U.S. District Judge Paul Barbadoro approved of the plaintiffs’ request and noted that their proposal doesn’t involve any necessary change to the current missing man table.
Barbadoro told Vogelman that from the beginning, “I’ve had some confusion about exactly how to conceptualize your claim.” He said he thought it would be better poised for resolution if it were a “restricted or limited public forum case, rather than a government speech case.”
The Bible at the hospital was carried by a prisoner of war in World War II. The table was sponsored by a veterans group called the Northeast POW/MIA Network, which had intervened in the lawsuit and did not object to the plaintiffs’ actions Wednesday.
The new, proposed table would be sponsored by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
Mikey Weinstein, group president, said the table would have the American flag draped on it and contain a published, generic book of faith. A granite stone would display the opening words of the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
“We want them to honor them all,” he said.
This article originally appeared here.
