Tag Archives: ADF: Jordan Lorence

WORLD New York: Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund told the Council that no other city has had a ban and so far, none has been sued for violating the First Amendment. Up until now, the primary rhetoric in favor of the ban centered on protecting the minds of impressionable youth. But today’s hearing revealed deeper concerns and a fundamental anti-Christian bias.

OneNewsNow.com (2/2): “I would … urge people to realize that Mayor Bloomberg needs to know that the whole nation is watching him and that he’s not doing this in isolation or in private,” Lorence notes. “And so I would urge people to write letters or e-mails to Michael Bloomberg, City Hall, New York, New York — that’s all the address you would need.” [more]

Baptist Press: When I was in New York City last weekend, I learned about a huge inconsistent way that the city’s public schools treat churches: Churches may not meet in public schools, but public schools can meet in churches.

New York Daily News: Jordan Lorence, a senior attorney with the ADF, said the city’s policy was “strikingly abhorrent” because other community groups are allowed to use school buildings for non-religious purposes. “They are leading a one school district parade with their selective exclusion of worship services,” Lorence said.

Jordan Lorence at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Thousands of Christians, pastors, other people of faith joined together Sunday afternoon to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to express their opposition to Mayor Bloomberg’s plans to evict the churches meeting in the public schools after February 12.

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence appeared on the Janet Mefferd Show last week to discuss the situation. | MP3 audio 12:51 mins

PhillyBurbs.com: Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund, the legal advocacy group assisting NYC churches, said “They can’t use the Bronx Household case as some kind of all-purpose permission slip to banish private worship services from every public venue. Churches and other religious groups should be able to meet in public buildings on the same terms as other community groups,” argued Lorence. “These churches offer the people in hurting communities hope and help for their daily needs. To drive out the churches based on a discredited, extreme notion of ‘separation of church and state’ benefits no one and harms people who need help most.” This statement makes good sense. However, do you really think the liberal elites would be satisfied removing “just one church” from using public building?

“A lawsuit challenging the state’s law against gay marriage was revived Monday by the Minnesota Court of Appeals.”

Urban Faith: Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) senior counsel Jordan Lorence told members of the media that New York City’s policy has been in place for 30-40 years, but that a 2002 federal injunction against The Bronx Household of Faith put other houses of worship at risk. (In that case, Bronx Household of Faith was represented by ADF.) “It’s not required for the school district to keep it. They can get rid of the policy,” he said. “The mayor can do that. The state legislature can do that.” “Of the largest 50 school districts in the country in terms of student population, only New York City has a policy banning worship services on the weekends or weeknights in the public schools,” said Lorence.

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence at the NY Post: Come Feb. 12, Mayor Bloomberg and the city Department of Education are set to ban religious groups from off-hour use of public schools for worship services. This contradicts New York City’s commitment to diversity, freedom of expression and accommodation of diverse religious beliefs — and there’s still time to reverse course.

Christian Concern: Jordan Lorence, of the Alliance Defense Fund, said:
“Churches and other religious groups should be able to meet in public buildings on the same terms as any other community group. “To drive out the churches based on a discredited, extreme notion of ‘separation of church and state’ benefits no one and harms people who need help most.”

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence at the Speak UP Movement Church Blog: No other major school district in the U.S. prohibits religious groups from renting school buildings for worship services, except New York City. That is the conclusion of a memo that ADF wrote . . .

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence on the Zeb Bell Show | MP3 audio 13:53 mins

Odyssey Networks:  Nearly 200 politicians, pastors, and church members protested a recent court ruling that allows the City of New York to deny churches and other religious organizations after hours access to public school facilities. Mayor Bloomberg plans to evict the church groups on February 12th. (Jordan Lorence appears in the video)

The New American: Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund, the legal advocacy group assisting NYC churches that are being displaced, said the city appeared to be using the ruling against the Bronx Household of Faith as justification to ban congregations from other public buildings, particularly in the case of the NYCHA, which had informed several churches meeting in community centers that their short-term leases were no longer valid. “They can’t use the Bronx Household case as some kind of all-purpose permission slip to banish private worship services from every public venue,” Lorence said of the city’s efforts.

