FIC Blog

The Enfield Board of Education has rescinded a previous vote and will now appeal Judge Hall’s ruling barring graduations from being held at First Cathedral. FIC applauds last night’s vote and hopes that the BOE’s erratic behavior will not damage Enfield’s chances of winning the lawsuit.

First Key Vote: April 13th

BOE Member Judith Apruzzese-Desroches—who voted last night against taking up the appeal—told The Courant “We’re walking into something and I don’t think people realize how big it really is and how long it’s going to last.”

But Enfield had already decided to “walk into” a stand against the ACLU when the BOE voted on April 13th to send graduations back to First Cathedral. If the BOE had chosen then to disregard the case made by Peter Wolfgang and others for holding graduations at the church, it would have been a defeat for the First Amendment and Enfield’s families. But no one would have disputed that Apruzzese-Desroches and our other opponents were doing what they thought was best for Enfield.

What happened next was another matter entirely.

Second Key Vote: June 3rd

BOE Member Donna Szewczak—who voted last night for taking up the appeal—told The Courant “we needed to take a strong stance” and strengthen Enfield’s defense against the ACLU’s lawsuit.

That was exactly the problem with the BOE’s initial vote last week (June 3rd) against appealing Judge Hall’s ruling. Enfield’s initial decision to cave into the judge’s ruling was not a decision to end the lawsuit. It was essentially a decision to lose the lawsuit.

Enfield had already chosen to stand up to the ACLU and the ACLU responded by suing them. At that point, a vote to not be sued by the ACLU was not an option. By initially choosing last week against appealing Judge Hall’s ruling, the BOE was voting to take a weak stance, to deliberately weaken Enfield’s defense against the ACLU.

The five BOE members who voted last week against appealing the judge’s ruling—and the four who did it again last night—voted to undermine Enfield while the town was already engaged in a high stakes lawsuit. The political operatives behind those votes did no favor to the taxpayers or even to the ACLU’s view of the First Amendment. They were simply sabotaging the Town of Enfield.

Third Key Vote: Last Night (June 8th)

The Enfield BOE has now rescinded its irresponsible decision to undermine its own defense. We are pleased that the appeal will move forward after all. But, according to The Courant, the BOE is still not seeking to move this month’s graduations back to First Cathedral. This undercuts Enfield’s own case and raises questions as to why the appeal is “expedited.”

FIC will keep you updated on the continuing twists and turns of the Enfield graduation battle.