4.2.12 WC: 191694 “Tf there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can...force citizens to confess by word or act their faith...” Elon was excused from saying the words for the remainder of the year. Elon suffered no adverse consequences from his religious dissent, but the same cannot be said for Susan Shapiro, a 17 year old high school senior in the Boston area. When she exercised her right not to participate in the pledge, her teacher said it was as if someone had spit on the Star of David. She was called names by fellow students and told to “go back to Israel.” (She was born in America). I agreed to represent her and, after we threatened to bring a lawsuit; we got the school to permit her not to participate in the pledge and to inform the students that she was within her rights. A few years later I was to become involved in a highly publicized case involving the right of a criminal defendant not to be discriminated against on account of his religion, even though he himself was accused of using his religion to defraud co-religionists. The case involved television evangelist Jim Bakker, who was married to the equally famous Tammy Faye Bakker. I was retained to argue his sentencing appeal, following his conviction for defrauding PTL (“Praise the Lord” and “People that Love”) Club Lifetime Partners who had paid for homes in Heritage U.S.A.—a Christian family retreat—but were never able live in them. This is how the appellate court summarized the case: Bakker planned to finance these projects by selling lifetime partnerships [that promised] annual lodging in one of the Heritage Village facilities... Many of these partners drew on meager incomes to purchase Heritage Village lodging benefits. Appellant raised at least $158 million through the sale of approximately 153,000 partnerships with lodging benefits. Bakker promised television viewers that he would limit the sale of partnerships to ensure that each partner wo