Wex Wimpy
September 4th 03, 08:40 PM
Wide right
Choice of lawyer sends troubling message
A TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT EDITORIAL
Cultural intolerance has marked the private beliefs and public speech
of newly appointed Department of Children & Families
attorney James H. K. Bruner.
As head of the religious-based New York Family Policy Council in
Albany, N. Y., Mr. Bruner disrupted abortion-rights gatherings and
actively protested equal rights for homosexuals. It was his perfect
right to exercise his speech as a private citizen and
nongovernment employee.
Now Mr. Bruner will be working as Florida's $82,000-a-year special
assistant to the general counsel of DCF -providing he gets
licensed to practice law here. In this role, he must draw sharp
distinctions between his private views and his professional
interpretation and analysis of constitutional law and statutes.
Mr. Bruner deserves every chance to demonstrate that he respects and
upholds the separation of church and state in his
professional dealings. But given the public nature of his past
actions, it is questionable whether he can set aside such
strongly-held
beliefs in the interest of upholding public policy that takes a
variety of viewpoints into account.
The larger concern is the judgment of DCF Secretary Jerry Regier in
this philosophically charged hiring decision. Mr. Regier has
already rankled DCF employees of differing beliefs by mandating
employee attendance in a program called Character First! -
described as a sanitized version of the work of evangelist Bill
Gothard and his 49 "Commands of Christ."
He also angered Gov. Jeb Bush when he agreed to co-chair a friend's
state Senate campaign in Oklahoma. The governor said Mr.
Regier's "focus needs to be on vulnerable children and vulnerable
citizens of our state. If it creates any perception issues that he has
to spend time answering, then he shouldn't do even that."
Perception is the thing. The perception that Mr. Regier doesn't hold
separation of church and state in high regard persists.
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/opinion/6683575.htm
Choice of lawyer sends troubling message
A TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT EDITORIAL
Cultural intolerance has marked the private beliefs and public speech
of newly appointed Department of Children & Families
attorney James H. K. Bruner.
As head of the religious-based New York Family Policy Council in
Albany, N. Y., Mr. Bruner disrupted abortion-rights gatherings and
actively protested equal rights for homosexuals. It was his perfect
right to exercise his speech as a private citizen and
nongovernment employee.
Now Mr. Bruner will be working as Florida's $82,000-a-year special
assistant to the general counsel of DCF -providing he gets
licensed to practice law here. In this role, he must draw sharp
distinctions between his private views and his professional
interpretation and analysis of constitutional law and statutes.
Mr. Bruner deserves every chance to demonstrate that he respects and
upholds the separation of church and state in his
professional dealings. But given the public nature of his past
actions, it is questionable whether he can set aside such
strongly-held
beliefs in the interest of upholding public policy that takes a
variety of viewpoints into account.
The larger concern is the judgment of DCF Secretary Jerry Regier in
this philosophically charged hiring decision. Mr. Regier has
already rankled DCF employees of differing beliefs by mandating
employee attendance in a program called Character First! -
described as a sanitized version of the work of evangelist Bill
Gothard and his 49 "Commands of Christ."
He also angered Gov. Jeb Bush when he agreed to co-chair a friend's
state Senate campaign in Oklahoma. The governor said Mr.
Regier's "focus needs to be on vulnerable children and vulnerable
citizens of our state. If it creates any perception issues that he has
to spend time answering, then he shouldn't do even that."
Perception is the thing. The perception that Mr. Regier doesn't hold
separation of church and state in high regard persists.
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/opinion/6683575.htm