the Assembly. Racial impact statement bill S677 passed the senate 36-0. Now in Assembly Law & Public Safety Committee. Phone rate bill S1880/A1419 passed both houses.

Reminders

Email Signup page is available on the website. Bookmark this and your new supporters go right into our system. If you have taken information on paper and did not capture mailing addresses, type NA in required fields. As we do major fundraising the information on the new user signup page is all important. Thank you in advance. http://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/51510/c/301/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=9501
ACTION ALERTS! If you are printing UULMNJ drafted letters to representatives and mailing them from your congregation, it is important that we have the sender information. As we expand our organization we need to have the full breadth of supporter info and engagement for fundraising purposes and efficacy analysis. Please send names and addresses (either street or email) for any of these mailings.

Adjourned at 8:12

Minutes submitted by Laurice Grae-Hauck, UULMNJ Administrator

UULMNJ Marching for a Clean Energy Revolution!

by UU FA OfficeJuly 18, 2016

CER March Header

Americans Against Fracking and Pennsylvanians Against Fracking have organized the March for a Clean Energy Revolution. It is being organized by a broad coalition of organizations and grassroots groups from all over the United States, including the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.

Fracking is impacting community health, water, air, and the climate on which we all depend, and we are calling on both the Democratic and Republican Parties to include a ban on fracking, environmental justice, keeping fossil fuels in the ground, stopping dirty energy, and a quick and just transition to 100% renewable energy in their platforms. There is a major action planned on the eve of the Democratic National Convention because Pennsylvania is one of the states that has been most impacted by the expansion of fracking.

The convention will afford a national spotlight on these important issues and the need for our elected leaders to take action. Also, with the national attention afforded by the convention and the presence of many key elected leaders there, it is a tremendous opportunity to bring the message of the need for bold action to these leaders and the public at large.

The March for a Clean Energy Revolution will be a peaceful action expressing our power through our voices, presence, and creativity. We will demonstrate the strength and commitment of our movement, demand the end to dirty fossil fuels and catapult the need for 100% renewable energy onto the national agenda on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.

In order to create a peaceful, family-friendly, and uniting event, those participating in the march agree that:
1. Violence, either physical or verbal, has no place in this event.
2. We will not vandalize or damage anything during this event.
3. We will maintain a tone of respect and honesty, as well as commit to calming any escalatory situations that arise.
4. We will not carry weapons, illegal drugs, or alcohol during this event.
5. We are all responsible for supporting each other to uphold these agreements.

Please help us in our effort to account for our New Jersey UU contingent by signing up here.

What You Need to Know

For all who are attending, especially for those who are not entirely familiar with the city, it is necessary to know where to be, where to go, and when to move. On this page, you can find a schedule that outlines all of this for you, so that you can be fully involved in the march.

The weekend starts on Saturday, July 23 with the activists’ Summit at the Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street in Philly. The Summit will run from 9:00AM til 6:30PM, and will feature a mix of educational workshops, organizing skills training, and strategy development sessions. Come prepared to acquire new skills and strategies to take back to your local campaigns and to meet people working on similar efforts in their communities across the country. Check here for updates.

The Interfaith Service starts at 12 noon, in the interior courtyard at City Hall. Contingents will line up on the south side of City Hall – exact location TBD, but there will be plenty of marshals to help folks get organized. UULMNJ meet up to be determined.

March-Details-Map.jpg-1024x780 The March steps off from City Hall at about 12:45 – 1:00. The March will be led by representatives of indigenous communities and other front-line folks who are particularly impacted by fracking and other extreme energy extraction. The exact order of march is still being determined, but as of now the Faith Contingent will be towards the end. This puts some responsibility on us to make sure the March has a big finish!

We’ll march one mile to Independence Hall where we’ll end with a collective action.

If you need mobility assistance, please email accessibility@cleanenergymarch.org for more information.

– In order to maintain everyone’s safety, it is important to be prepared for what the day provides us: weather, exercise, and a time-sensitive schedule.

– Bring your own water bottle! There will be water tanks for filling up, but no bottles.

