Daily Archives: July 20, 2010

Rapid City Journal: “Sturgis officials say they don’t know what kind of business might be moving to a location near Interstate 90 Exit 32 but that if it’s an adult-oriented business, it would likely violate state statutes regarding such businesses.”

KXAN: “Monday night, they voted to start teaching Abstinence Plus. It is a program for grades six through 12 that not only teaches waiting but also educates students on how to have safe sex with the use of birth control and condoms. … ‘The abstinence-only programs have not been proven effective,’ said local pediatrician Dr. Sue Ann Harrison. ‘Both birth rates and STDs have increased since those programs have been in effect.’”

KRTV: “The Helena School Board is taking the controversial human sexuality portion of the proposed health curriculum back to staff for some additions. After a flood of public comment in recent weeks, the executive committee decided to push back its decision; the board was going to vote on the curriculum in August, but now Superintendent Bruce Messinger says it will be more like October.”

Chicago Tribune: “A drive to recall a Wisconsin prosecutor who warned health teachers they could face criminal charges for teaching students how to use contraceptives has failed.” | [4.7.2010] WI: Prosecutor warns teachers about new sex education curriculum

KSN: “The City Council heard arguments today over whether prayer should be allowed before the meeting begins. … ‘There is no good reason to use public time to express private beliefs,’ said Vickie Sandell Stangl, president of the Great Plains chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.”

Agenzia Fides: “After suffering from threats and violence in the past few days, Christians in Faisalabad are breathing a sigh of relief: two brothers arrested on charges of blasphemy have been released. Pastor Rashid Emmanuel and his brother Sajid Emmanuel were arrested on 4 July and, after 15 days of detention and hours of questioning, they were released by the police after the charges lodged against the two men were found to be groundless.”

Freedom From Religion Foundation: “Three South Carolina public boards have received warnings from the Freedom From Religion Foundation about constitutional violations of separation of church and state. FFRF sent a letter to Mayor Brad Burnett of Woodruff, S.C., to object to sectarian prayers at council meetings and religious symbols on the city’s official seal.”

The Christian Institute: “An Edinburgh pensioner who tried to kill his disabled wife by smothering her with a pillow has been jailed for attempted murder. After failing to kill his wife John Millar, 67, tried to claim it would have been a mercy killing, saying: ‘I thought it would be a good thing to do at the time… for both of us.’”

The Christian Institute: “A severely paralysed man has launched a legal action in the High Court which could allow his wife to kill him and escape being prosecuted for murder. … Tony Nicklinson, who can only communicate by blinking and nodding, is so severely paralysed that he would be unable to take part in his own assisted suicide. And the father-of-two, whose condition is called ‘Locked-in syndrome’, is now seeking clarification about whether his wife would be prosecuted for murder if she killed him.”

The Christian Institute: “A new amendment to the Government’s Academies Bill has been tabled by Labour as part of an ongoing push to force sex education on children as young as five. Former Education Secretary Ed Balls has put forward plans for Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) to be compulsory for all pupils in academy schools.”

The Pulse: “A Chilean couple is acting fast after hearing that the Argentinian government approved gay marriage this past Thursday. Already they have called the Civil Registry of Mendoza, Chile’s neighboring city, to inquire about marriage procedures.”

The Volokh Conspiracy: “A reader points out that Justice Thomas has at least three former clerks who are now Justices on state Supreme Courts: Justice Eid in Colorado, Justice Stras in Minnesota, and now Justice Lee in Utah. And Justice Thomas is of course the U.S. Supreme Court Justice who has the broadest view of the structural constitutional restraints on federal power (ones that leave states to regulate or not regulate, free of federal interference). Coincidence? Or is it just that he and I don’t know about other Justices who have had this many clerks on state supreme courts?”

The Daily Caller: “The crisis reached a howling pitch in mid-April, 2008, at an ABC News debate moderated by Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos. Gibson asked Obama why it had taken him so long – nearly a year since Wright’s remarks became public – to dissociate himself from them. Stephanopoulos asked, ‘Do you think Reverend Wright loves America as much as you do?’ … Watching this all at home were members of Journolist, a listserv comprised of several hundred liberal journalists, as well as like-minded professors and activists. The tough questioning from the ABC anchors left many of them outraged. … In one instance, Spencer Ackerman of the Washington Independent urged his colleagues to deflect attention from Obama’s relationship with Wright by changing the subject. Pick one of Obama’s conservative critics, Ackerman wrote, ‘Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists.’” | The Daily Caller rounds up responses to its story.

