 Resolution seeks to make stated clerk more accountable for amicus briefs By Craig M. Kibler The Layman Online Wednesday, May 28, 2003
On February 20, Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick joined a lawsuit by an obscure Brazilian-based religious sect that seeks to prevent the United States government from prohibiting the sect from using a hallucinogenic tea in ceremonies worshiping spirits in plants and animals and encouraging ritualistic vomiting. The sect, the Uniao Do Vegetal or Union of the Vegetable in Portuguese, has its U.S. headquarters in Santa Fe. The American group is called O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal (United Beneficent Spiritual Central of the Vegetable). It meets in a yurt or tent at the home of its president, a distant member of the wealthy Bronfman family that recently sold its giant Canadian distiller Seagram as part of a $30-billion merger. The resolution seeks to have Kirkpatrick make public the briefs, allow plenty of time for them to be reviewed before filing, and states that the briefs should be "consistent with current adopted policies and confessions of the denomination." Commissioners' resolutions will come before the full General Assembly when it meets in plenary session. The commissioners' resolution (03-26) by John Daniel of the Presbytery of the James and Fritz Neal of the Presbytery of Indian Nations asks the 215th General Assembly to instruct the stated clerk to: 1. Announce the intent to issue any amicus brief to the denomination, no later than thirty days prior to the transmittal of that brief, via the Internet and the print and electronic media of the denomination, soliciting comment from the membership of the denomination. 2. Only issue amicus briefs where such amicus briefs are consistent with current adopted policies and confessions of the denomination. Make all amicus briefs public, no later than the day of the transmittal of that brief, via the Internet and the print and electronic media of the denomination." In its rationale, the resolution states: "The Stated Clerk of the PC(USA) speaks on behalf of the denomination and is authorized to do so through Standing Rule G.2.e. As an officer of the General Assembly, the Stated Clerk shall preserve and defend the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and support the decisions, actions, and programs of the General Assembly. The Stated Clerk shall give advisory opinions concerning the meaning of the provisions of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and shall give advisory opinions on the meaning of the actions of the General Assembly. When the Stated Clerk deems it necessary, after consulting with appropriate persons or bodies, the Stated Clerk may retain legal counsel and institute or participate in legal proceedings in civil and criminal courts. "It is the practice of the Stated Clerk to issue amicus curiae briefs (henceforth "amicus briefs") on a variety of subjects. Statements made on behalf of the denomination are perceived as reflecting the doctrines and policies of the denomination. However, amicus briefs are, in practice, rarely made public. "The report of the Advisory Committee on Litigation to the 215th General Assembly (2003) of the PC(USA) includes the disposition of eight cases reported to the 214th General Assembly (2002) in which the Stated Clerk had filed an amicus brief. The report also reports five amicus briefs [including the Union of the Vegetable brief] filed during 2002 -2003 as "Matters Considered (2002 -2003)." The date of the first of the five is May 2, 2002. The most recent is April 24, 2003." Another amicus brief filed by Kirkpatrick and others urges a federal appeals court to uphold a district court's ruling that "Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore violated the U.S. Constitution by placing a 5,300-pound monument of the Ten Commandments in the State Judicial Building." The amicus brief argues that the monument violates the separation of church and state. |
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