Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Nebraska state Senator Ernie Chambers, who represents legislative District 11 in North Omaha, filed an unusual lawsuit on Friday. According to court documents obtained by Wikinews, Chambers has decided to sue God, looking for a judge to issue a “permanent injunction” against the highest power.
Chambers says in his suit that God has spread fear across the globe causing “widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth’s inhabitants. [God also caused] fearsome floods, horrendous hurricanes, earthquakes, plagues, famine, genocidal wars, birth defects, terrifying tornadoes and the like” and he wants the courts to order God “to cease certain harmful activities and the making of terroristic threats.”
The suit is in an apparent retaliation for a recent ruling where the words ‘rape’ and ‘victim’ were banned from a recent criminal case involving a sexual assault incident. The woman who was assaulted, Tory Bowen, filed a lawsuit against Jeffrey Cheuvront, a district judge in the city of Lancaster when he banned the use of those words in her criminal case. Chambers says that her lawsuit is “frivolous” and he filed his suit to show people that “anybody can sue anybody.”
“This lawsuit having been filed and being of such questionable merit creates a circumstance where my lawsuit is appropriately filed. People might call it frivolous but if they read it they’ll see there are very serious issues I have raised.” stated Chambers. “The Constitution requires that the courthouse doors be open, so you cannot prohibit the filing of suit. Anyone can sue anyone they choose, even God,” he added.
Richard Kopf, a U.S. District Judge has ordered that Bowen must show evidence to support her lawsuit, saying that her case does not have “any legal basis whatsoever” until she does so.
It is not known when or if any additional hearings have been scheduled. Mr Chambers complaint consists of in part, “despite reasonable efforts to effectuate personal service on Defendant God has been unable to do so.”
Attempts by a Wired News reporter to contact God for comment were not successful.