James Taranto writing in The Wall Street Journal: “What Ackerman proposed was to carry out a political dirty trick in order to suppress the news and thereby aid a candidate for public office. That’s about as unethical as journalism can get.”

LifeSiteNews: “Forty-seven percent of gay couples in a recently published study said that they had ‘sex agreements’ with their partners, which clarify how often and in what circumstances they are permitted to have sex with others. Only 45% said that their relationships were monogamous, while another 8% disagreed about whether their relationship was ‘open’ or exclusive, according to an ongoing study by the Center or Research on Gender & Sexuality at San Francisco State University.”

The Gay Couples Study
Principal Investigator: Colleen Hoff, PhD
Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality

Channel NewsAsia: “Singapore authorities have made known publicly the use of commercial property for religious activities. Previously, the authorities grant requests from religious organisations to use commercial space on a case-by-case basis. The guidelines issued on Tuesday follows several high profile real estate investments by religious groups.”

Christian Post: “The head of U.K.-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide has called upon Nigerian authorities to ‘urgently’ review security arrangements in the volatile Plateau State after another deadly attack on Christians this past weekend. Ten people, including children, are believed to have been killed in the early Saturday morning attack on Mazah village.”

Associated Press: “Spain’s Parliament has rejected a proposal to ban women from wearing in public places Islamic veils that reveal only the eyes. The proposal was debated late Tuesday; 183 lawmakers opposed the ban, 162 lawmakers voted for it and two abstained.”

Sen. Tom Coburn writing at National Review Online: “The Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Elena Kagan provided key exchanges about the Commerce Clause, natural rights, and other issues that have convinced me to vote against her nomination. Based on her own testimony, she’ll violate her oath as soon as she’s sworn in. … In her testimony, it was clear that Kagan subscribes to the progressive view that the wrongly decided precedents of the Supreme Court are more important the clear intent of the Constitution”

Catholic News Agency: “Bishop Elizalde said the passage of the law should lead Argentineans to question ‘the seriousness of the gospel commitment we claim to have. The coarse political context cannot justify what has happened.’ ‘As time goes on certain aspects will be clarified and new ways of behaving in society will be established,’ he ventured. ‘The consequences will become evident in many areas, perhaps not right away, but there will certainly be repercussions in family life and in the formation of young people,’ the bishop warned.”

Lexington Herald-Leader: “Matthew Vanderpool, an openly gay candidate for a state House seat in Fayette County, has decided not to accept or pursue about $15,000 in campaign funds from [the Victory Fund] that provides financial and campaign support to gay and lesbian political candidates. … ‘I have no “gay agenda.” My goal is to serve the people in the House District 45 without prejudice, arbitrarily dismissing no one because of their race, sex, nation, origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, political party affiliation, personal or professional beliefs.’”

Bill Muehlenberg, secretary of the Family Council of Victoria, writing in The Australian: “Marriage is a universal and historical institution which serves tremendous social purposes. It regulates human sexuality, and it procures the wellbeing of any offspring from the sexual union. Thus it is not a mere private matter, but a vitally important social institution. Governments have an overwhelming interest in heterosexual marriage. They have no reason to confer special rights and privileges on other types of sexual relationships. People are free to engage in those relationships, but they cannot expect to see their relationships elevated to that of heterosexual marriage.”

9 News: “Talks to forge a new four-party ruling Dutch coalition following inconclusive national elections last month have collapsed amid disagreement on how to cut the country’s budget, the leader of the negotiations said on Tuesday. … Before starting the negotiations that collapsed on Tuesday, Rutte had unsuccessful talks about a possible coalition with anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders and the Christian Democrats of outgoing Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.”

Central Florida News 13: “The city of Kissimmee could soon get a new motto. The proposal is on the Aug. 24 ballot. … One of those ideas is to make Kissimmee’s new logo ‘In God We Trust.’ It’s a proposal other commissioners initially supported. … But then came the controversy. Otero said he wanted the logo to help promote American values, but not current liberal views like gay marriage and abortion.”

