Tag Archives: ADF: Gregory S. Baylor

LifeSiteNews: “All Americans, including job creators and providers, should be free to live according to their faith rather than be forced into violating their own consciences,” said Gregory S. Baylor, ADF senior counsel. “That’s no different for Geneva College, a Christian-run college that simply wants to abide by the very faith it espouses and teaches. “The court has done the right thing in allowing Geneva College to remain in this lawsuit together with Seneca Hardwood Lumber Co. to ensure that the government doesn’t punish people of faith for making decisions consistent with that faith.”

Patheos: Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Gregory S. Baylor, whose organization argued for the constitutionality of the program, defended it on the grounds that “parents should be able to choose what’s best for their own children.” “The ultimate winners in the Indiana Supreme Court’s decision are Indiana families who want to provide the best education for their children, whether it is public or private,” Baylor said March 26.

DFW Catholic: Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Gregory S. Baylor, whose organization argued for the constitutionality of the program, defended it on the grounds that “parents should be able to choose what’s best for their own children.” “The ultimate winners in the Indiana Supreme Court’s decision are Indiana families who want to provide the best education for their children, whether it is public or private,” Baylor said March 26.

CNSNews: All Americans, including job creators and providers, should be free to live according to their faith rather than be forced into violating their own consciences,” said Gregory S. Baylor, a senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing Geneva. “The court has done the right thing in allowing Geneva College to remain in this lawsuit…to ensure that the government doesn’t punish people of faith for making decisions consistent with that faith.”

All Americans, including job creators and providers, should be free to live according to their faith rather than be forced into violating their own consciences. That’s no different for Geneva College, a Christian-run college that simply wants to abide by the very faith it espouses and teaches. T

Alan Sears at Alliance Defending Freedom: One of the quieter – though equally intense – battles for religious freedom in America is being fought almost daily on behalf of young school children. This week, two cases from two different parts of the country spotlight the obstacles being placed before people of faith, like you, who want nothing more than to select a school that best meets the needs of their children and grandchildren.

AP: The Indiana Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the law creating the nation’s broadest school voucher program, clearing the way for a possible expansion.

Greg Baylor at Speak Up Movement: The freedom of religious student groups at America’s public universities is under constant attack. However, the Virginia legislature is the latest to fight bac

World Net Daily: Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor pointed out that “neither the U.S. nor the Colorado constitutions allow a school that meets all other qualifications to be kept out of a religiously neutral program solely because the school’s core values are grounded in religious convictions.” “These schools provide an excellent education that meets all state standards,” he said. “It is good that they will continue to be welcomed into voucher programs like this one so that students, the community, and the government will all benefit.”

Karen Gushta at the Christian Post: In January (1/14/2013),Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor reported more than 40 cases against the contraception/abortifacient mandate are being pursued in the courts by religious organizations, for-profit businesses, and individuals. Fifteen of these lawsuits have been filed by for-profit businesses or their owners. They all claim writes Baylor,”Their religious consciences preclude them from subsidizing the use of contraceptives and/or abortifacients by participants in their health insurance plans.”

Greg Baylor at Alliance Defending Freedom: Religious organizations, for-profit businesses, and individuals have filed over 40 cases, attempting to protect their deeply held religious beliefs and exercise from the unconstitutional dictates of the federal government.  Alliance Defending Freedom represents Louisiana College, Geneva College, Biola University, Grace College, Tyndale House Publishers, the Newland family (Hercules Industries), and the Hepler family (Seneca Hardwood) in their challenges to the illegal Mandate.  I thought it might be helpful to provide a brief snapshot of where these and other cases stand.

Times Online: An attorney representing Geneva College and other faith-based institutions said his group is not impressed by a concession made Friday by the Obama administration. Gregory Baylor, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, a national coalition of about 2,000 Christian attorneys, called the proposed change “an accounting gimmick.”

Greg Baylor at Speak Up Movement: On January 8, 2013, plaintiffs represented by the ACLU,Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and theNew Hampshire Civil Liberties Union launched an assault on educational freedom in New Hampshire.

Christian Post:
“Americans should be free to honor God and abide by their consciences at work, home, and church,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “Washington politicians can’t confine our faith to the four walls of our homes and churches alone. Honoring God is important every day, in all areas of life, including in our work. The Obama administration’s attacks on faith and business prove that it doesn’t respect either one.”. . . “It is quite a challenge to keep track of the large and growing number of legal challenges to the HHS contraceptive/abortifacient mandate,” ADF Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor states in the group’s scorecard post on its website. “Religious organizations, for-profit businesses, and individuals have filed over 40 cases, attempting to protect their deeply held religious beliefs and exercise from the unconstitutional dictates of the federal government.”

