Stop tax-paid attorneys' fees to ACLU

To the editor:

I am a veteran and a member of American Legion Post 158 in Jackson. I have been a member of this community since 1991.

It is an outrage that judges are giving the ACLU thousands of dollars in attorneys' fees that taxpayers have to pay in lawsuits the ACLU brings against the Boy Scouts, the public display of the Ten Commandments and other symbols of our American religious heritage, including those at veterans' memorials.

The American Legion has called on Congress to amend Title 42 of the U.S. Code to withdraw the authority of judges to award attorneys' fees tot he ACLU or anyone else in such lawsuits under the Establishment Clause.

The Public Expression of Religion Act, House Resolution 2679, does just that. I urge U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and all members of our community to support this legislation.

We need every tax dollar we can get for police, fire, health and other needs. Judges have been awarding thousands of dollars to the ACLU at a reported $350 an hour without any proof that the ACLU has any actual attorneys' fees.

If the ACLU must bring these lawsuits to destroy the Boy Scouts, crosses, stars of David and Christmas displays, it should at least have the decency to pay for it themselves and not stick it to the taxpayers.

LARRY KOEHLER, Jackson