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Bill’s veto hailed by ACLU, condemned by family group
By Andrew Cain
Richmond Times-Dispatch
http://www.timesdispatch.com/
March 30, 2014
The ACLU hailed and the Family Foundation condemned Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s veto of a bill that sought to prohibit censorship by state government officials or agencies of the religious content of sermons made by chaplains of the Virginia National Guard — as long as the sermons did not advocate disobedience of lawful orders.
The ACLU said the bill sponsored by Sen. Richard H. Black, R-Loudoun, “would have allowed National Guard chaplains to proselytize” to unwilling service members.
“While purporting to protect the religious freedom of chaplains, this bill would have undermined the religious freedom of service members,” said Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia.
The Family Foundation noted that the bill passed the Senate 37-0 and cleared the House of Delegates on a vote of 69-29, saying “it’s hard to understand why the governor would feel the need to veto such a common-sense, uncontroversial” measure.
“Given SB 555’s unanimous passage in the Senate and its over-two-thirds passage in the House, The Family Foundation is hopeful that legislators will put aside the ACLU’s bogus claims and vote as they did previously to protect religious liberty.”
It urged lawmakers to override the governor’s veto on April 23, when they gather to consider bills that the governor has amended or vetoed.