On July 20, 2010, FRCAction is sponsoring a webcast about the Defense Authorization Act. ADF attorney Austin R. Nimocks will be joining this panel.

Jakarta Globe: “The highly divisive 2008 Anti-Pornography Law will be back in the Constitutional Court today. But unlike the previous judicial reviews that sought to annul the controversial law, or at least parts of it, this time the applicant wants the court to strengthen it.”

Telegraph: “Simon Hughes, the Lib Dem deputy leader . . . predicted that before the next general election, the law will be changed to give an equal right to full marriage.”

The Washington Post / Virginia Politics: “In recent days, the ACLU of Virginia and deeply conservative Loudoun County Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R) have found themselves on the same side of a War on Christmas debate raging in Loudoun County. That happens as often as … well, as Christmas landing in July. The issue: Whether the Loudoun Board of Supervisors should retain a public forum space on the county’s courthouse grounds in Leesburg, the traditional site for religious displays such as trees, nativity scenes and menorahs around Christmas and Hanukkah.”

Personhood USA: “Muscogee County voters who ask for a republican ballot tomorrow will see something a little different. You will find a question on the ballot that reads, ‘Do you support an amendment to the Georgia State Constitution so as to provide that the paramount right to life is vested in each human being from the earliest biological beginning until natural death?’ The question is being posed by the non-profit group, Georgia Right to Life.”

Personhood USA: “The Montana Personhood Amendment Initiative CI-102 volunteers received news yesterday that they were just 6,000 signatures short of the required 48,674 signatures to put Personhood on the 2010 ballot.”

CA State Sen. Roy Ashburn writing at Gay Politics: “I should begin with an apology. I am sincerely sorry for the votes I cast and the actions I took that harmed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people . . . For nearly 26 years, the voters in my area of California trusted me as their elected representative. I look back now knowing there is so much more I could have done to inform the public about LGBT people and to fight for equal rights under the law. Regrettably and selfishly, I took another path in my life and political career—I chose to conceal who I truly am and to then actually vote against the best interests of people like me. All this was done because I was afraid–terrified, really–that somehow I would be revealed as gay.”

Gay Politics: “The Victory Fund has endorsed three non-incumbent gay candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives this year. If all three win, they would double the number of out members of Congress, joining incumbent Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Jared Polis, D-Colo, each of whom are also endorsed by the Victory Fund in their campaigns for reelection. It’s the group’s largest-ever slate of federal candidates.”

“After five loving, fulfilling years with my boyfriend, Drew, I suddenly found myself online, looking to meet a woman . . . Together we had a decision to make. One of the strangers on this Web site could end up contributing half of our child’s DNA.”

AFP: “Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said the country will not listen to those who want gay rights to be mentioned in a draft of the new constitution, state media reported on Sunday.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer: “Fast-forward one year, and Goodman, 21, who lives in Bala Cynwyd in the township, finds himself at the fore of a small but growing trend in Pennsylvania. He is prodding Lower Merion to join 16 other municipal and county governments in Pennsylvania that have enacted laws protecting members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community from discrimination. On July 7, Goodman and members of his group, Equality Lower Merion, watched as 13 township commissioners voted without dissent to draft an ordinance he proposed.”

NPR: “Advocates are hoping two cases now in the federal courts may signal a turning point in the fight for gay marriage. A federal court in Boston ruled last week that same-sex married couples deserve federal recognition. That case, along with another in California, is likely to move the battle closer to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Jonnelle Marte writing in the Wall Street Journal: “Facing a tough job market, many lawyers struggling to find work . . . are re-examining their roles and testing the waters in other fields. Some are attempting to stay in the industry by taking temporary work as contract lawyers—low-profile, lower-paying positions that often involve more routine work, according to consultants and industry experts. Others are becoming accountants, consultants or teachers. … The portion of law-school graduates who held jobs that required a law degree and passing the bar exam shrunk to 71% for the class of 2009, from 75% for the class of 2008, according to a survey by the National Association for Law Placement.”