CNN (includes video): Jordan Lorence, an attorney from the Alliance Defense Fund, which has been fighting the policy for two decades, said that all legal avenues had been exhausted and that the only way to stop the ban was for Bloomberg to use his executive authority to change the Board of Education policy and allow religious groups to rent space in public schools. “We benefit the community. Why can’t we meet like everybody else? Why do you think that empty school buildings are better than having churches that are helping poor people that are helping people get off drugs, get out of crime and tutoring students of all faiths?”

DNAInfo.com: More than two dozen church leaders and supporters were arrested Thursday in The Bronx as they protested a ban on religious organizations using schools for worship services . . . “Is this going to be part of Michael Bloomberg’s legacy, he drove out churches?” asked Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Christian organization that provides legal counsel to preserve religious liberties. “Why Is New York City the only large school district in the nation to have a policy against worship services in schools?”

OneNewsNow.com: Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) says the city expected the issue to just fade away, but instead, “it has triggered a huge backlash among the city council, among state legislators in Albany, as well as pastors and [lay] people,” he accounts.

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence appeared on several radio shows to discuss the Bronx Household ruling and its fallout: “The Supreme Court’s action has acted as a catalyst to galvanize pastors [and] members of the New York City Council as well as state lawmakers in the legislature in Albany to oppose this and to ask and to work for repeal of this policy,” the attorney explains. | MP3 audio 22:40 mins; FRC Washington Watch with Tim Wildmon and Tony Perkins (NY Councilman Cabrerar also appeared on this broadcast) | MP3 audio 10:20 mins; Line of Fire Radio with Michael Brown | MP3 audio 12:35 mins; The Morning Ride with Mark Elfstrand | ADF Media: Bronx Household of Faith v. Board of Education of the City of New York resource page

One News Now: Alliance Defense Fund attorney Jordan Lorence tells OneNewsNow that the decision is not being taken lightly. “The Supreme Court’s action has acted as a catalyst to galvanize pastors [and] members of the New York City Council as well as state lawmakers in the legislature in Albany to oppose this and to ask and to work for repeal of this policy,” the attorney explains.

NYTimes.com: After the arrests, the situation began to draw national attention from religious groups worried that similar things could happen in their districts, said Jordan Lorence, the senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which represented Bronx Household in the litigation and had begun to prepare a case on behalf of the housing project churches. “They can’t use the Bronx Household case as some kind of all-purpose permission slip to banish private worship services from every public venue,” Mr. Lorence said.

Christian Concern: ADF attorney Jordan Lorence said that the ban reflects an irrational and anti-religious sentiment in New York, one that portrays religion as “dangerous and something that must be kept entirely out of the public square.” “Our city is trying to do away with faith,” Lorence said. “We can tolerate everybody but religious viewpoints. That’s pretty scary.”

Opposing Views: Alliance Defense Fund attorney Jordan Lorence, who represented the Bronx Household of Faith in the suit, says the policy won’t force schools in other cities to throw churches out on the street, but if there are members on other school boards who “want to get rid of the churches, this would give them an excuse to do so.”"New York City allows anything pertaining to the welfare of the community–that ranges from labor union meetings to Alcoholics Anonymous groups, to filming episodes of ‘Law & Order’–to meet in schools.” Excluding religious groups is a violation of the Equal Access Act. It also jeopardizes a longstanding cooperation between cities and faith-based groups. If you trace the roots of some of America’s largest churches, like California’s Saddleback, most of them started in rented schoolrooms. Now, it seems a struggling system like New York City’s would rather turn away income than allow for the free exercise of religion.

