Tag Archives: ADF: Media Clips

Elizabeth Weise and Joan Biskupic at USATODAY.com (includes video): “No court should presume to redefine marriage. No court should undercut the democratic process by taking the power to preserve marriage out of the hands of the people,” said Brian Raum, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal aid group that helped defend Proposition 8.

Lisa Leff at Connecticut Post (AP) (includes video): “We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way. But we are confident that the expressed will of the American people in favor of marriage will be upheld at the Supreme Court,” said Brian Raum, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal aid group based in Arizona that helped defend Proposition 8.

Independent: “We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage – tried in San Francisco – turned out this way,” said Brian Raum, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal aid group that helped defend the ban.

The Washington Post: “We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way. But we are confident that the expressed will of the American people in favor of marriage will be upheld at the Supreme Court.” Brian Raum, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal aid group that helped defend the ban.

ABA Journal: Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Byron Babione, who represented Walden, said he was disappointed in the ruling. “It is unlawful to punish a Christian for abiding by her faith, particularly when she made every effort to accommodate the interests of a potential client,” he said in a statement. “We are determining next steps to ultimately vindicate Marcia and the freedoms for which she’s fighting.”

ADF Attorney Jeff Shafer at Townhall: Granting leadership positions to those who disagree with an organization’s outlook is a most effective means to undermine it. That’s precisely why the university would never submit itself to the policy it is imposing on its religious student community—revealing that the university is fully aware of the destructive effect of that policy. The student body at Vanderbilt deserves better treatment than that.

Episcopal News Service: According to a statement posted on the website of the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian legal foundation that backed Proposition 8, the group was not surprised that “this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way.” But the group said it was confident the Supreme Court would uphold “the expressed will of the American people.”

WTAE.com: The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian legal foundation that backed Proposition 8, said it was not surprised that “this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way.” But it said it was …

Inside the Beltway – Washington Times: “Planned Parenthood has to play by the same rules as everyone else. It certainly isn’t entitled to a penny of public funds, especially if it is committing Medicare fraud,” says ADF senior counsel Steven H. Aden. See the full report here: www.sba-list.org/ppwaste.

Huffington Post: “We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way,” said Brian Raum of the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal aid group that helped defend Proposition 8 in court. “But we are confident that the expressed will of the American people in favor of marriage will be upheld at the Supreme Court.”

God and Country : US Representative Randy Forbes (R-Va) has written a letter (PDF) signed by 35 members of the House asking the Air Force restore a unit’s motto that was changed after an atheist’s complaint. The incident to which Rep Forbes is referring was actually first reported on ChristianFighterPilot.com, with the Religion Clause and the ADF Alliance Alert subsequently citing this site.

ADF President and General Counsel at National Review Online: If the federal government can succeed in forcing people to violate their faith, it will have the power to force anyone to do anything. It is therefore sad but not surprising that Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius took to USA Today this week to spin rather than explain her boss’s decision to force people and entities all over the country to fund abortifacients, contraception, and sterilization against their consciences.

Heritage Foundation Foundry Blog: Luckily for Ms. Rowe, the Alliance Defense Fund took up her cause and provided legal representation. Ms. Rowe invoked her freedom of association under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as a defense against the claim that her statement preferring “a female Christian roommate” illegally discriminated. Ultimately, HUD ruled sensibly . . .

ADF President and General Counsel Alan E. Sears on the Hugh Hewitt Show. | MP3 audio 10:24 mins

How Appealing links to more coverage of the ruling. __________________ The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Byron Babione regarding the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit today in Walden v. Centers …

ADF Attorney Matt Bowman appeared on The Victoria Taft Show to discuss the situation. | MP3 audio 6:41 mins

ADF Attorney Jeremy Tedesco appeared on FRC’s Washington Watch to discuss the ruling. | MP3 audio 9:03 mins

ADF Attorney Jeremy Tedesco appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss the ruling. | MP3 audio 5:35 mins

ADF President and General Counsel Alan E. Sears appeared on Truth that Transforms. | MP3 audio 24:23 mins

Newsmax: The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) plan to hold a conference call with the media Tuesday morning, to discuss ADF’s latest report to Congress alleging waste, abuse, and potential fraud by Planned Parenthood. [more]

OneNewsNow.com: We talked with the school district, and they realized that their policies were unconstitutional [and] needed to change, and so they have fortunately drafted new policies that make sure that all religious speech is treated equally and that our client, in this case A.W., has the right to invite her friends [at school] to church activities …,” details Matt Sharp, ADF litigation staff counsel.