Deseret News: “University of Utah law professor Amos N. Guiora proclaimed Friday that free-speech protections of religious gatherings need to be considerably loosened for the war on terrorism to succeed. … [According to Guiora] law enforcement agencies must monitor what is said in places of worship such as mosques or synagogues when and if authorities have reason to believe that a religious leader is inciting followers to commit acts of terroristic violence.”

Catholic News Agency: “‘They can accuse me of what they want. God has spoken, and I am going to obey Him to the letter, even if it costs me my job, even if it costs me my life, because what God says comes first,’ [Marta Covella] said.”

Reuters: “China is satisfied that U.S. Internet giant Google Inc is complying with Chinese laws after it tweaked the way it directs users to an unfiltered search page, a senior official said on Tuesday.”

ABC: “While it may sound like hyperbole, experts say divorce can become ‘contagious’ in close social groups. … According to new research done by Fowler, along with professors Nicholas Christakis and Rose McDermott, being friends with someone who gets divorced makes someone 147 percent more likely to get divorced themselves. A person who has a sibling who gets divorced is 22 percent more likely to also split from his spouse, the researchers say.” | See this ADF Alliance Alert post for more information on the study.

Garden State Equality Press Release: “In a state where the Governor and several conservative activists have endorsed the civil union law as a way to avoid marriage equality – saying the civil union law already provides equality to New Jersey’s same-sex couples – Garden State Equality has just released a damning two-and-half-minute video in which state Senators who voted against marriage equality confess that the civil union law has failed.”

Mercury News (AP): “A Sacramento appeals court says California’s union-backed 1975 law allowing labor picketing outside stores is unconstitutional because it requires property owners to host speakers they disagree with.” | Ralphs Grocer Co. v. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 8, No. C060413 (Cal. App. July 19, 2010)

Stuart Whatley writing at the Christian Science Monitor: “With a creeping rise in secularists and nonbelievers today, some American Christian traditionalists see a politically existential threat. … But those who state outright that Christianity was the driving force behind the settling and political conception of the United States rely on contrived historicism.”

Jeffrey T. Kuhner writing in The Washington Times: “Radical Islam has won a major victory in its war with the West . . . Britain’s new coalition government, led by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, has decided to uphold the ban against Michael Savage, the popular talk-radio host. Mr. Savage, who is based in San Francisco, has more than 8 million listeners on about 400 stations . . . According to British officials, Mr. Savage is on the list for one reason: inciting ‘hatred’ and ‘inter-community violence.’ He is a public menace who must be kept away from Britain’s shores.”

SCOTUSblog: “The Supreme Court on Monday released the calendar for oral arguments for the opening session of the 2010 Term, starting on Monday, Oct. 4. The Court will hold afternoon arguments on two of the five argument days in that sitting. The morning sessions run from 10 a.m. to noon; the afternoon sessions begin at 1 p.m. … Wednesday, Oct. 6: Snyder v. Phelps (09-751) — constitutional protection against political protests at soldier’s private funeral.”

Federalist Society SCOTUScast: “On June 24, 2010, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Doe v. Reed. In this case, the Court was asked whether compelled disclosure of signatory information on a referendum petition violated the First Amendment. … To discuss the case, we have the Capital University Law School Josiah H. Blackmore II and Shirley M. Nault Designated Professor of Law Bradley A. Smith.”

News.Scotsman.com: “Gay campaigners are calling on the Scottish Government to legislate for ‘full marriage equality’. They say civil partnerships, introduced for same-sex couples in 2005, do not have the same status as marriage.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “A Field Poll scheduled to be released today shows little has changed since May 2008, when 51 percent of voters said they supported same-sex marriage, only to ban it by approving Proposition 8 six months later. … As in May 2008, 51 percent of voters say they support same-sex marriage, with 42 percent opposed and 7 percent having no opinion.”

Associated Press: “The Senate Judiciary Committee is meeting Tuesday to take up Kagan’s nomination after a week’s delay at the request of Republican lawmakers. Democrats hold a 12-7 advantage on the committee.” | Senate Judiciary Committee

Joanna L. Grossman writing at FindLaw: “In this column, I will briefly describe Judge Tauro’s ruling in [Commonwealth v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services], and then consider the role that marriage-law history plays in both cases. … It may well be, as Judge Tauro concluded, that the only explanation for such an ill-conceived, and ill-structured law is a simple and an ugly one: sheer animus against gay and lesbian marriages. And if that’s the case, then all of DOMA should fall, including Section Three, as applied to any plaintiff who comes before any court.” | Part I is here.

