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<H1>Judge: Keep Religion Out of Post Offices Run By Churches, Contractors</H1>
<P><STRONG>Wednesday, April 25, 2007</STRONG></P>
<P><IMG alt=AP src="http://www.foxnews.com/images/service_ap_36.gif"></P>
<P>HARTFORD, Conn. — </P>Religion has no place in post offices run by
churches and other private contractors, a federal judge has ruled, citing the
constitutional <A
href="javascript:siteSearch('separation of church and state');"><B>separation of
church and state</B></A>.
<P>U.S. District Judge Dominic J. Squatrito, in a case involving a church-run
post office in Manchester, ordered the <A
href="javascript:siteSearch('Postal Service');"><B>Postal Service</B></A> to
notify the nearly 5,200 facilities run by contractors that they cannot promote
religion through pamphlets, displays or any other materials.</P>
<P>He also told the agency to monitor those offices, which are distinguishable
from government-run facilities and employ workers who are not Postal Service
employees, to make sure they comply with his ruling.</P>
<P>Postal officials said they could not immediately comment on the ruling, which
is dated April 18.</P>
<P>"We're carefully reviewing the decision and considering our options,
including an appeal," said Gerry McKiernan, a Postal Service spokesman at the
agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C.</P>
<P>Squatrito sided with Bertram Cooper, who in 2003 sued the Postal Service and
the Full Gospel Interdenominational Church, which operates the Sincerely Yours
Inc. post office on Main Street in downtown Manchester.</P>
<P>When he filed the lawsuit, Cooper, a Navy veteran of World War II and the
Korean War, said he became upset when he went to Sincerely Yours.</P>
<P>"I'm walking into a place that's doing government business — selling stamps,
mailing parcels and so forth — and they're doing this religious bit," Cooper,
who is Jewish, said in 2003. His phone number is not listed, and he could not be
reached for comment Tuesday.</P>
<P>The Manchester office has a label on an exterior wall with the Postal
Service's eagle symbol indicating it is a contract postal unit, along with a
Sincerely Yours sign over the threshold.</P>
<P>Inside, the facility has evangelical displays, including posters,
advertisements and artwork. One of the displays is about Jesus Christ and
invites customers to submit a request if they "need a prayer in their
lives."</P>
<P>The office has prayer cards and an advertisement for a mission run by the
Full Gospel Interdenominational Church that receives profits from the post
office. There is a television monitor for church-related religious videos.</P>
<P>There is also a sign saying the Postal Service does not endorse the religious
viewpoints expressed in the materials in the office.</P>
<P>A worker at the office referred questions to church officials, who did not
return a message seeking comment Tuesday.</P>
<P>"There is nothing wrong, per se, with the church exhibiting religious
displays," Squatrito wrote in his ruling. "Here, however, the church is
exhibiting such displays while it is performing its duties under a contract with
the Postal Service., i.e. the U.S. Government."</P>
<P>Squatrito said that the post office was a state "actor" under the <A
href="javascript:siteSearch('First Amendment');"><B>First Amendment</B></A> and
that its religious displays violate the clause calling for the separation of
church and state. But he said the contract itself does not violate the
clause.</P>
<P>Manchester Postmaster Ronald Boyne, who also was a defendant, declined to
comment.</P>
<P>The Postal Service had argued that signs make it clear that Sincerely Yours
is not an "official" postal facility. It also said that it had no proprietary
interest in the office, other than postal products and equipment, and that there
was no evidence that the agency had a direct financial stake in the office's
success.</P>
<P>The agency noted that no government employees work at Sincerely Yours, and
insisted the facts demonstrate that the post office is a private entity.</P>
<P>The judge said the Postal Service relies on contractor-run offices to provide
services to areas that the agency has determined to be unsuitable for official
facilities. Contract offices are typically at colleges, grocery stores,
pharmacies and some private residences.</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>