Christian News Today: “Moments after they were released, Devlin and Alliance Defense Fund attorney Jordan Lorence met me at Ace Hotel in midtown Manhattan,” she wrote. “When I asked Devlin what he thought about getting arrested, he grinned and said, ‘It’s my 28th arrest since I’ve been saved.’ It probably won’t be his last: Devlin plans to be out there protesting again next week and wants more pastors to join him. “Devlin, pastor of Manhattan Bible Church, said the ban assaults freedom of religion and speech. Lorence added that the case is based on a fundamental misinterpretation of the Constitution: He argues that forbidding private speech because it’s religious is not protecting the separation of church and state, but instead is suppressing freedom of religion and freedom of speech.”

Tiffany Owens at World Magazine: Lorence said the ban reflects an irrational and anti-religion sentiment in New York, one that portrays religion as “dangerous and something that must be kept entirely out of the public square.” He added that the ban suggests that churches and religious groups are “piranhas and parasites,” even though they often house community-friendly ministries to the poor. “Our city is trying to do away with faith,” Lorence said. “We can tolerate everybody but religious viewpoints. That’s pretty scary.”

Todd Starnes of Fox News at Baptist Press: “It does present a very ugly picture of the state of religious liberties in New York City,” said Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund. “It’s the height of irony that the housing authority would violate the First Amendment at a place named after a Supreme Court justice.”

CBN: “I think this is a dark turn against religious liberty if the Bronx Household of Faith decision is being viewed as some sort of all-purpose permission slip from the courts to single out religious worship and exclude it from public buildings,” said Jordan Lorence, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund.

Baptist Press: Jordan Lorence, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund organization that fought the city rule in court, said churches in other cities that meet in school buildings should not necessarily be concerned. New York City, he said, is the only city among the Top 50 U.S. school districts with such a law. “The Supreme Court has not repudiated its earlier decisions supporting the First Amendment rights of religious groups to meet in public buildings on the same terms as other community groups,” Lorence wrote in an analysis piece. “What the Supreme Court did Dec. 5 is decline to review the Bronx Household of Faith decision. Although this was very disappointing, the court’s action did not affirm the lower court ruling, or repudiate any of its earlier opinions supporting equal access for religious groups. Equal access is still the law of the land, according to the Supreme Court.”

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Pastor John Starke of All Souls Church has written an excellent blog post describing how his church that meets in a public school on the Upper West Side will be affected if they are forced to move out February 12 after the Supreme Court declined to review the Bronx Household of Faith case.

Engage Family Minute: Jordan Lorence, senior vice-president with the Alliance Defense Fund, has been the chief litigator on this case. Jordan wrote an instructive blog post on the topic (copied below), but also took the time to join me for a brief discussion over the phone. I hope you will listen to it – especially if you are a pastor or elder committed to planting churches in West Virginia – and share it with your friends. [audio at the link]

One News Now: Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) represents the church and does not think the high court made the right decision. “The government should not target religious services for exclusion from public buildings when they are open to other similar types of meetings,” he contends. “Equal access should mean equal access, and that includes religious services.”

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss the Bronx Household of Faith and this: TimberCreek Bed and Breakfast accused of violating Human Rights Act for hosting weddings, not ‘civil unions’ | MP3 audio 5:33 mins

The New American: Jane Gordon, an attorney for the City of New York, stated: “We view this as a victory for the city’s schoolchildren and their families.” Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which had worked on this appeal, said, “Churches and other religious groups should be able to meet in public buildings on the same terms as other community groups. They should not be excluded simply because of the religious nature of their speech. The Supreme Court’s decision not to review this case is befuddling because it has already ruled multiple times in other equal access cases that the First Amendment protects religious worship the same as secular speech. ADF will continue to stand for this constitutional principle.”

Deseret News: Christian legal group Alliance Defense Fund issued a press release Monday in which its senior counsel Jordan Lorence said, “Churches and other religious groups should be able to meet in public buildings on the same terms as other community groups. They should not be excluded simply because of the religious nature of their speech. The Supreme Court’s decision not to review this case is befuddling because it has already ruled multiple times in other equal access cases that the First Amendment protects religious worship the same as secular speech. ADF will continue to stand for this constitutional principle.”

