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Baby Jesus is just all right with Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli when it comes to nativity displays on Loudoun County government property—and also with the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. But Americans United for Separation of Church and State say a policy of erecting religious displays on public property is misguided.

Cuccinelli, in a legal opinion issued Aug. 20, said local governments can put up religious displays as long as displays from other faiths or those representing secular beliefs are also tolerated and do not convey endorsement of any faith by the government.

That is not good enough, said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. executive director, who blasted the conservative Republican attorney general.

“This is almost certain to lead to bitter community divisiveness,” Lynn said in a statement issued by the Washingto-based group today.

“It is a green light to Religious Right activists to cajole local officials into erecting sectarian displays on public property. Unless local officials are extremely careful, this is likely to lead to lawsuits.”

“If Cuccinelli wants to see a Nativity scene, why doesn’t he put one in his front yard at home?” Lynn asked.

The legal opinion is advisory and does not constitute law, nor does it require action. It was requested by Prince William Del. Robert Marshall, another conservative, who inquired whetehr Loudoun could erect a Christmas display honoring Jesus.

The ACLU has said it does not have a fundamental opposition to Cuccinelli’s interpretation of the law with regard to Marshall’s request.

“The Supreme Court has ruled that the government may not erect displays that are overly religious, but that it can have displays that incorporate religious expression within a secular message,” Virginia ACLU director Kent Willis told the Times-Dispatch. 

“Thus, a lone crèche placed by the government in the front of the courthouse is unconstitutional, but the same crèche put there as part of a holiday display that includes a menorah, a Santa Claus and several reindeer is constitutional,” he added. 

“In the end, it all depends on whether a reasonable person viewing the scene would interpret it as promoting religion or as primarily secular.”

Americans United spokesman Joe Conn said the organization is that local officials are “likely to leap into this arena—when pushed by religious right folks—without adequate legal advice. The advisory is rather broad, and case law in this area is quite fact-specific,” he said.

As you may know, Virginia is the only state that bans the use and sale of detectors. There is no evidence that the detector ban increases highway safety. Our nation’s fatality rates have fallen consistently for almost two decades. Virginia’s fatality rate has also fallen, but not any more dramatically than it has nationwide. Research has even shown that radar detector owners have a lower accident rate than motorists who do not own a detector.

Maintaining the ban is not in the best interest of Virginians or visitors to the state. I know and know of people that will not drive in Virginia due to this ban. Unjust enforcement practices are not unheard of, and radar detectors can keep safe motorists from being exploited by abusive speed traps. Likewise, the ban has a negative impact on Virginia’s business community. Electronic distributors lose business to neighboring states and Virginia misses out on valuable sales tax revenue.

Radar detector bans do not work. Research and experience show that radar detector bans do not result in lower accident rates, improved speed-limit compliance or reduce auto insurance expenditures.
• The Virginia radar detector ban is difficult and expensive to enforce. The Virginia ban diverts precious law enforcement resources from more important duties.
• Radar detectors are legal in the rest of the nation, in all 49 other states. In fact, the first state to test a radar detector ban, Connecticut, repealed the law – it ruled the law was ineffective and unfair. It is time for our Virginia to join the rest of the nation.
• It has never been shown that radar detectors cause accidents or even encourage motorists to drive faster than they would otherwise. The Yankelovich – Clancy – Shulman Radar Detector Study conducted in 1987, showed that radar detector users drove an average of 34% further between accidents (233,933 miles versus 174,554 miles) than non radar detector users. The study also showed that they have much higher seat belt use compliance. If drivers with radar detectors have fewer accidents, it follows that they have reduced insurance costs – it is counterproductive to ban radar detectors.
• In a similar study performed in Great Britain by MORI in 2001 the summary reports that “Users (of radar detectors) appear to travel 50% further between accidents than non-users. In this survey the users interviewed traveling on average 217,353 miles between accidents compared to 143,401 miles between accidents of those non-users randomly drawn from the general public.” The MORI study also reported “Three quarters agree, perhaps unsurprisingly, that since purchasing a radar detector they have become more conscious about keeping to the speed limit…” and “Three in five detector users claim to have become a safer driver since purchasing a detector.”
• Modern radar detectors play a significant role in preventing accidents and laying the technology foundation for the Safety Warning System® (SWS). Radar detectors with SWS alert motorists to oncoming emergency vehicles, potential road hazards, and unusual traffic conditions. There are more than 10 million radar detectors with SWS in use nationwide. The federal government has earmarked $2.1 million for further study of the SWS over a three-year period of time. The U.S. Department of Transportation is administering grants to state and local governments to purchase the SWS system and study its effectiveness (for example, in the form of SWS transmitters for school buses and emergency vehicles). The drivers of Virginia deserve the right to the important safety benefits that SWS delivers.
*** A small surcharge($5-$10) or tax(2%-3%) could be added to the price of the device to make-up for any possible loss of revenue from reduced number of speeding tickets and the loss of tickets written for radar detectors.***

Please sign this petition and help to repeal this ban and give drivers in Virginia the freedom to know if they are under surveillance and to use their property legally:

http://www.stoptheban.org

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/repeal-the-virginia-radar-detector-ban