ADF Allied Attorney Success Stories: February 2010

Congratulations to allied attorneys Jim Bopp, Tyson Langhofer, Rob McCully, Sharon Blakeney, Mike Donnelly, Pat Trueman, Stephen Braunlich, Carissa Mulder, Ryan Dwyer, Christopher DiPompeo, Aaron Martin, Demetrios Stratis, and Andrea Williams for their recent successes listed below. Please take time to congratulate them!

James Bopp, Jr. (Bopp, Coleson, and Bostrom; James Madison Center for Free Speech). In Citizens United v. FEC, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down campaign finance laws that prohibited corporations from broadcasting political speech that mentions a candidate by name near an election. Jim’s firm filed the petition and was on the brief. The Supreme Court also recently granted certiorari in another one of Jim’s cases, Doe #1 v. Reed, which seeks to prohibit the disclosure of the identity of persons who sign petitions to put controversial issues on the ballot, particularly where disclosure may lead to harassment and personal attacks.

Tyson Langhofer (Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP) and Rob McCully (Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP). Tyson and Rob filed an amicus brief for ADF in support of Jim Bopp’s client in Citizens United to highlight issues related to the right to personal anonymity in certain political activities such as signing petitions to put a controversial measure on the ballot, like the marriage amendment in California or the one at issue in Doe #1 v. Reed. The Court cited the amicus brief in its opinion.

Sharon Blakeney (Sharon F. Blakeney, Attorney & Counselor at Law). Sharon recently enjoyed the opportunity to serve the Scott Brown campaign in the Massachusetts Special Election. She worked on “one of the roving teams of lawyers who monitored, documented and challenged violations of election procedures and voting irregularities at nine polling locations in Boston.”

Mike Donnelly (Home School Legal Defense Association). A U.S. immigration judge in In re Romeike found that Germany’s persecution of a family for home schooling violated their fundamental rights and granted them asylum. Mike and HSLDA have invested a lot of effort in defending German home school families.

Pat Trueman (Patrick A. Trueman, Attorney at Law), Stephen Braunlich, Carissa Mulder, Ryan Dwyer, Christopher DiPompeo, and Aaron Martin (Blackstone Fellows). Pat had a great outcome in U.S. v. Little (11^th Cir.) where the court ruled that the local “community” standard of obscenity governs in prosecutions of Internet obscenity. In an amicus brief on behalf of Focus on the Family, Pat successfully argued that the court should reject the “national” standard that the Ninth Circuit has adopted. Blackstone Fellows Stephen Braunlich, Carissa Mulder, Ryan Dwyer, Christopher DiPompeo, and Aaron Martin assisted with research.

Demetrios Stratis (Demetrios K. Stratis, L.L.C.). Demetrios successfully defended a street preacher who was arrested for preaching near a high school in State of New Jersey v. Parker. Now for the 1983 lawsuit!

Andrea Williams (Christian Legal Centre/Christian Concern for Our Nation [UK]). The Centre succeeded in helping a Christian teacher be reinstated after being fired for offering to pray for a sick pupil.

Don’t forget: if you have had a recent success or noteworthy accomplishment, we want to hear from you even if the issue is unrelated to the ADF core areas! It’s a great way for us to encourage each other.

Please note that we sometimes report successes that are not within ADF areas of focus and that would not qualify for pro bono credit.

Thank you,

Glen Lavy

Senior Vice President
ADF Logo