“The committee voted 13-6 with all of the pro-abortion Democrats supporting Kagan’s confirmation and all Republicans opposing her, except pro-life Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.”

LifeNews: “Media Matters suggests that no discrepancies exist between Elena Kagan’s involvement with the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists’ (ACOG) statement on ‘partial-birth abortion’ during her time in the Clinton White House and Kagan’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month. The following addresses Media Matters’ claims and points out Kagan’s misrepresentation of her involvement in this debate and the need for further investigation into Kagan’s involvement with ACOG and its ‘medical’ opinion.”

NBC 10: “The American Civil Liberties Union says a banner with a prayer on it that hangs in the auditorium at Cranston High School West may be in violation of the First Amendment and wants it taken down.” | Cranston High School West

NorthJersey.com: “The National Organization for Marriage plans its rally in front of the Statehouse today, part of a 19-state ‘Summer for Marriage, One Man – One Woman Tour,’ … To counter that, pro-gay marriage group Garden State Equality gathered in the Statehouse this morning with same-sex couples and their children.”

ACLU: “Itawamba County School District officials agreed to have a judgment entered against them in the case of a recent high school graduate who sued her school for canceling the prom rather than let her attend with her girlfriend. The agreement ends a precedent-setting lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of 18-year-old Constance McMillen, who suffered humiliation and harassment after parents, students and school officials executed a cruel plan to put on a ‘decoy’ prom for her while the rest of her classmates were at a private prom 30 miles away.”

Washington Times editorial: “It’s troubling that Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, is openly considering a favorable vote on the Supreme Court nomination of U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan. The nominee has acted contrary to several matters particularly close to the senator’s core values.”

CNN: “Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said Tuesday he will support Solicitor General Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court nomination. Graham is the only GOP member of the Senate Judiciary Committee so far to indicate he will vote for Kagan.”

Associated Press: “North Korea executed a former Cabinet official who was in charge of talks with South Korea, a news report said Tuesday, the latest reported death sentence for a North Korean official over policy failures.”

Associated Press: “Gov. Joe Manchin, a centrist and popular Democrat known for his handling of a coal mine disaster that killed 29 in April, declared Tuesday that he will run for the late Robert C. Byrd’s U.S. Senate seat.”

LifeSiteNews: “A University of Illinois professor fired for explaining the Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality has gathered several thousands of students, alumni, and others – including the head of the the University’s atheist club – demanding that the Catholic professor be reinstated. … The administrators of a Facebook group supporting Dr. Howell have started a fan page to handle the influx of supporters after the group, now over 5,600 members, became difficult to administer.”

LifeNews: “A new undercover video released today . . . shows an abortion center staffer in Indiana misleading a woman considering an abortion by giving her erroneous information. The youth-led pro-life group Live Action released the new video it filmed showing an Indianapolis Planned Parenthood facility using manipulative and medically inaccurate counseling to convince a young woman to have an abortion.” | Live Action press release

LifeNews: “Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, sent a letter to senators this morning urging them, on behalf of 280,000 women who are members of the organization, to vote no. … ‘The recent revelation of her influence in the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologist’s (ACOG) statement on the medical necessity for partial birth abortion in 1996, arouses deep concern over her objectivity in weighing factual information concerning abortion,’ Dannenfelser said.”

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: “A recent AP article picked up by news outlets across the country describes how Gano Baptist Church in Georgetown, Kentucky is teaching young people about our country’s religious heritage. … Amazingly, the article quotes Americans United for Separation of Church and State as being concerned about this effort … Let’s be clear – there is absolutely no legal prohibition on churches teaching about the religion of our founders, even if pastors do so from the pulpit. ADF has put together an easy to read summary of the current law governing churches and politics called ‘Guidelines for Political Activities by Churches and Pastors.’ The only current prohibition on church political speech has to do with endorsing and opposing a candidate who is currently running for office (and ADF is doing its best to change that unconstitutional law through the Pulpit Initiative).”