Greg Baylor at the Speak Up Movement Blog: The Game of Life and Entertainment Weekly are both part of “the culture” that drives and shapes law and politics. And the shifting cultural consensus about homosexual behavior and the definition of marriage has profound consequences for the religious freedom of individuals and organizations. Threats to their freedom don’t come out of the blue; the ongoing attack on marriage didn’t start with the introduction of legislation or the filing of lawsuits designed to alter the legal definition of marriage. And the objective of these efforts is not simply to secure legal approval of homosexual conduct; it is to punish and marginalize those embrace the traditional understanding of marriage and sexual morality. As the EW writer declares, such individuals and organizations are “being shoved into a closet of [their] own.” Indeed. This means that our longstanding national commitment to religious freedom will continue to be severely tested in the coming year, as cultural trends translate into legal and political efforts to push traditional religious believers “into a closet of their own.”

Greg Baylor at Speak Up Movement University Blog: The Florida Department of Education recently ended its discriminatory exclusion of a Christian college from one of its tuition assistance programs.

Inside Higher Ed: Florida officials have agreed to declare Florida Christian College’s students eligible for a state student aid program, settling a lawsuit by the college, The News Service of Florida reported

Religion Clause Blog: Alliance Defending Freedom issued a Nov. 15 press release reporting on the settlement, and also made available the full text of the Mediation Settlement Agreement.

Florida education officials have agreed to a settlement that will allow students at Kissimmee’s Florida Christian College to participate in a state grant program open to students at other religious and non-religious schools.

Biola U. Chimes: Alliance Defending Freedom’s . . . [Greg] Baylor, lead counsel on the case, said Biolans should care about the far-reaching effects of the decision — regardless of the outcome . . . Baylor participated in a panel two weeks ago that provided information to students and faculty on Biola’s decision to sue the government over the Health and Human Services mandate that would require organizations to provide for abortion-inducing drugs under Obamacare . . . With more than 25 different lawsuits filed against the government regarding the HHS mandate, the message is clear: People are unhappy, Baylor said. “I think the sheer volume of the cases is part of message that this is an egregious violation of freedom,” Baylor said. Biola’s lawsuit is one of many and it doesn’t have much to set it apart in any particular way, but the prestige of Biola’s name matters, Baylor said.

JournalGazette.net: “Christian colleges should remain free to operate according to their deeply-held beliefs. Punishing religious people and organizations for freely exercising their faith is an assault on our most fundamental American freedoms,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor in a written statement. “This mandate leaves religious employers with no real choice: you must either comply and abandon your religious freedom and conscience, or resist and be taxed for your faith. Every American should know that a government with the power to do this to anyone can do this – and worse – to everyone.”

LifeNews: “Christian colleges should remain free to operate according to their deeply-held beliefs. Punishing religious people and organizations for freely exercising their faith is an assault on our most fundamental American freedoms,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor. “This mandate leaves religious employers with no real choice: you must either comply and abandon your religious freedom and conscience, or resist and be taxed for your faith. Every American should know that a government with the power to do this to anyone can do this–and worse–to everyone.”

Sarah Torre at The Heritage Foundation: “Christian colleges should remain free to operate according to their deeply-held beliefs. Punishing religious people and organizations for freely exercising their faith is an assault on our most fundamental American freedoms,” explained ADF senior counsel Greg Baylor . . . As Baylor stated, “Every American should know that a government with the power to do this to anyone can do this—and worse—to everyone.”

Highland Community News: “Christian colleges should remain free to operate according to their deeply-held beliefs. Punishing religious people and organizations for freely exercising their faith is an assault on our most fundamental American freedoms,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor. “This mandate leaves religious employers with no real choice: you must either comply and abandon your religious freedom and conscience, or resist and be taxed for your faith. Every American should know that a government with the power to do this to anyone can do this–and worse–to everyone.” “The Obama administration’s mandate forces us to act against our own doctrinal statement, which upholds the sanctity of human life,” said Biola University President Barry H. Corey. “It unjustly intrudes on our religious liberty as protected under the U.S. Constitution and makes a mockery of our attempts to live our lives according to our faith convictions, time-honored and long protected.”