OneNewsNow.com: “The city should recognize that using sleight of hand to force pro-life centers to post a message the city wants does not solve the First Amendment problems with the law,” says Bowman. “Courts around the country have been striking these types of laws down that target pro-life pregnancy centers.”

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.

JournalNow.com: Although the Alliance Defense Fund is also offering to defend its revised policy if challenged in court, there were no takers on the county board on Thursday. Commissioner Gloria Whisenhunt said she was against telling anyone how to pray: “I could never invite anyone here to pray, and meet them at the door and tell them how to pray,” she said. “That is insulting.” | Also reported at: MyFox8.com

Todaysthv.com: “All students should have the freedom to express their beliefs. The Constitution clearly prohibits bans that single out a religious viewpoint,” said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Matt Sharp. “This settlement means that fliers for ‘church-related’ activities will be treated with the same respect given to fliers for numerous other community programs and events.”

Bob Unruh at WorldNetDaily: “The American people deserve a court system that upholds the integrity of the judicial process,” said Austin R. Nimocks, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, which has worked on the case. [more]

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]

ADF Attorney Jeremy Tedesco at the Detroit Free Press (2/2): These five simple, yet profound, words come from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit’s recent opinion in a case involving Eastern Michigan University’s expulsion of Julea Ward from its graduate counseling program.

The Eastern Echo: Tedesco said the court recognized Ward’s rights were violated by the EMU. “The court said that the university can’t force a student to alter or violate her beliefs as a condition to getting a degree. That’s what we’ve been saying the university was up to from the beginning,” Tedesco said. “The Sixth Circuit really hit that and said, ‘That’s unacceptable. The First Amendment doesn’t allow it.’

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.

MP3 audio 1 min.

ADF Attorney Jonathan Scruggs appeared on Across America with Gary Freeman. | MP3 audio 21:29 mins

Nicholas Jackson at The Atlantic: The key factor behind Komen’s decision, Aun told the Associated Press, is not ongoing protests of Planned Parenthood — the Alliance Defense Fund was quick to praise Komen “for seeing the contradiction between its lifesaving work and its relationship with an abortionist that has ended millions of lives” — but an audit launched by Rep. Cliff Stearns, chairman of the Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, to determine whether public money had been spent on abortions over the last decade.

NY Daily News: In fact, if the city’s existing arguments against the churches weren’t dumb enough, Walcott just added another. He cited the involvement of a right-wing Arizona group fighting for equal access for churches — telling the Daily News that the Alliance Defense Fund is “not what we’re about as far as equal rights and equal opportunity.” Need we remind the schools chancellor that the mere fact that a conservative group defends a principle doesn’t mean that the principle isn’t worth defending?

JournalTimes.com: Anti-abortion groups, in contrast, welcomed the news. The Alliance Defense Fund praised Komen “for seeing the contradiction between its lifesaving work and its relationship with an abortionist that has ended millions of lives.”