LifeSiteNews: “Churches and other religious groups should be able to meet in public buildings on the same terms as other community groups. They should not be excluded simply because of the religious nature of their speech,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence. “The Supreme Court’s decision not to review this case is befuddling because it has already ruled multiple times in other equal access cases that the First Amendment protects religious worship the same as secular speech. ADF will continue to stand for this constitutional principle.”

ABC (AP): “I’m concerned that other school districts that now permit religious groups to worship will reconsider,” said Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund, who argued the church’s case.

Digital Journal: Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal organization defending the Bronx Household of Faith church, has described the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the appeal as “befuddling.” He said: “The Supreme Court’s decision not to review this case is befuddling because it has already ruled multiple times in other equal-access cases that the First Amendment protects religious worship the same as secular speech.” The Wall Street Journal reports that he said, “Churches and other religious groups should be able to meet in public buildings on the same terms as other community groups. They should not be excluded simply because of the religious nature of their speech.”

Todd Starnes (Fox News Commentary) at Baptist Press: It’s a sad day for religious liberty,” said Jordan Lorence, the church’s attorney and senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. “Churches and other religious groups should be allowed to meet in public buildings on the same terms as other community groups, and they’re being denied that in New York City. “The Supreme Court’s decision not to review this case is befuddling because it has already ruled multiple times in other equal access cases that the First Amendment protects religious worship the same as secular speech.”

World Magazine: Lorence said the Alliance Defense Fund reviewed school districts’ rules across the country and didn’t find any similar to New York’s, but he is concerned that the court’s decision could embolden some districts to create such rules. “If that’s the case, the Alliance Defense Fund would be there to litigate those cases,” he said. “I think other appeals courts would not agree with the 2nd Circuit’s decision.”

CBN.com: It will not force other schools to throw out the churches, but I think that it could introduce this option to them, that if for any reason there is members on the school board that want to get rid of the churches, this would give them an excuse to do so,” Lorence explained.

OneNewsNow.com: Reaction … Alliance Defense Fund attorney Jordan Lorence: “We are disappointed that the Supreme Court decided not to review this case from New York City,” he tells OneNewsNow, “but people have to be clear that what the Supreme Court did was not affirm what the lower court did. The Supreme Court just decided not to hear the case.” (Listen to audio report)

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review a more-than-16-year legal battle over a New York City “unequal access” policy.

WSJ.com(AP): Enter the ADF, a conservative group that says it champions “the legal defense of religious freedom, the sanctity of life, marriage and the family.” It has been on the case since and is bearing the costs. Lorence is the lead attorney. “We took the case to defend the First Amendment principle of equal access,” Lorence said. “This is private religious speech and we’re requesting equal access to meet in the buildings the way New York City allows all other community groups to meet.” [more]

CBN.com: Alliance Defense Fund attorney Jordan Lorence represents the church, which has has been meeting at “Public School #15″ since 2002. “This is not government sponsorship of religion,” Lorence told CBN News. “This is merely government accommodating one group, a religious group, among many community groups that meet.” “We are arguing that based on important precedence that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled five times at least since 1981 that religious groups, private religious groups seeking access to meet in a building, have to be treated the same as the non-religious private groups,” he explained. “All we are asking for is equal access,” he said.

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: When I read about Penn State and Nebraska football players and coaches praying for the victims of the repulsive child abuse at Penn State in the middle of the field before the game started last Saturday, I wondered whether some extremists would object that the opening prayer violated the Establishment Clause (I will refrain from the obvious comments about college football being a state religion, prayer or no prayer).

Christian Post: Belforti reached out to the Alliance Defense Fund, a religious freedom advocacy organization, for help. An ADF lawyer, Jordan L[o]rence, commented on the case: “We need to protect religious liberty and the right of conscience. And legalizing same-sex marriage creates these kinds of conflicts.” “[Protecting] these town clerks,” L[o]rence says, is akin to protecting religious freedom.

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence at the Speak Up Movement University Blog: A recent survey of the religious affiliations of students at Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut shows that more students identified as atheist or agnostic than any other group, edging out those who identified with any Christian group by a nose.