CBN: “Christian colleges should remain free to operate according to their deeply-held beliefs. Punishing religious people and organizations for freely exercising their faith is an assault on our most fundamental American freedoms,” ADF Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor said. “This mandate leaves religious employers with no real choice: you must either comply and abandon your religious freedom and conscience, or resist and be taxed for your faith,” he continued. “Every American should know that a government with the power to do this to anyone can do this-and worse-to everyone,” he said.

Alliance Defending Freedom represents Grace College and Seminary, Biola University

Fox News Insider (includes video): Greg Baylor, an attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom, said, “We can all agree that politicians shouldn’t use someone’s faith or their stand for freedom to deny them recognition for the good service that they’ve provided to their community.

Greg Baylor appeared on the Drew Mariana Show to discuss the Newland litigation. | MP3 audio 11:23 mins

One News Now: Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Kevin Theriot says students at Florida Christian College (FCC) are being denied Florida Resident Access Grants (FRAGs) . . . We’re confident that the court’s going to uphold the Constitution and protect the rights of the students at Florida Christian College to have the same access to funding for their education as [do] other types of students,” Theriot asserts. Another ADF attorney, Greg Baylor, is perplexed as to why Florida draws a distinction between Florida Christian College and other religious schools in the state.

Greg Baylor appeared on the radio to discuss the litigation. These broadcasts were recorded within the last two weeks. | Viewpoints with Lockwood Phillps, MP3 audio 20:03 mins | The Hugh Hewitt Show, MP3 audio 10:22 mins | ADF comment on 12 new lawsuits against Obama abortion pill mandate

Greg Baylor appeared on Common Cents with Josh Kimbrell. | MP3 audio 18 mins

One News Now: Baylor says the Obama administration pointed to religious freedom in its decision in a very narrow way by exempting houses of worship. “But then they went on not to exempt anyone else,” he explains. “They’re basically saying, Hey, if you’re a religious organization that’s out there in the world, serving the world, hiring people who don’t necessarily share your religious commitments, you’re not entitled to freedom of conscience. I think that’s one of the key issues at stake in all of these cases … the scope of the right of conscience.” [more]

Greg Baylor at the Speak Up Movement University Blog: Apple told Manhattan Declaration sponsors that the app’s content was considered “likely to expose a group to harm” and “to be objectionable and potentially harmful to others.” Did Apple violate the principles underlying the First Amendment when it took this extraordinary and unprecedented step? Should the government step in and require private companies to respect free speech values?

One News Now: Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Greg Baylor says the Justice Department is out of line in contending that the lawsuit filed by western Pennsylvania’s Geneva College was premature. The college is seeking to have controversial parts of the Affordable Health Care Act struck down. “This mandate applies to them, and it’s going to apply to them in the near future. So they were not too early in asking a court to intervene and step in and protect their important fundamental right,” Baylor argues.

Beaver County Times: The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian civil rights group, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh in February . . . Gregory Baylor, senior counsel for ADF in Washington, D.C., said during a February appearance on the Geneva campus that the compromise is not officially part of the legislation and doesn’t legally have to be honored. And if the compromise was honored, the organizations still would be paying for things they find objectionable through their health insurance premiums, he said.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Gregory Baylor, an attorney for the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance Defense Fund, which is spearheading Geneva’s legal challenge, said the college “can’t rely upon promises” of future protection from enforcement. Federal attorneys “don’t want courts to address this on the merits because I believe they are nervous about their prospects,” Mr. Baylor said. “It’s going to be difficult for them to convince the courts that this doesn’t violate the right of conscience.” [more . . . ]

One News Now: ADF attorney Greg Baylor says it is ironic that those challenging the parental choice program claim religious freedom is on their side, when just the opposite is true. “It would be discrimination against religion to say parents can redeem their vouchers at public schools or secular private schools, but not at private religious schools,” he submits. “We think that our position — that it’s permissible to include the religious schools in the program — is actually far more consistent with the basic principles of religious freedom than the position taken by those challenging the program.”

ADF asks Indiana Supreme Court to uphold state’s Choice Scholarship Program

ADF Attorney Greg Baylor on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss this: Hierarchy in higher education: Fla. offers grants for some, but not all. | MP3 audio 5:31 mins

ADF Attorney Greg Baylor at the Christian Post (also at Speak Up Movement): Florida Christian College (FCC) and five of its students filed suit against the State of Florida March 8, challenging their religion-based exclusion from the Florida Resident Access Grant (FRAG) program. My colleagues and I at the Alliance Defense Fund are privileged to represent them.