The Independent: “Jewish and Muslim leaders have accused the European Union of ‘naked discrimination’ by ordering the compulsory labelling of all kosher and halal meat. An advisory group of imams and rabbis at the Office of the Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, said it was wrong to single out meat acceptable to some communities while not requiring the identification of conventional methods of slaughter. MEPs voted overwhelmingly by 559 to 54 in favour of labelling meat from slaughterhouses that do not practise stunning, to inform secular consumers or those concerned with animal welfare how the animal died.”

EurActiv: “Taking their cue from the Lisbon Treaty, Irish MPs this month called for new scrutiny powers compelling the Dublin government to take their views into account before agreeing to new EU legislation. … The main proposal is that a more robust system of legislative scrutiny be introduced, whereby all ministers will pledge that – bar certain exceptional circumstances – they will not agree to anything in the EU Council of Ministers until it has been cleared by the Irish parliament.”

EurActiv: “Police officers in all EU countries might be required to present a standard letter of rights to criminal suspects in their custody before they are interrogated, resembling the so-called ‘Miranda Warning’ used in the US, according to a European Commission paper obtained by EurActiv.”

WNCT (AP): “Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel [Nate Kellum] says the small group from a Christian school in Arizona had bowed their heads and begun praying for the justices when police stopped them.”

OneNewsNow: “Alliance Defense Fund (ADF)-allied attorneys in North Carolina have contacted the state bar association over a proposal to add a provision that would require ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation’ to be added to the non-discrimination ethics rules for attorneys. ‘Attorneys might be penalized just for abiding by their beliefs if this revision is approved,’ explains ADF senior counsel [Joe Infranco]. ‘…It potentially threatens religious free exercise of attorneys who might be advocating against those types of behavior in a particular case.’”

CNSNews: “According to attorneys from ADF, Supreme Court police forced teacher Maureen Rigo from the building steps and told her the act of bowing her head and praying on the Supreme Court steps was unlawful. … [Kellum] said when Rigo contacted the Supreme Court Police headquarters, a Supreme Court Police sergeant — whose identity he did not disclose — confirmed the policy. The sergeant, Kellum said, asked Rigo if her group contained more than three persons, and if they bowed their heads. Rigo answered ‘Yes’ to both questions.”

Catholic News Agency: “‘Christians shouldn’t be silenced for exercising their beliefs through quiet prayer on public property,’ commented [Nate Kellum], Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) senior counsel. ‘The last place you’d expect this kind of obvious disregard for the First Amendment would be on the grounds of the U.S. Supreme Court itself, but that’s what happened.’”

Catholic.net (Zenit.org): “Attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund have approached the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign regarding the firing of a Introduction to Catholicism professor. … Senior Counsel [David French] of he Alliance Defense Fund protested what he called censoring a professor’s speech ‘including classroom speech related to the topic of the class — merely because certain ideas ‘offend’ an anonymous student.’”

The New American: “The potential implications of a change from ‘religious freedom’ to ‘freedom of worship’ may have already begun to play out on the very grounds of the U.S. Supreme Court. In May 5, a school teacher of Arizona, Maureen Rigo, traveled with students to the Supreme Court and, according to press reports and a letter of complaint filed with the Court, found that their religious liberties did not extend to prayer on the grounds of the court. … The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) . . . has gotten involved in Rigo’s case, sending a letter to officials of the Supreme Court.”

RH Reality Check: “In response to the DC Court of Appeals ruling, Austin Nimocks, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, one of the key opponents to same sex marriage, argued: ‘In America, we respect the right to vote. The citizens of the District of Columbia should not have their voices suppressed by the government, but that is exactly what is happening here.’”

Christian Web News: “After their appeal to vote on gay marriage was rejected, Christians and conservative groups in Washington are now determined to take the issue to the U.S. Supreme court. ‘In America, we respect the right to vote. The citizens of the District of Columbia should not have their voices suppressed by the government, but that is exactly what is happening here,’ said [Austin R. Nimocks], senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund.”

The Alliance Defense Fund honored eight allied attorneys this month for providing thousands of hours of dedicated, pro-bono service in defense of religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family. The value of those hours amounts to millions of dollars in free legal services that they have provided to clients in need.