CBN.com: “We need to protect religious liberty and the right of conscience. And legalizing same-sex marriage creates these kinds of conflicts,” ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence said. “And it would be better and more in line with our American constitutional tradition, protecting religious liberty and right of conscience, to protect these town clerks,” Lorence said.

Fox News NY: “Religious groups and their worship services should not be discriminated against simply because they’re religious,” said Jordan L[a]rence, an attorney for Alliance Defense Fund. “They should be allowed to meet under the terms and conditions as everybody else.”

WORLDmag.com | Chaplains allowed to perform same-sex marriages: Jordan Lorence, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund said, “This is unique in American history where you have military policy at odds with the belief system of the chaplains that they rely on.”

OneNewsNow.com: Lorence says that contradicts established U.S. Supreme Court precedence. “The U.S. Supreme Court has definitely ruled that the government cannot limit access to generally available public spaces merely because government officials disapprove a form of expression,” the attorney notes. “Equal access means equal access, and that includes religious services.”

Jordan Lorence at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Tuesday, ADF asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the decision of the federal appeals court in New York City allowing the Board of Education there to single out religious worship services run by private groups, and exclude them from meeting in the public schools during non-school hours

WSJ.com: “Equal access means equal access, and that includes religious services,” said Jordan Lorence, an attorney for the church.

Jordan Lorence at Speak Up Movement University Blog: Last week, the University of Wisconsin paid almost $500,000 to the Alliance Defense Fund for violating the First Amendment rights of Badger Catholic, the Catholic student organization on campus. ADF has litigated a number of cases against the University of Wisconsin over the years challenging the unconstitutional abuses inflicted on students and student groups by its mandatory student fee system.

Catholic News Agency (CNA): “Universities should recognize the constitutional rights of Christian students and ministries just as they do for all other students and campus groups,” said Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, which filed the lawsuit. “Sadly, the University refused to do so, and instead squandered money by trying to defend the indefensible: blatant, unlawful discrimination against Christian students and ministries.”

OneNewsNow.com: ADF senior counsel Jordan Lorence suggests the school has had its sights on religious-based student groups for some time. “The University of Wisconsin has maintained an extreme view of the Establishment Clause, [suggesting] that it requires [the school] to go on a search-and-destroy mission for all things religious,” he says.

JSOnline: In a statement Friday, Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal alliance of Christian attorneys, said the university should defend the free speech rights of religious students. “Sadly, the university refused to do so, and instead squandered money by trying to defend the indefensible: blatant, unlawful discrimination against Christian students and ministries.”

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence at the TellADF Blog: On Tuesday, the North Carolina Senate followed the lead of the state House and approved a proposed state constitutional amendment defining marriage only as one man and one woman. North Carolina voters will decide whether to add the proposed amendment to the state constitution in a vote during the primary in May 2012.

Jordan Lorence at the Speak Up Movement University Blog: David Cortman, the ADF attorney handling the case, said that “[t]he mere fact that a classical text is religious does not mean it has no educational value. The Supreme Court itself has clearly acknowledged this.” Cortman also said that “[w]hen government officials ban the objective study of all religious texts, including the most important literary works of all time–such as the Bible, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Iliad, and the Odyssey–it only contributes to the further dumbing down of public school education. It’s no wonder that the call for school choice has become so popular.”

The Cornell Law School Federalist Society: The Cornell Federalist Society will be hosting Jordan Lorence, Lead counsel in Bronx Household of Faith v. Board of Education of New York, to discuss the case and its ramifications on Constitutional issues.

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: But the speech codes at many universities threaten student speech, especially the speech of students advocating unpopular views – nowadays, that frequently means students advocating for life, marriage, or the Christian Gospel. Speech codes also can “chill” student speech by pressuring them to self-censor their views so that they won’t get in trouble. Policies that “chill” the free exchange of ideas on campus are also unconstitutional. If you are experiencing any such problems, please contact us at the Alliance Defense Fund. A university campus should truly be a free marketplace of ideas.

