Tag Archives: ADF: David Cortman

Jeni Booker Senter reports in the Santa Rosa Press-Gazette: “Senior Legal Counsel for ADF David Cortman says a letter was sent to the District on May 14 that highlighted appreciation for the District’s ‘concern for abiding by the recent Consent Order filed in Doe vs. School Board for Santa Rosa County, No. 08-cv-361 (M.D. Fla.2008), allowing district employees on their own time and in their individual capacities—which is exactly the case on a Sunday night to attend or participate in a private religious service—in no way violates this order.’”

Eric Young reports in the Christian Post: “‘While we appreciate the District’s concern for abiding by the recent Consent order … treating FCA and CWO equally with other student clubs in no way violates this Order,’ wrote David A. Cortman, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, in a letter last month to the principal of Jay High School, the superintendent of the Santa Rosa County School District, and members of the Santa Rosa County School Board.”

Aaron J. Leichman reports in the Christian Post: “‘Christian student groups shouldn’t be discriminated against for their beliefs,’ said David Cortman, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. ‘Further, it is unconstitutional to prohibit school district employees from attending a private religious service on their own time and in their individual capacities.’”

CitizenLink: David Cortman, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, called it a clear violation of the First Amendment. ‘This assignment was titled ‘All about me,’ not ‘All about the school,” he said. ‘The student’s freedom of religion should’ve been respected.’”

David Cortman, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), explains that the school initially capitulated to the ACLU’s demands . . .

‘[The] ACLU tends to pick on smaller communities throughout the country and basically looks to completely eradicate any mention of religion at all in the public square,’ the attorney explains.

‘And so we sent these letters to give some push-back to the ACLU to basically tell the school regardless of what they want you to do in their zeal to eliminate all mention of religion, what the law actually requires is that you allow the Christian clubs to meet on the same terms as other clubs.’”

ABC (WMBB.com): “Christian student groups shouldn’t be discriminated against for their beliefs,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. “Further, it is unconstitutional to prohibit school district employees from attending a private religious service on their own time and in their individual capacities. The district did the right thing by reversing its decision and deciding to respect the rights of students and employees.”

Officials at Santa Rosa County School District, who previously barred a Christian-based club from meeting at Jay High School, have reversed course after receiving a letter from the Alliance Defense Fund.

These claims stem from an elementary school’s restriction of the mother’s effort to read aloud from scripture to students in her son’s kindergarten classroom as part of a curricular “show and tell”-type activity.

OneNewsNow reports: “‘The irony here is that the city has been treating bars and taverns better than churches. Not only does that violate the law, but it certainly violates common sense,’ he contends. ‘I mean, churches always have been and still are extremely beneficial to the communities they exist in.’”

ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman: “The so-called ‘separation of church and state’ does not permit school officials to silence students who wish to advertise or observe the National Day of Prayer.”

“Zoning restrictions should not be designed by a city to discriminate against churches,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman, who is serving as local counsel in the case.

OneNewsNow: “‘They actually only permit a church’s signs to be posted on Saturday night, after it’s dark, 12 hours before their service,’ [Cortman] explains, ‘but yet other signs — such as political signs, garage sale signs, homeowners association signs — can be put up weeks, months, and sometimes years before their events.’”

ADF Attorney David Cortman appeared on the Complete Story with Dick Bott to discuss a case involving censorship of a Christian student club by an Atlanta public schools. The mp3 runs just over 29 minutes.
ADF press release: School rules out religion: Atlanta Public Schools challenged after blocking club

Baptist Press: “But the Day of Silence is not just being promoted in California, said Alliance Defense Fund attorney David Cortman. “It’s not limited to any geographic region,” he said. ” … We’ve seen where teachers actively promote the Day of Silence, where they permit the distribution of Day of Silence flyers in homeroom class, where they actively participate in the Day of Silence.”

Churches shouldn’t be discriminated against by a city’s sign ordinances,” said Cortman. “The government cannot require churches to abide by stricter rules than it places on non-religious signs. The Constitution prohibits government officials from singling out religious groups for such discrimination.”

OneNewsNow reports: “Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is representing a mother and her son, who attends Sutton Middle School and wants to establish a Student to Student Club (STS). ADF senior legal counsel David Cortman explains. “For six months our client has been attempting in every manner possible merely to start a student Bible club,” he says.”

