QUOTE OF THE
WEEK: “You will not
hear the word ‘God’ cross the lips of a French premier or an Italian head of
state. But that has never been the American way.”
-- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin
Scalia
Friday Thursday Footnote #8 … December 23,
2004
A
publication of The Baltimore Jewish Council.
5750 Park Heights Avenue. Baltimore MD 21215.
Phone: (410) 542-4850.
1. Security grant applications deadline
2. Affordable housing followup
4. Worth a read
…And click here
for our archive
of previous Friday Footnotes.
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W |
elcome, friends, to another edition of the Friday Footnote,
a weekly letter about Maryland politics and the Jewish community. In view of the short week, we’ll keep this
one brief.
As always, a very pleasant and peaceful Shabbat to you and
your family. And to my Christian
friends who may be reading this, a very Merry Christmas.
- David
Hats off to those of
you who have
finished and submitted your security grant applications. For those of you still hard
at work on your application, please let us know what we at the Baltimore
Jewish Council can do to
help you obtain funding to enhance security at your Jewish
institution. We must have your
applications next week.
You
may recall that Mayor Martin O'Malley, Baltimore County Executive
Jim Smith, and the other leaders of the Baltimore regional governments – in
cooperation with Governor Robert Ehrlich and his Maryland Emergency Management
Agency – announced last month they have established a $1 million grant
program for security enhancements for "community-based,
non-profit groups that are at risk of being a victim of a terrorist act."
Only non-profit institutions are
eligible to apply, and grant applications are due to the regional
governments by January 4, 2005. A 25 percent cash or in-kind matching
contribution is required. If
you have not already finished and sent your application to Laura Beasley at the
Council, please do so as soon as you can so we can help you make it
the best application possible. Thank
you.
Affordable housing
followup
Last week, you’ll recall,
I mentioned a Summit on Homelessness that was convened by Maryland’s Interagency
Commission on Homelessness. Here’s
mention of the summit in the newsletter of the federal
Interagency Council on Homelessness.
And here are links to a national
report on housing affordability, the first one for Maryland
as a whole, and the second for affordability in the Baltimore
metropolitan region.
The data show that the “housing
wage” in Maryland is $18.25 an hour. That’s the amount a full time (40
hours per week) worker must earn per hour in order to afford a two-bedroom unit
at the area's Fair Market rent. Another
way to put that is that at the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, a worker must put
in 142 hours per week in order to afford a two-bedroom unit at the area's Fair
Market rent. (Affordability is defined as no more than one-third of income
spent on housing.)
We will be advocating in
Annapolis for ways to make Maryland an affordable place to live even for those
at the bottom end of the economic ladder.
Various goings-on in the world of
church and state (many thanks to Jo-Ann Orlinsky of the American Jewish
Congress, for passing these along):
US Supreme Court Justice Antonin
Scalia used an appearance at an Orthodox synagogue in New York to assail the
notion that the US government should maintain a neutral stance toward religion,
saying it has always supported religion and the courts should not try to change
that, The
Jerusalem Post reports.
And here’s The Forward’s
take on Justice Scalia and other holiday season quandaries.
Closer to
home, the Prince George’s Sentinel reports
that a legal battle over legislative prayers has erupted around the Prince
George’s County Council.
Worth a read
The Washington Jewish Week has this report on the
legislative agenda of the Maryland Jewish Alliance.
The Baltimore
Sun reports that U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis ruled that inadequate
state funding and the Baltimore School system’s effort to eliminate its $58
million deficit are hurting Baltimore's disabled students.
As the Legislature heads into a special session on Tuesday to debate medical malpractice reform, the Washington Post reports on what led up to this state of affairs.
Incidentally,
you may have read that Democratic leaders have devised a way to avoid deciding
on overriding the Governor’s veto during this special session. They plan to “special order” – or delay –
those votes until the end of the special session … but they will delay that end
by going into recess until January 11.
At that time, one day before the regular session begins, they will
reconvene and then take up the veto overrides.
The United States Interagency Council on
Homelessness e-newsletter
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IN THE STATES:
MARYLAND CONVENES FIRST HOMELESSNESS SUMMIT TO ADVANCE 10-YEAR PLAN |
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"Maryland has never engaged in anything like this
before," stated Maryland Department of Human Services Office of
Transitional Services Director Gregory D. Shupe, as the state's first
Homelessness Summit convened in Baltimore this week to create the framework for
a 10-Year Plan for the state. On behalf of Governor Robert Ehrlich, Maryland
Department of Human Services Secretary Christopher J. McCabe, former Director
of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Intergovernmental
Affairs, welcomed the federal, state, and local government partners who participated
along with advocates, providers, and consumers. Summit work groups focused on
housing, health, income, and supportive services, relying on the Action Plan
developed by the state's Policy Academy Team, of which Director Shupe was a
Team Leader. The Action Plan Vision Statement called for "a Maryland where
homelessness is rare and brief."
United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive
Director Philip Mangano, who was invited to keynote the Summit, pointed out
that the first telegraph line ran between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, and
told assembled partners: "Ever since your state has been well positioned
to receive the message and respond in partnership. As public officials you are
extending your leadership and political will to eradicate that which seems
intractable. " Other federal partners at the Summit included U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development Baltimore Field Office Director
James Kelly, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Center for Medicare
and Medicaid Services Office of Disability's Kate King, Social Security
Administration Baltimore Office Director Terry Stradtman, and SSA Public
Affairs Office's Vicki DeRuggiero. U.S. Interagency Council Regional
Coordinator Debbie Jackson also participated.