Washington Blade – “America’s Leading Gay News Source”: Following McCoy was Maryland Baptist ministers Rev. Dr. John Lund, and Rev. Dr. Nate Thomas, as well as Presbyterian pastor Bob Borger, former mega-church pastor Joel Peebles — who recently lost a court battle over control over his Jericho City of Praise Ministry — as well as some Catholic voices such as Pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Father Eric Arnold, and Maryland Catholic Conference’s Mary Ellen Russell. The testimony was concluded by an attorney specializing in representing churches and ministers, Erika Cole, the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty’s Eric Baxter, and the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund’s Brian Raum.

www.HometownAnnapolis.com – The Capital: The hearing attracted a few witnesses from out of state. Brian W. Raum, is senior counsel for the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund. He said the bill fails to protect “religious-minded” individuals and businesses, such as wedding planners and venue halls. “Certain kinds of businesses are going to be negatively affected,” he said. “They may be people of deep faith who don’t want to participate.” After the hearing, Raum seemed perturbed when asked to explain why businesses should be free to discriminate against same-sex couples, while discrimination on racial or religious grounds is illegal. “If you don’t see the difference between race-based discrimination and a protection for marriage between a man and a woman, then I can’t help you on that,” he said.

Bill Berkowitz at The Huffington Post: Curious as to what this “Good News Club” was about, Stewart investigated and discovered that it was part of a nationwide effort sponsored by a conservative evangelical organization called the Child Evangelism Fellowship, a group aiming to “take back” America’s public schools. Backing this effort, she found, are three long-term Christian Right-founded and funded legal enterprises: the Alliance Defense Fund, the Liberty Counsel and the American Center for Law and Justice.

FIRE – The Moral Liberal: Under the new policies, which were put into place after pressure from the Alliance Defense Fund, students may still reserve the table in the free speech zone, but may also speak elsewhere on campus spontaneously and without prior approval. The college also eliminated a speech code that banned “offensive” or “derogatory” speech.

R.R. Reno at First Things First Thoughts Blog: We seem to be in a season of judicial sanity. As Jeremy Tedesco, the lawyer who argued the case reports, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a decision that vindicated the claims of Julea Ward.

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.

LifeSiteNews.com: Attorneys representing the centers immediately notified the council of their objections. In October the Alliance Defense Fund, the Law of Life Project, and the Texas Center for Defense of Life (TCDL) filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court.

LifeNews.com: ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman commented on the law and the lawsuit in remarks to LifeNews.com. “Pro-life pregnancy centers, which freely offer real help and hope to women and their preborn children, shouldn’t be punished by political allies of those who make their money aborting babies,” he said. “This order keeps the city from enforcing a law that is specifically designed to deter pregnant women from receiving the help they need to make fully informed choices about their pregnancy while this lawsuit goes forward. The order also means that the court is likely to find the ordinance unconstitutional.” Bowman noted the court was also critical of the New York Civil Liberties Union’s defense of the city ordinance: “Given the New York Civil Liberties Union’s (“NYCLU”) usual concern for First Amendment rights, its amicus brief supporting Defendant’s expansive view of the commercial speech doctrine is puzzling.”

The Moral Liberal: In this blog entry, I’ll cover the facts at issue and discuss the court’s holding. Later this week, I’ll focus on how the opinion could harm campus speech in the future . . . ollowing her expulsion, Ward brought suit with the assistance of the Alliance Defense Fund, alleging that the defendants, employees of a public school, had violated her rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religious exercise under the First Amendment.

Baptist Press: “Public universities shouldn’t force students to violate their religious beliefs to get a degree. The court rightly understood this and ruled appropriately,” said Jeremy Tedesco, legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. Tedesco argued for Ward before the court. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said the ruling “marks an important step in defending the religious and intellectual freedoms of Americans.”

CBN.com: “Rather than allow Julea to refer a potential client to another qualified counselor — a common, professional practice to best serve clients — EMU attacked and questioned Julea’s religious beliefs and ultimately expelled her from the program because of them,” said Alliance Defense Fund Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco, who argued Ward’s case last October.

World Mag: Jeremy Tedesco, the Alliance Defense Fund lawyer who argued Ward’s case, praised the court for recognizing Ward’s right to retain her religious beliefs while pursuing her education. “Public universities shouldn’t force students to violate their religious beliefs to get a degree,” he said in a prepared statement. “The court rightly understood this and ruled appropriately.”

Christian Civic League: Pastors are invited to discuss tax and religious liberty issues with Kevin Theriot, head of the Church Division for the Alliance Defense Fund, at Aldersgate Methodist Church of Rockland on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 9 am.