– Wear weather appropriate clothing. As of Monday morning the Philadelphia forecast for July 24 is a high of 97 and mostly sunny! (Bring sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses, etc.)

– We’ll be walking (marching) a lot, wear comfortable shoes.

– This March will be hours long, bring snacks.

– Feel free to bring a sign or poster to show your support for a Clean Energy Revolution! No metal or wooden poles. If you wish to hold your sign high we recommend rolling poster board into a tube and attaching to your sing with tape.

Other details will be posted here as they become available!

PRINT AT HOME POSTERS & SIGNS

Click on an image below to download a PDF for print

A Message On the (Latest) Terrible Week

by UU FA OfficeJuly 11, 2016

Dear fellow Unitarian Universalists and our friends:
I sent you all an email last week immediately following the all-too-familiar shooting deaths by the police of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, LA and Philando Castile outside St. Paul, MN.

I need to do the same now following the terrible violence against the police in Dallas last Thursday night, with five officers killed: Brent Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol, Lorne Ahrens, and Michael Smith. We must also note that, according to news accounts, at least 3 other police officers were shot in alleged copy cat ambushes in Georgia, Tennessee and Missouri. As of today, the officer in St. Louis MO is listed as being in critical but stable condition.

For now these events send us even deeper into mourning and a kind of national despair.

I hope you have had a chance to reflect and mourn–perhaps on Sunday in the embrace of your home congregation, or with those you love and can speak to about your deepest thoughts and fears.

I won’t reiterate what so many have said already, and better than I ever could. I want instead to say we are here, we are doing the long-term work necessary in New Jersey to halt the abuse and neglect of people of color and people struggling to get by, economically and otherwise.

Below you will see specific actions you can take in New Jersey now to act on your deepest feelings and convictions around the terrible events of last week and the months (and years) before. I realize the turn around time is short, but perhaps some of you will be able to attend today’s rally and prayer vigil. You would be very welcome to join our Racial Justice Task Force or Criminal Justice Task Force to push for longer-term gains.

For an excellent article on the uniquely American confluence of violence and guns I recommend this article by Adam Gopnik in the July 8 The New Yorker, The Horrific, Predictable Result of A Widely Armed Citizenry.

I believe it is disingenuous of us not to state, openly and without fear, how our national gun policy has facilitated not only racially-biased killings, but many preventable deaths across a range of groups.
I have another idea I would like to float and see where it might take our faith witness together in this state.

If you would be interested in joining with me to create an organized, well thought out approach to local and county-level police on the part of NJ UU congregations, please be in touch.

If we are to be both a gadfly AND support to our police–if we are to cry out against institutionalized racism as it affects policing as well as help those who stand on the front lines of violence and guns in American culture–then it seems to me, we have a special responsibility to engage with the police. As Unitarian Universalists. Long term. Building relationships. Reaching out to a group we often think of in our progressive circles as “the other.” Not Us.

Spiritual work, always. Justice work, and hands on work too. I would like to hear from you if this idea appeals. Please see my contact information below. If you have other ideas, please let me know them as well. Meanwhile, we will remain in touch and we here at UULMNJ will continue to advocate on your behalf on bail reform, income inequality, criminal and reproductive and environmental justice, and how institutional racism intersects with them all. At least some of the reasons that a group like the UU Legislative Ministry matters.

I trust that you and your families and friends are well and keeping your spirits up. We walk on together.

In faith and abiding hope,

Rev. Rob Gregson
Executive Director, UULMNJ
execdir@uulmnj.org

Upcoming Events

People’s Organization for Progress March & Rally

Monday July 11 at 4:30

465 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Newark
MLK Jr. Blvd. and Springfield Ave.