“Christian student groups shouldn’t be discriminated against for their beliefs,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. “The First Amendment and federal law prohibit such actions on the basis of religion, and this has been established by decades of court precedent.”

Domestic Divapalooza: David Cortman, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said no student is compelled to pray under the Texas law. “A moment of silence is not a government endorsement of religion just because someone might use the time for prayer,” he said. “The 5th Circuit was right to uphold the district court’s determination that the law is not an establishment of religion.”

WBBM780.com: “A public school sports association’s reported ban on prayer at some games held at private schools is being challenged.Attorney David Cortman with the Alliance Defense Fund says it’s unconstitutional to prohibit prayer or religious messages at private schools.
‘It’s unnecessary overreaching by the… government,’ he told WBBM.”

Christian Post: After the ruling, David Cortman, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case last year, stated, “A moment of silence is not a government endorsement of religion just because someone might use the time for prayer.

ADF attorney David Cortman appeared on Wallbuilders Live with Rick Green to discuss the right of students to gather on school premises for Bible Clubs and other religious purposes. The mp3 runs just over 12 minutes. Related ADF press release: …

Charlie Butts writes at One News Now: “The Illinois High School Association has issued an edict banning prayer or religious messages over public address systems prior to IHSA tournament games that are hosted at private schools. David Cortman of Alliance Defense …

One News Now: “A New York school district faces a federal lawsuit over banning a student-led Bible club. School busThe Lindenhurst Union Free School District has barred the club and continues to do so in spite of legal information provided …

Newsday:  A Lindenhurst High School student who tried to start a Bible club has filed a federal lawsuit, saying officials violated his civil rights by denying the group recognition because of its religious nature. The school has denied the allegation. …

“The Bible club is entitled to the same recognition and benefits as other student-led clubs on campus,” said ADF Litigation Counsel Joshua Bolinger. “It is unconstitutional for school officials to deny students their First Amendment rights simply because they are religious.”

Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman will be available for media interviews Wednesday following a hearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Brown v. City of Pittsburgh. ADF attorneys are representing a nurse who is challenging a Pittsburgh ordinance that prohibits speech in specified zones outside abortion clinics.

www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4812 ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND NEWS RELEASE January 27, 2009 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom Christian group now allowed to distribute fliers at Penn. school Child Evangelism Fellowship given same access to flier distribution …

CBN: Public school students in Illinois will no longer be allowed to take a moment of silence at the start of classes, a judge has ruled. This week, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman struck down the state’s mandatory moment of …

. . The day marks the passage of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom in 1786.

WorldNetDaily reports: The American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of an offended parent, is suing an elementary school district for allowing its students to attend a non-taxpayer-funded religious education program that meets on campus. For the past 55 years, the …

WorldNetDaily reports: The Maricopa, Ariz., Unified School District formalized a change to a literature distribution policy that previously denied First Baptist Church of Maricopa Pastor Jim Johnson’s request to hand out flyers advertising his church’s Awana Journey 24 Club, a …

Maricopa Unified School District officials have changed the district’s literature distribution policy and now allows equal treatment of Christian groups on campus. ADF filed suit in July after a church and its pastor were told that they would not be permitted to distribute their fliers to students.

ADF attorney Dave Cortman is scheduled to appear live on Fox News Channel’s “America’s News Headquarters” sometime between 3:30 and 4:00 PM AZT  today.  He will be talking about the Vermont John 3:16 license plate case that was recently argued …

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys Jeremy Tedesco and David Cortman will be available for media interviews following Tedesco’s oral arguments in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit Monday in Byrne v. Rutledge. ADF attorneys filed suit against Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles officials, arguing that they unconstitutionally denied a man’s application for a specialty plate because of its religious reference.

The town’s amended code continues to restrict the First Amendment rights of churches,” said ADF Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “We trust that the 9th Circuit will understand the need for those rights to remain in tact . . . ”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys and allied attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief in federal court Thursday in defense of an Illinois law allowing a “period of silence” for students attending the state’s public schools.

ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman: “Federal law does not allow a city to put a desire for property tax revenue ahead of the right of a church to meet in a facility that it rightfully occupies.”

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday after school district officials in Haverford Township denied a local Christian ministry access to a flier distribution program that is open to other groups.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund are ready to offer free legal help to students at schools across the nation who participate in the Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity, should the students’ First Amendment rights be violated.