Maryland's largest city, Baltimore, will develop its own plan soon
in coordination with the state initiative. Laura M. Gillis, recently appointed
by the City as President and CEO of the quasi-public agency Baltimore Homeless
Services Inc., will lead the City process.
County Council Allows
Government-Led Christian Prayer at Legislative Invocations
By Vincent J. Swanson
Managing Editor
With a little nudge from the
A Prince George's County employee opened a session of a county council meeting recently with a sectarian prayer—invoking the name of Jesus Christ—but according to various court rulings, including the U.S. Supreme Court, the county government has violated federal law.
"Our father, who art in heaven, we thank you so much for this time...[and] that we could gather once again, Lord...Jesus," said county employee Bonnie Humphreys during the council invocation on October 5. "Please Lord, be with each member as each bill is presented, Lord...in Jesus' name, amen."
Once Humphreys finished her prayer, the entire council chamber, including guests with bowed heads and hands folded, replied in unison, "Amen."
Since its return from recess in early September, to its final days in December, the county council had consistently used Christian invocations to open several legislative sessions.
Although municipalities allow sectarian prayer prior to legislative business—and many do nationwide—federal law states that guest speakers should say the prayer, and according to one court ruling the practice should represent all faiths, rotating among chaplains, rabbis, or imams. But the council used only Christian prayers during its latest legislative term, which under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, suggests that the county government is advancing one religion over another.
According to an internal memo obtained by The
Sentinel, staff attorneys with the Attorney General of Maryland debated the
issue of legislative prayer at length in September 2003. Citing the Rubin v.
The memo concluded that the appeals court agreed, "noting that the clearest command of the Establishment Clause is not to favor one religion over another." The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied certiorari, allowing the ruling to stand thereby saying the prayer violated the U.S. Constitution.
"A number of cases, including the most recent ruling by the [U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th District] states that sectarian prayers at council invocations violate the Establishment Clause," said David Rocah, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Maryland. "These types of sectarian prayers are a way of telling full members of a community that they don't belong," Rocah explained.
This past July, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
4th District ruled that the town of
Although Wynne had persevered through many of the Christian-led council meetings, even saying she too would stand and bow her head during prayer because she "wanted to show respect" to others, she eventually objected to the council's continual practice and filed suit. She even suggested an alternative, proposing that the prayer's reference be limited to 'God' instead of Jesus Christ. But according to court documents, the town's mayor, Henry Clayton Starnes, said in response, "This is the way we've always done things, and we're not going to change."
Circuit Judge Diana Gribbon Motz disagreed with
Starnes and ruled in favor of the plaintiff, writing that the town of
© Berlyn, Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Md. to be asked to
halt denial
of insurance to Israel travelers
Jewish community lays out legislative agenda
by Eric Fingerhut
Staff Writer
Washington Jewish Week (copyright 2004, all rights reserved)
Prohibiting life insurance companies from raising rates or refusing coverage
because a prospective policyholder has traveled to Israel will be one of the
Maryland Jewish Alliance¹s top goals during the 2005 Maryland General Assembly
session.
The alliance - a coalition of the community relations
councils and federations in Greater Washington and Baltimore - laid out its
legislative priorities for D.C.-area legislators on Tuesday of last week at the
JCRC of Greater Washington¹s annual legislative reception.
Similar to laws already passed in New York and Illinois, the
insurance legislation is in response to reports that some insurance companies
have turned down applicants who had recently traveled to, or had plans to
visit, Israel.
Maryland Jewish Alliance director David Conn said the bill
would apply to foreign travel to any country - short of those currently at war.
Often using the State Department advisory list as their
guide, many insurance companies also will not cover people who visit Saudi
Arabia, Conn pointed out, even though the country contains the two holiest
sites for Muslims.
There is “no actuarial evidence” that travel to many of
those countries is risky, noted Conn, who said that the alliance was in the
early stages of building a coalition with various religious and ethnic groups.
Del. Adrienne Mandel (D-Montgomery) has agreed to sponsor the legislation in
the House of Delegates, with Sen. Lisa Gladden (D-Baltimore City) leading the
way in the Senate.
The alliance also will be looking to sustain the financial
support Jewish institutions already receive from the state, including the
$150,000 directed toward refugee resettlement and the $60,000 in public dollars
that fund the Maryland-Israel Development Center.
In addition, Conn said the alliance will work to ensure that
the governor¹s capital budget includes as much as $700,000 to help fund
additional Jewish Social Service Agency offices in upper Montgomery County.
Among the Maryland Jewish community’s other priorities will
be sustaining sufficient dollars to help at-risk populations, increasing
school-construction funding and advocating for legislation that will affirm the
right of Maryland researchers to conduct embryonic stem-cell research ‹ and
provide $25 million for such study.
As in past years, the alliance also will be supporting the
expansion of hate-crime laws to include sexual orientation. Conn said another
bill to be debated during this year’s session may make the hate-crime measure
easier to pass.
That legislation would say that individuals cannot be
prosecuted for a hate crime if they are peacefully expressing their religious
views. Such a measure, Conn said, would alleviate fears that individuals could
be accused of a hate crime for writing or sermonizing about biblical prohibitions
against homosexuality.
Although slot machines are expected once again be a big
issue in the General Assembly, the alliance will stay out of the fray. While
the Baltimore Jewish Council opposes slots, the JCRC of Greater Washington has
not taken a position.