A Time to Pray: Prayer Service

Monday, July 11 at 7:30

St. Mark’s Methodist Church
51 Elm Street
Montclair, NJ 07042

Black Lives Matter Rally/Discussion Event

Tuesday, July 12 at 7:30

Bergen County Courthouse
10 Main St., Hackensack

West Orange March for Peace, Justice, Dignity, and Respect

Wednesday, July 13 at 6:30

66 Main Street, West Orange

Morris Area Interfaith Vigil for Peace & Justice

Wednesday, July 13 at 7:30

Morristown United Methodist Church
50 South Park Place, Morristown

A New Jersey Unitarian Universalist Response to the Latest Examples of Police Brutality Against African Americans

by UU FA OfficeJuly 7, 2016

Dear Friends,

Many of us here in New Jersey have already seen the headlines, probably multiple times. Perhaps you watched the emotionally wrenching videos of police in Baton Rouge and Falcon Heights, Minnesota shooting black men–to death–with no clear probable cause or justification. And have thought, “Again?? How is this possible?!”

The facts on these individual cases will continue to come forth. What is clear beyond any reasonable doubt–and has been for some time now–is that black Americans are being shot and killed, out of any possible proportion or rational response, by the very people charged to protect American life and liberty.

We are neighbors, living in the same state, and we are Unitarian Univeralists. We are called to shout and mourn, to lament what is happening to our brothers and sisters privately and in our worship. We are also called to “give them garlands instead of ashes” in the words of the well-loved hymn.

We see and honor and curse over the ashes. And then we reach for the garlands, for our children, for the future we build together. Here are some suggestions for mourning our murdered African-American dead–and too many have been murdered, make no mistake–and for rising up, singing.

1) Reach out to local black organizing groups and churches.

As called for this week by the Black Lives UU (BLUU) national organizing group, as an initial step we can at the very least offer our buildings and meeting space as sanctuaries and gathering points for African-American organizers and volunteers. Follow this linkfor more information–including tips on how white allies can best help and inadvertently hurt during such a traumatizing moment in time.

Or, to contribute to Black Lives Matter directly you can do so here.

2) Ask your minister or worship coordinator to include a lament at the start of the service next Sunday. We ask for prayers and words of mourning and calls for atonement during this time in the wilderness, when white Americans struggle to own their history and combat the long effects of institutional racism while people of color too often struggle simply to survive.

3) Contact your person in NJ state and national government to keep the focus on police training, accountability and transparency.
Don’t think senators, assembly people, town mayors or police chiefs will pay attention to your call or email? Think again. At the very least, THEY COUNT. Let’s get our voices heard and keep the heat on elected officials to halt police violence against people of color.

4) Find out who is working on the UU Black Lives Matter! movement in your congregation and see how you can pitch in. Most likely there is someone, or even a group, that has committed themselves to doing the soul-growing work of confronting institutionalized racism within the context of our First UU Principle, “The inherent worth and dignity of every person.’

5) Join us: the UULMNJ, the voice for social justice action and long term reform in your home state.

That’s us, the UU Legislative Ministry of New Jersey. We have an active and effective Criminal Justice Task Force and are at the forefront of UU groups using the lens of institutionalized racism to work for comprehensive and lasting immigration, reproductive and environmental justice, gun violence prevention and reform, among others.

We are with you at this wrenching time. We have been working hard for years now, and will continue to do so to ensure that, someday, the killings in Ferguson, Waller TX, Baltimore, Baton Rouge and too many other places will stop. I hope you find the resolve to do something in your congregation and your life to bring garlands instead of ashes. Let us know how we can help.

In faith and abiding hope,
Rev. Rob Gregson

Let’s Make it Happen Together!

by UU FA OfficeJuly 6, 2016

Dear Supporters and Friends of the UU Legislative Ministry of New Jersey:

It is with great pleasure that I join with the Board, Legislative Task Force Chairs and other leaders of the UU Legislative Ministry of New Jersey my first week as the new full time Executive Director of the UULMNJ.

This congregation-supported nonprofit–a combination of our deepest UU spiritual values with a “roll up our sleeves and let’s make it happen” attitude–has come a long way since it began in 2009. Under the guidance of past and present lay and clergy members, and the able leadership of the Rev. Craig Hirshberg as the most recent Executive Director, the UULMNJ has become a loud and influential voice for progressive social change in New Jersey: stopping the use and abuse of solitary confinement, pressing for Equal Marriage for gay and lesbian couples, confronting and calling out racism in all its guises, income inequality and immigrants’ rights…the list is long and compelling.

