Saturday, March 16, 2013

NEWS: Opponents of Religious Freedom "factually challenged"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 14, 2013

LEXINGTON, KY--A spokesman for the Family Foundation said today that the campaign against the Religious Freedom Act (HB 279) that has been mounted by the ACLU and gay rights groups is "factually challenged."

Martin Cothran said that the only legal case these groups have been able to produce to supposedly "prove" that HB 279 could lead to diminishing civil rights protections has nothing to do with the proposed Kentucky law. HB 279 is on the Governor's desk for his signature and these groups are trying to get him to veto it.

"The case that Chris Hartman of the Fairness Alliance is pointing to is a Minnesota Supreme Court case from the 1980's that is unique to Minnesota because of the language in that state's constitution. But even then, it is almost completely exceptional in the law. It also precedes the Religious Freedom Restoration Act on which HB 279 is modeled, so it has little to do with the RFRA standard."

"This is the only case they've got, and it's completely irrelevant. It is a measure of how weak their legal case against this law really is."

Cothran said this has been pointed out to Hartman, but he has continued to cite the case. "When it's been pointed out that you are mistaken, it's time to stop saying what you've been saying. This is just a measure of how low the standards of integrity are with the groups that are trying to stop this bill."

Cothran said his group fears that without this law, groups like the Fairness Alliance would continue to push for legislation that infringes on First Amendment religious freedom rights.

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