Christianity Today: But Jordan Lorence, senior counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund and a lawyer who argued for the Christian groups, said the intent of SDSU’s policy is irrelevant. “If there is an official policy that violates the First Amendment rights of Christian organizations, it’s unconstitutional,” he said. “Intent does not exonerate the policy because the First Amendment violations remain.”

ADF attorney Jordan Lorence on KVOR with Bill Maier. | MP3 audio 43 mins

SignOnSanDiego.com: A lawyer for the Christian groups said he was disappointed with the decision. “The court upheld a policy that clearly treats Christian groups worse than other groups on campus,” attorney Jordan Lorence said.

San Francisco Chronicle: The Christian groups’ lawyer, Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund, said he may ask the Supreme Court to take up the case. “A vegan group can exclude meat-eaters, and anti-death penalty groups can exclude people who don’t support their cause” while receiving campus funding and other benefits, like access to meeting rooms, Lorence said. He said the school policy relegates religious groups to second-class status.’ | Alpha Delta Chi-Delta Chapter v. Reed, No. 09-55299

The Christian Century: 2007 national survey of newly established Protestant churches found that 12 percent met in schools . . . The Bronx church is seeking a rehearing. Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which represents the church, expects the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the ruling. “Religious groups, including churches, shouldn’t be discriminated against simply because they want to rent a public building just like other groups can,” Lorence said.

Vancouver Sun: The Bronx church is seeking a rehearing. Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which represents the church, expects the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the ruling. Lorence said in a news release, “Religious groups, including churches, shouldn’t be discriminated against simply because they want to rent a public building just like other groups can.”

Jordan Lorence at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Wednesday the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony on a bill to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). ADF attorney Austin Nimocks testified against the bill and did an excellent job explaining the purpose of marriage in having children raised in the best social environment possible, one consisting of the child’s own biological mother and father who are united in marriage, and the importance of maintaining that common understanding of marriage in federal law.

Jordan Lorence at theSpeak Up Movement University Blog: Stanford University overflowed with leftist culture when I attended there in the mid-1970′s. During my junior year, in the spring of 1976, I created a project for an assignment in a poli sci class to expose the liberal bias and proto-political correctness at Stanford. My little classroom assignment succeeded far better than I expected.

Christian Post: Meanwhile, the Alliance Defense Fund, the Christian legal group representing the Bronx church, says it is appealing the court’s ruling. “Religious groups, including churches, shouldn’t be discriminated against simply because they want to rent a public building just like other groups can,” ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence said in a statement. “The idea that people of faith may be singled out for discrimination is flagrantly contrary to the U.S. Constitution,” he said. “The 2nd Circuit greatly erred by not putting an end to the board’s continued defiance of the First Amendment.”

USA Today: The Bronx church is seeking a rehearing. Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which represents the church, expects the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the ruling. Lorence said in a news release, “Religious groups, including churches, shouldn’t be discriminated against simply because they want to rent a public building just like other groups can.”

ADF attorney Jordan Lorence at Speak Up Movement University Blog: Law professor John Banzhaf of George Washington Law School in D.C. is threatening to sue Catholic University for “discrimination” because he equates single sex dorms to illegal racial segregation under the District of Columbia Human Rights Code. The absurdity and extremeness of his legal theory can be demonstrated by the fact that buildings operated by the District of Columbia blatantly “discriminate” the same way by having “men’s” and “women’s” restrooms. Shocking, isn’t it?

WNYC: We’re hoping that a higher court will change that,” said Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which represents the church. “Or maybe even the decision-makers themselves will realize how arbitrary it is to single out worship services out of all the myriad uses of things that go on in the public schools.”

CBN.com (6/30): “For most of American history, there was no restriction at all on what pastors could preach from the pulpit,” said Jordan Lorence, Alliance Defense Fund attorney. Lorence said this current muzzling law goes back to the 1950s. “Lyndon Baines Johnson when he was the majority leader of the Senate basically got irritated with some pastors who were on the radio opposing his reelection as senator,” he explained. [more] . . .