And it doesn’t stop now. Quite the opposite. We continue to stand and press and sing and visit legislators and cosponsor bills and speak out in our congregations so others know what remains at stake in our democracy and our neighborhoods.

I am beyond pleased to have this job and to grow my own soul as we work to make New Jersey a more humane place to live. We have such a unique and important role to play as a faith community in the larger world. We bear witness. And we speak out for justice.

I look forward to meeting many of you in the months and years ahead. I hope you will join me and our dedicated Board, Task Force groups, talented staff and many volunteers to speak out for the values that guide and join us together in something better and bigger than we would otherwise be.

If I or the UULMNJ can be of any help to you, your Social Action/Social Justice Committee, your ministry or congregation please let me know.

In faith and abiding hope,
Rev. Rob Gregson

UULMNJ Provides Testimony Supporting Racial Impact Statements

by UU FA OfficeJune 22, 2016

On Monday, June 20 the co-chair of our Dismantling Racism Group, Rohn Hein, provided testimony before the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee in support of SB-677 that would require a racial and ethnic impact statement for certain bills and regulations affecting sentencing. To learn more about the bill click here.

Senate Law and Public Safety Committee, Monday, June 20, 2016

S-677 Requiring Racial Impact Statement

My name is Rohn Hein and I represent the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of New Jersey. I want to thank Chairwoman Linda Greenstein and the other members of the committee for allowing me the opportunity to say a few words in support of S-677, a bill that requires the development of a racial impact statement on bills before the state legislature.

The UU Legislative Ministry of NJ represents all of the UU Churches in the State of New Jersey and we believe as part of our seven principles – the inherent worth of every human being. Over the last forty years as our country has attempted to deal with the huge damage done to our society by the use of illicit drugs, legislation has been passed at both the national and state level with no regard to how disproportionately they would affect people of color. The main goal was to eradicate the problem and punish those we thought were the bad guys. The unintended consequences of these imprudent measures were a burgeoning prison population that is predominantly made up of blacks and Hispanics. As the bills were being discussed, no one even raised a question as to the final result of these actions. No one even raised their hand and said, “Let’s go slow and take a look at how this plays out.”

We at the UU Legislative Ministry are raising our collective hands and saying, “Let’s take our time and do our homework this time.”

Why we should be in such a hurry to pass legislation without a conclusive look at how we are acting racially. Too many people are saying that we live in a color blind society and that we don’t need this scrutiny. We say, if everyone believes that all sectors of our communities are being protected, what harm does it cause for us to make a rational, racial impact statement on each piece of legislation that this august body decides upon

Let’s not make a rush to judgment when patience and understanding could serve us better in creating an atmosphere of harmony and peace together.

Support S677 for Racial Justice in the Criminal Justice System

by UU FA OfficeJune 17, 2016

Challenge Racial Disparity in the NJ Criminal Justice System! Support Senate Bill 677!

A bill will be coming up for vote in the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee on Monday that would require a racial and ethnic impact statement for certain bills and regulations affecting sentencing. We are asking our supporters to write the committee members and urge them to move this important racial and criminal justice measure to the floor for a vote.

Racial disparities in the justice system have been shown to harm not only individuals in the system, but also their families and communities. A recent ACLU report found that black and Hispanic people, particularly men, were between two and 10 times more likely to be arrested for petty crimes than white offenders in four New Jersey cities..

ACLU-NJ’s executive director, Udi Ofer, says “Whether the cities were large or small, or in north, central or southern New Jersey, the data revealed a clear pattern of people of color bearing the brunt of police practices.”

New Jersey’s prison population has grown from 6,087 in 1980 to 21,590 in 2014. In New Jersey, African Americans represent 12.9% in the general population yet African Americans make up over 60% of New Jersey’s prison population.

S677 would challenge racial disparity in targeted ways:

S677 will govern a process for racial impact statements, a tool for lawmakers to evaluate the potential disparities of proposed legislation on persons of color prior to adoption and implementation. Analogous to environmental impact statements, they assist legislators in detecting unforeseen policy ramifications before the change is adopted, rather than once they have been implemented;
S677 would require the racial and ethnic impact statement to include a statistical analysis of how the change in policy would affect racial and ethnic minorities;
S677 would amend public distribution for notices to appear in the Register for adoption, amendment, or repeal of any rule to include a racial impact statement.