Alliance Defense Fund allied attorneys filed suit Thursday against the city of Atlanta for refusing to permit a church to use its leased property for religious purposes.

The 11-year-old fifth-grader wore a homemade T-shirt that said ‘Obama – A Terrorist’s Best Friend’ — and he got in trouble.

“The only wall that prevents religious expression is the ACLU’s, not Thomas Jefferson’s,” Cortman added. “Our government and courts have already spoken: Students have a constitutional right to peacefully participate in ‘See You at the Pole’ . . .

The lawsuit challenges the district’s policy that charges religious groups fees for using public school facilities while giving non-religious community groups a free ride.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund have obtained a settlement from Deer Valley Unified School District officials that will end the district’s prohibition on a Christian student club’s fliers and PA announcements. The district has agreed to change policies that prohibited the meeting announcements and fliers but allowed them for other student clubs.

Maricopa Unified School District officials have reversed course and will allow the distribution of fliers by a local church on campus. Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed suit July 24 after a church and its pastor were told that they would not be permitted to distribute their fliers to students. District policy allows nonprofit organizations to distribute literature, but only if the fliers do not contain religious material.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit Monday in defense of a Texas law requiring students to observe one minute of silence following the Pledge of Allegiance.

ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday after Maricopa Unified School District officials refused to allow a church to distribute its fliers to students. The district allows non-profit organizations to distribute non-religious literature.

A federal court Wednesday ruled in favor of attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund and permanently struck down sections of a state statute used to bar a member of Gideons International from distributing Bibles on a public sidewalk.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys will be available for media interviews following a hearing Thursday in A.P. v. Tomah Area School District. ADF attorneys are asking the court to suspend an unconstitutional policy prohibiting religious art while a federal lawsuit moves forward.

The Middlebury Union High School District, school officials will grant a student-run Bible club formal recognition. The change will allow members to gain access to the same benefits afforded to other campus clubs.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit and a request for a temporary restraining order against Calcasieu Parish Public Schools Thursday. School officials prohibited students of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes club from using school buses to attend an event even though the school does not prohibit other clubs from using the buses.

ADF attorneys filed a motion Tuesday asking a federal court to immediately suspend a Wisconsin school district’s unconstitutional prohibition against religious expression while a student’s lawsuit moves forward.

ADF attorneys are asking the court to put a hold on district and school policies used to unconstitutionally restrict the First Amendment rights of Christian students while a student’s lawsuit against the district moves forward.

A Christian student told he could not sing a religious song at a high school talent show was permitted to perform Friday, after ADF attorneys representing the student sent a letter to Baldwin County Public Schools officials on his behalf.

ADF attorneys defend Wis. high school student facing religious discrimination and appear in numerous media outlets to discuss the case.

A Tomah High School student has filed a federal lawsuit alleging his art teacher censored his drawing because it featured a cross and a biblical reference.

Citing a policy prohibiting depictions of “blood, violence, sexual connotations, [or] religious beliefs,” officials penalized a Christian student for his artwork depicting a Bible verse and a cross . . .

The legal fight over Illinois’ moment of silence law could expand soon. In fact, it could rope in all of the state’s public schools and students.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund have appealed a judge’s decision to allow a Pittsburgh ordinance prohibiting free speech around abortion clinics to continue to be enforced while a lawsuit challenging it moves forward in court.

ADF attorneys filed a federal lawsuit against a Washington school district Wednesday after officials refused to honor the rights of Christian students wishing to assemble on campus during non-instructional time.

“If people think that such hostility toward parental rights and choice in education isn’t possible in America, this decision demonstrates otherwise.” said ADF attorney David Cortman

. . . the updated complaint adds the school district’s literature distribution policy to the unconstitutional restrictions on student free speech named in the original complaint . . .

“ADF attorney David Cortman appears on the Bob Dutko show to discuss Michael Newdow’s latest challenge to the pledge of allegiance.”

The Freedom from Religion Foundation, represented by well-known atheist Michael Newdow, and other unnamed individuals filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire to challenge the inclusion of the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.

School officials refused to allow club to promote campus prayer event   PHOENIX — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the Deer Valley Unified School District after school officials prevented a Christian student club …