ADF Attorney Greg Baylor on 99.5 FM WRNO with Denny Schaffer Show to discuss the suites (Geneva College) and (Louisiana College) | MP3 audio 6:30 mins

ADF Attorney Greg Baylor on the The Jeff Crank Show Colo. KVOR 740 AM. | MP3 audio 18:29 mins

One News Now: The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration on behalf of Geneva College in Pennsylvania, as attorney Gregory Baylor explains that the school is concerned about being forced to pay for drugs that may take the lives of unborn children. “The administration has been hearing about this for a year and a half, and they decided to go ahead and subordinate religious freedom to this invented, fake right to have contraceptives and abortifacients paid for by someone else, to be gotten for free,” he comments.

The Video is posted below on YouTube and is also available at Truth in Action Ministries.

(Reuters) EmpowHER: The existence of such waivers “undermines the government’s claim that it has an incredibly important interest in providing contraception for free,” said Gregory Baylor, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund who represents several other colleges considering legal action.

Christian Post: While some groups opposed to the contraception mandate have backed off with the president’s modification, others including the Alliance Defense Fund believe Obama’s compromise is a “sham.” “This is simply an accounting gimmick rather than a substantive amelioration of the moral problem,” wrote Gregory Baylor of the ADF. “The bottom line remains the same: employees will be given abortifacients and contraceptives as a direct consequence of their employer’s purchase of a group health plan.”

ADF Attorney Greg Baylor appeared on 1020 KDKA CBS Pittsburgh with Robert Mangino. | MP3 audio 15:10 mins

Huffington Post: “The state shouldn’t punish people of faith for making decisions in accordance with their faith,” ADF Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor said in a statement. “Every American should know that a government with the power to do this to anyone can do this — and worse — to everyone.”

WWLP.com (includes video): The Alliance Defense Fund filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh on behalf of Geneva College.

Newsworks: On these points, ADF senior counsel Greg Baylor compares his client’s moral and financial dilemmas with what he sees as meddlesome government intrusion. “What is the state’s interest in this? Is it really necessary to provide that sort of burden on [Geneva's College's] conscience in order to save some one from spending 55 dollars on a box of Ella?” said Baylor. “The burden on conscience is not justified by the government’s alleged interest in having party ‘A’ pay for party ‘B’s’ abortion-causing drugs.”

Heritage Foundation: “People of faith shouldn’t be punished by the state for following that faith in making decisions for themselves or their organizations,” said Greg Baylor, senior counsel at ADF. “Every American should know that a government with the power …

TimesOnline (video): Geneva College already provides some contraceptive health coverage for its employees, but it is opposed to being mandated to cover birth-control methods that include embryo-killing drugs, officials at the Beaver Falls school said Tuesday. In announcing it had joined with the Alliance Defense Fund, a national coalition of about 2,000 Christian attorneys, in filing a federal lawsuit against the new national health care plan’s provisions on “preventive services,” Geneva officials said it was not about the contraceptives for them, it was about what they called “abortion-causing drugs.”

WTAE.com (includes video): “The state shouldn’t punish people of faith for making decisions in accordance with their faith,” said Gregory Baylor, senior counsel for the ADF, which filed the lawsuit. “Every American should know that a government with the power to do this to anyone can do this — and worse — to everyone.”

LifeNews.com: “People of faith shouldn’t be punished by the state for following that faith in making decisions for themselves or their organizations,” said Baylor. “Every American should know that a government with the power to do this to anyone can do this–and worse–to everyone.”

ADF Attorney Greg Baylor appeared on Wallbuilders Live to discuss this. | MP3 audio 7:21 mins

ADF Attorney Greg Baylor Speak Up Movement University Blog: The District of Columbia Office of Human Rights has held that John Garvey, president of Catholic University of America did not violate a District law banning sex discrimination by returning the institution he leads to single-sex dormitories

OneNewsNow.com: But Greg Baylor of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) says the DC Office of Human Rights was right to dismiss the complaint. “They acknowledge that this is a reasonable practice,” he notes. “It’s not discriminatory against women or men. It’s just something that universities do and that federal law itself says is a perfectly permissible act by a college or university.”

ADF Attorney Greg Baylor at the Speak Up Movement Blog: Shorter University, a Christ-centered institution of higher education in Georgia, recently adopted a Personal Lifestyle Statement for university employees.