In recent years other states – Connecticut, Iowa, and Oregon — have adopted similar legislation.
The passage of Senate Bill 677 is a step in the right direction to challenge racial disparity in New Jersey.

Resources

‘Extreme’ racial disparity in local N.J. arrests, ACLU report finds

The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons

A Reflection on the Orlando Shootings

by UU FA OfficeJune 14, 2016

Along with everyone else, my heart is heavy as I watch coverage of the Orlando shootings. On one level I am excruciatingly saddened by the aftermath. My heart breaks as I think of those fifty families and what they must be going through; as I think of those who must feel grateful, as odd as that sounds, that their loved ones were only wounded; as I think of the existing trauma for those who got out alive, physically unharmed, as they continuously relive the events of the night. And my heart is heavy for the LGBTQ community. Simply knowing that by gathering and celebrating life together can create a target for those who hate must instill tremendous fear.

My heart is heavy for the Muslim community, who once again is blamed in total for the acts of a lone, deranged terrorist.

In the midst of the horror, however, arises the human spirit – the invincible human spirit with the capacity to love in the face of hate, to extend a hand in the face of fear, and to live compassionately in the face of abhorrent acts. Our faith calls us to rise above the horror, to raise up the sanctity of life as we mourn the loss of young lives. Our faith calls us to raise up the right of all to openly love whom they love. As we denounce the violence in Orlando, let us cling to all that is loving and fair and decent and just in our world. It is the greatest protection we have.

In Faith,

Rev. Craig

Landmark Ruling Halts Unconstitutional Taxpayer Funding of NJ Yeshiva and Seminary

by UU FA OfficeMay 26, 2016

Article originally found on ACLU.org

May 26, 2016

Plaintiffs Rev. Craig Hirshberg and Gloria Schor Andersen

Court rules that Christie administration’s $11 million+ grant to religious schools violated NJ Constitution

In a groundbreaking victory against government sponsorship of religion, a New Jersey appellate court ruled that the administration of Gov. Chris Christie violated the New Jersey Constitution when it awarded more than $11 million to two religious institutions of higher learning. This decision (PDF) by the Appellate Division represents the first major state court precedent in almost 40 years concerning New Jersey’s prohibition on using taxpayer funding to support a religious ministry.

The ACLU of New Jersey, national ACLU, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State successfully challenged New Jersey’s grants of $10.6 million to Beth Medrash Govoha, an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Lakewood, and $645,323 to Princeton Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian seminary, both of which are dedicated to religious training and engage in discrimination. The yeshiva trains Orthodox Jewish rabbis, excludes women, and employs only male, Jewish faculty. The seminary “prepares women and men to serve Jesus Christ in ministries” and permits only Christians to be degree students or faculty.

“This is a victory for civil rights and a victory for New Jersey taxpayers, who should never have to subsidize institutions that discriminate or that exist to teach their particular religious doctrine,” said ACLU-NJ Legal Director Ed Barocas. “Everyone has a fundamental constitutional right to worship freely. At the same time, the government must respect the right of New Jersey taxpayers to know that their money will never be responsible for propping up particular sects’ religious ministries.”

The unconstitutional funding for the two schools has been on hold as a result of the legal challenge.

The New Jersey Constitution specifically forbids taxpayer funds from going toward the maintenance of a church or ministry, as the organizations argued before the court on April 11, 2016. This ruling sets the first New Jersey precedent regarding which religious institutions qualify as a “ministry.”

“New Jersey’s Constitution forbids giving state funding to divinity schools, and for very good reason,” said Alex J. Luchenitser, Americans United’s Associate Legal Director. “Tax dollars should go toward projects that benefit all the people of the state, not ones that aid only particular faiths.”

