Subject: [AthofSV] FFRF in the News

From: "Gary Berger" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 21:05:01 +0000

FFRF in the News

"A Tussle Over Good Friday Hours"
The Capital Times (Madison, Wis.)
March 25, 2005

http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=tct:2005:03:25:410020:FRONT

A Tussle Over Good Friday Hours

Friday, March 25, 2005
By Anita Weier
The Capital Times

Good Friday has risen once again as a church-state issue.

Assembly Sergeant-at-Arms Rick Skindrud sent out an e-mail to legislators 
Thursday stating that his office would close this afternoon.

"Being that Good Friday tends to be a very low errand day for the sergeant's 
office we will be closing at 1 p.m. tomorrow, March 25," the message said.

Annie Laurie Gaylor of the Freedom From Religion Foundation received a copy 
of the e-mail and immediately contacted Skindrud and the press.

The foundation went to federal court in 1995 to challenge a 1945 state law 
that established Good Friday as a legal holiday. The law originally said 
that Good Friday "shall uniformly be observed for the purpose of worship."

U.S. District Judge John Shabaz ruled in 1996 that the holiday was 
unconstitutional. He said it violated the First Amendment in favoring 
Christianity over other religions or over no religion.

The Legislature then voted to convert the half-day off formerly given for 
Good Friday to a "personal" half-day that workers could use any time during 
the year.

That's still the situation, but officially closing a state office -- such as 
the sergeant-at-arms' office -- is another matter.

After calls from the foundation and The Capital Times, Skindrud said that 
someone will be available in his office to take calls this afternoon.

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