ADF Attorney Greg Baylor at the Speak Up Movement University Blog: In an interesting bit of “reasoning,” Banzhaf contends that CUA has no good religious reason for not better “accommodating” Muslim prayer because nearby Georgetown University will soon offer Muslim prayer space at a new interfaith center. Surely Banzhaf doesn’t think the Archbishop is legally obliged to either tear down the Basilica or build a mosque on the CUA campus? Right?

NCRegister.com: As Gregory Baylor, a senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, stated with regard to the case, “When a government enables parents to make meaningful choices about the education their children receive, it advances rather than undermines religious freedom because government no longer channels virtually all children into a system with philosophical presuppositions that many parents reject. This is both good for freedom and for children.” . . . Yet, amazingly, the court found that what is called “the balance of equities” favored stopping the program now, before a full trial, because of the “significant injury” continuing the program would cause the plaintiffs. This, however, elevates form over substance. The “plaintiffs” are not harmed by allowing other children to attend other schools.

ADF Attorney Greg Baylor at the Speak Up Movement University Blog: Is working where religious activities occur like working at a building with asbestos ceiling tiles?

Greg Baylor at Townhall : In March 2011, the school board in Douglas County, Colo., voted 7-0 to implement a school voucher program. It was designed to provide concerned parents with 75 percent of the education money provided by the state for their children if the parents preferred to send their children to the private school of their choice.

Religion Clause: Recent Articles of Interest: Gregory S. Baylor and Ronald Chen, Did the Supreme Court Properly Decide Christian Legal Society v. Martinez?

ADF Attorney Greg Baylor at The Speak Up Movement University Blog: I am scheduled to debate Professor Richard B. Collins at the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder this Thursday, September 15, 2011, at 12:00 noon.

ADF Attorney Gregory Baylor and Ronald ChenThe Federalist Society: Let me start with a story. In September of 1969, most Americans still supported military involvement in Vietnam. Richard Nixon had won the White House in part based on a promise to restore “law and order.” He was referring to some of the violent protests against the Vietnam War, many of which had occurred on college campuses…

ADF attorney Greg Baylor at Speak Up Movement University Blog: Florida’s voters will decide whether to improve the state constitution’s church-state provisions — unless the ACLU and its allies get their way

ADF attorney Greg Baylor with Kevin Wall on KTSA to discuss this. | MP3 audio 10:17 mins

One News Now: Gregory Baylor of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) says the problem surfaced when discriminatory policies against religious organizations were discovered at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). We resolved that situation with [UTSA], and we had a concern that other … public colleges and universities in the state of Texas might have similar policies,” Baylor explains.

San Antonio Express-News: The Alliance Defense Fund, a network of Christian attorneys opposed to abortion and gay marriage, has sent letters to 136 public colleges . . . Gregory Baylor, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said the federal Civil Rights Act and the Texas Employment Discrimination law exempt religious employers from the discrimination ban.“It is not permissible for an auto manufacturer to say, ‘We don’t want any Hindus on the manufacturing line,’ but it is permissible for the local synagogue to say, ‘We want our rabbi to be Jewish,’” Baylor said. Douglas Laycock, a professor at the University of Virginia Law School and expert on religious liberty laws, agreed . . .

OneNewsNow.com (7/13): John Banzhaf argues that single-sex dorms violate the District of Columbia’s Human Rights Act. But Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) Senior Counsel Gregory Baylor says that is “ridiculous.” “Even the District of Columbia itself has separate restrooms for women and for men,” he points out. “If you take his theory seriously, which I don’t think you can, that sort of segregation of bathrooms would violate the D.C. Human Rights Act.”

ADF attorney Greg Baylor at Townhall Conservative: After months of deliberation, the University of Texas at San Antonio Career Center has agreed to post job announcements for a pro-life, Christian residential home for needy pregnant women. UTSA originally declined to post the announcements on the ground that they were “discriminatory.”

Gregory S. Baylor at the Speak Up Movement University Blog: A National Labor Relations Board regional director has ordered an adjunct professor union election at St. Xavier University, a Catholic educational institution in Chicago.

ADF attorney Greg Baylor at the Speak Up Movement University Blog: Messiah College, a Christ-centered educational institution in Pennsylvania, is being pressured to abandon its commitment to biblical sexual ethics.

OneNewsNow.com: “Adoption Priorities wanted house parents who would model Christian living, offer Christian guidance to women in crisis pregnancies, and most of all, encourage them not to get abortions,” explains Greg Baylor, legal counsel for ADF. “And unmarried, non-Christian, pro-abortion couples simply couldn’t do that job.”