In April 2013, Beth Medrash Govoha and Princeton Theological Seminary stood out on a list the Christie administration released of 176 New Jersey colleges and universities set to receive funds for construction projects through a voter-approved bond sale. Both institutions train clergy, provide religious instruction, and engage in discrimination on the basis of religion or gender.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the ACLU-NJ, Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of New Jersey, a former Hebrew school teacher, and two other New Jersey taxpayers.

“Today’s ruling sends a powerful reminder that the government shouldn’t be in the business of underwriting clergy training,” said Daniel Mach, Director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.

In the brief filed against Secretary of Higher Education Rochelle Hendricks, the plaintiffs cited three violations of the state Constitution, which prohibits using taxpayer funds:

For the maintenance of any church or ministryTo subsidize or build facilities at which religious services or instruction will take placeTo subsidize private interests rather than the public interest

Although the court based its ruling solely on the New Jersey Constitution and state precedent, the groups also argued that New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination prohibits any place of public accommodation from discriminating based on religion or sex. While the yeshiva and seminary are private religious entities that are permitted to discriminate with their own resources, the state government cannot give special benefits that subsidize and support that discrimination.

“Although the court did not reach the plaintiff’s sex discrimination claim, its invalidation of the Christie administration’s $10.6 million grant to the yeshiva ensures that public dollars will not contribute to the exclusion of women,” said Galen Sherwin, Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. “As a private religious institution, the yeshiva can limit its enrollment exclusively to men, but the state should play no role in supporting such discrimination.”

The New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education’s website identifies each school as a “theological institution.” The court’s decision ruled that in this case, there was no significant legal distinction between sectarian institutions of higher education and sectarian primary and secondary schools.

“Here, unlike other broad-based liberal arts colleges that received grants, both the Yeshiva and the Seminary are sectarian institutions. Their facilities funded by the Department’s grants indisputably will be used substantially if not exclusively for religious instruction. …

“We discern no principled distinction between the consumption of public resources that was invalidated under Article I, Paragraph 3 in Resnick and the payment of taxpayer-funded grants to the Yeshiva and the Seminary. The fact that most or many of the students at the Yeshiva and the Seminary do not eventually become ‘ministers,’ rabbis, or other clergy does not cure the constitutional infirmity, just as the fact that the adults and children who received religious instruction in Resnick were laypeople did not alter the Court’s analysis. Nor does the fact that the Department’s awards to these sectarian schools were part of a larger competitive grant process involving non-sectarian recipients solve the problem. The public school buildings in Resnick were also used by non-religious groups, but that did not eliminate the district’s constitutional violation in allowing religious groups to use them on a subsidized basis,” the opinion read.

Issue: Religious Freedom

« Marijuana Legalization Would Bring 100s of Millions to NJ in Tax Revenue, Says New Report by NJ Policy Groups

Laurice Grae-Hauck is the Outreach Coordinator of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.

ACTION ALERT: Override Pay Equity Veto!

by UU FA OfficeMay 16, 2016

On March 26 we sent an Action Alert out, asking our supporters to write Governor Christie and ask for him to sign bill S992/A2750, the Pay Equity Act. You responded with overwhelming supporting, make this the most successful online advocacy piece UULMNJ has issued!

Unfortunately for the families of New Jersey, a week ago Governor Christie made national headlines (see articles linked below) when he conditionally vetoed the Pay Equity Act which passed with strong support in both houses – with a 28-4 vote in the Senate and 54-14-6 in the Assembly- in March. The Governor called the bill “nonsensical and makes New Jersey very business unfriendly. The former presidential candidate also worries that the Pay Equity Act “would make New Jersey a liberal outlier.”

We are asking you to now write your local legislators to urge them to stand with women and families by pledging their support for an override of Governor Christie’s veto.

Chris Christie Just Vetoed Equal Pay For Women, And You Won’t Believe Why

Governor Chris Christie Vetoes New Jersey Pay Equity Bill

Christie vetoes N.J. equal pay bill

Women leaders press Christie to sign pay equity bill

Laurice Grae-Hauck is the Outreach Coordinator of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.

What You Need to Know

PRINT AT HOME POSTERS & SIGNS

Upcoming Events

Resources

Related Articles