Rob
Sherman Advocacy
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Rob
Sherman Advocacy
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"Fighting injustice, one victory at a time."
The Village of Niles agreed today to eliminate the oversized nativity scene that has been displayed in front of village hall for decades. This written agreement comes after successful negotiations by Rob Sherman Advocacy to settle the matter out of court.
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As reported in Liberal News & Commentary for the past week, Rob Sherman Advocacy and Niles resident Leonard Reinebach have been challenging the constitutionality of the holiday display located in front of the Niles, Illinois, village hall because it is overwhelming religious, rather than secular.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is located in downtown Chicago. This court has jurisdiction regarding federal matters in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
In the case of Rachel Mather v. Village of Mundelein, Case Number 88-3226, the Seventh Circuit established a clear and reasonable two-part standard for year-end holiday displays that are erected at the seat of government. The Court ruled that it is permissible for the government to erect holiday displays, so long as the displays are secular. The Court also said that it is permissible the government to include sectarian items in a holiday display, so long as the overall effect of the display is secular.
That's not what was happening in Niles. Their display was overwhelming religious and predominantly Christian.
Basically, what we had, here, was a zoning dispute. It was too much nativity scene for the site upon which it sat. This is similar to a zoning dispute in which a developer wants to put up twenty-four townhouses on a lot zoned for eight townhouses. The issue isn't whether or not the developer can put up townhouses on the lot. Rather, the issue is how many townhouses are appropriate for a lot of that size and in that location.
Niles can have a nativity scene in a holiday display at village hall. They just can't have one that is 29 feet wide, 9 feet deep and 10 feet tall on a plaza as small as that one is in front of village hall.
Niles Village Attorney Joseph Annunzio presented a letter, yesterday, to Rob Sherman Advocacy which resolved the dispute without going to court. In the letter, Niles promised that, in exchange for us not taking them to court, that this will be the final year in which the present nativity scene will be displayed at village hall. He then promised that the present display "will be replaced next year by a new scene that will be smaller and more fitting with the area on which it is placed."
That's good enough for me. It permanently resolves the matter without humiliating Niles officials by forcing them to take down their display in the middle a holiday season. It also eliminates the possibility that some right-wing extremist federal judge might rule that a humongous nativity scene in front of a village hall constitutes a secular holiday display.
Of course, the agreement also protects the taxpayers of Niles from a much more likely scenario in which a federal judge could rule that the Village was wrong, that they must take down the scene immediately and that they must pay substantial legal fees to the attorney for Rob Sherman Advocacy for pursuing the matter in court.
The main reason that Rob Sherman Advocacy was able to resolve this problem at all, let alone without resorting to court litigation, is that Rob Sherman has a place at the table when dealing with public officials. That place at the table didn't come from issuing news releases criticizing public officials or warning them with threats that are never backed up, holding protest demonstrations, throwing solstice parties or holding annual conventions. I don't do any of those things. My place at the table has come from engaging with and interacting with public officials for many years. The place at the table came from speaking to and negotiating with public officials at village board, city council and school board meetings, at legislative sessions, in one-on-one meetings in their offices and in telephone conversations.
In other words, my place at the table has come from establishing my credibility one issue at a time, proposing reasonable solutions to problems and back it up with action when necessary.
News releases, demonstrations, parties and conventions are fine if they are done in support of direct contact with public officials that is followed up with action. Those things don't accomplish anything, however, when they are done instead of direct contact with public officials or action to compel the resolution of problems.
If you would like to see more success stories involving Rob Sherman Advocacy, where disputes are successfully resolved without going to court because we are the organization that does have a place at the table, please become a financial supporter today by clicking on our financial supporter form.
Rob Sherman P. O. Box
7410
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089-7410
A post office box is used
because
the street address uses a curb mail box,
which is not secure.
Telephone: (847) 870-0700
Fax: (847) 870-1156
E-mail: rob followed by the at symbol followed by robsherman dot com
