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Okay, seriously, you are a government agency. YOUR EMPLOYEES NEED TO STOP VIOLATING THE ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION!
HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU NEED TO BE TOLD?
WHY do you insist on doing it?
Once again I used the Transportation bus - for a Medicaid ride - and the driver was playing a religious radio station on the vehicle's radio, loudly enough that I could hear it all the way in the back.
You have been contacted multiple times by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) and informed that this needs to stop. I know this because they did it on my behalf.
Well now I am telling you myself, despite the likelihood of being ostracized and/or treated differently.
Are you even telling your drivers that they may not do so, and that it is against the law?
Let me refresh everyone's memory here:
"Amendment One
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
The United States Supreme Court decided that it applies to ALL levels and agencies of government, from federal to municipal, and this is backed up in two places.
First, in the main body of the Constitution itself, is Article VI, Clause 2:
"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."
Second is with the Equal Protection Clause at the end of the 14th Amendment:
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Your drivers are government employees, representatives of the government, and as such are extensions of the government, and so may not act in violation of any Federal and/or Constitutional law.
I, along with every single other citizen, have the Constitutional right to NOT be subjected to religious materials by my government and its representatives.
I should not have to be forced to ask for you to not violate my civil rights.
You may not retaliate as if I am asking for special treatment; you may not retaliate at all, in fact. One, I am not doing so, and two, demanding that you not violate the United States Constitution cannot be described as "special treatment" by even the most obtuse observer.
PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW THIS TO CONTINUE.
I have been beyond patient in this matter.
I have no wish to initiate legal action - not to mention that I shouldn't even have to - but another violation WILL result in more serious action than a mere complaint. The State's Attorney General WILL BE brought into the matter if the violations continue.
To make it clear, when the drivers are ALONE in the vehicles, then they may listen to religious programs all they want. That is THEIR Constitutional right under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. HOWEVER, once a passenger boards the vehicle, the driver assumes the role of government representative, and so their civil rights and liberties are secondary to the rights and liberties of the passengers, who are average citizens whose rights and liberties are protected by the United States Constitution.
And NO, I am NOT looking for any punitive actions to be taken against the drivers. I just want you to remind them of their responsibilities and obligations.
I am looking for some assistance for an elder neighbor. Her water was cut off a week ago and she can't lay to have it turned back on. Where do we start? She also need good assistance.