News from Missouri Family Policy Council: Jim Campbell, staff counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, deplored the judge’s attack on religious freedom. “The government should not be able to force a private Christian organization to use its property in a way that would violate its own religious beliefs. Religious groups have the right to use their private property in ways that are consistent with their religious convictions.”

ADF Attorney Jeremy Tedesco at Law and Liberty: On Friday, January 27, 2011, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down an important victory for religious liberty on public university campuses in a lawsuit the Alliance Defense Fund brought against Eastern Michigan University (EMU) on behalf of Julea Ward.

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 Kevin Theriot at the Speak Up Movement Blog: The appeals court (and the Associated Press) failed to recognize something even Christians sometimes forget – our biblical worldview and Christian principles affect all aspects of our lives. That certainly includes how we teach our children all subjects – even those that don’t appear to be “religious” – such as music and social studies.

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Let me break down this legalese. What this bill says is that if a church rents out its facilities for non-members to use for weddings, then it will be forced to allow a same-sex couple to use its facilities for a same-sex “marriage” ceremony . . .

LifeNews.com: Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund are also part of the lawsuit. “Pregnancy centers, which offer real help and hope to women, shouldn’t be punished by political allies of the abortion industry,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “Attacks such as this ordinance are an ideologically motivated attempt to distract from the growing national scandals in the abortion industry. For years, abortionists have preyed on women and girls to generate profits. Now, pro-abortion politicians are trying to give women fewer choices.”

Robyn Hagan Cain at Findlaw: Julea Ward, who enrolled in the EMU program in 2006 to become a high school counselor, declined to counsel a homosexual client during her school practicum because her “Christian beliefs would not allow her to affirm the client’s homosexual behavior,” according to the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), which is representing Ward.

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

ADF Attorney Attorney Austin R. Nimocks appeared on AFR Focal Point with Bryan Fischer to discuss the marriage battles in Washington state and New Hampshire. | MP3 audio 12:25 minutes

ADF Attorney Jeremy Tedesco appeared on the Paul Edwards Show to discuss the Julia Ward case. | MP3 audio 10:51 mins

Steven Aden at Townhall: The death business is booming, but we’re killing ourselves to make it happen.

Christianity Today: It’s definitely a trend,” said Roger Kiska of the Alliance Defense Fund in Slovakia. “Two or three years ago, you never would have thought that within a year you would have three pro-life [victories] in the courts.”

Free speech now allowed campus-wide (OneNewsNow.com): ADF legal counsel David Hacker says that was reasonable . . . “Universities across the country are censoring Christian and pro-life speech on really a rapid scale,” he laments. “But we’re really pleased that Chemeketa was willing to work with us and change its policies to open up the campus to more speech.” [more]

Inside Higher Ed: The Alliance Defense Fund, which has represented both Ward and Keeton, praised Friday’s ruling. “Public universities shouldn’t force students to violate their religious beliefs to get a degree. The court rightly understood this and ruled appropriately,” said Jeremy Tedesco, the lawyer who has worked on Ward’s case. The group has stressed the issue of religious freedom in both the Eastern Michigan and Augusta State cases.

WorldNetDaily (includes video): “Public universities shouldn’t force students to violate their religious beliefs to get a degree. The court rightly understood this and ruled appropriately,” said Alliance Defense Fund Counsel Jeremy Tedesco, who argued before the court in October of last year.

Detroit Free Press | freep.com: Tolerance is a two-way street,” the judges said. Ward’s lawyer, Jeremy Tedesco of the Alliance Defense Fund, a faith-based legal group, said: “Public universities shouldn’t force students to violate their religious beliefs to get a degree. “Rather than allow Julea to refer a potential client to another qualified counselor — a common, professional practice to best serve clients — EMU attacked and questioned Julea’s religious beliefs and ultimately expelled her from the program because of them.”

Student Press Law Center: eremy Tedesco of Alliance Defense Fund, one of Ward’s attorneys, said he’s unhappy with Hazelwood’s extension, even though the court’s decision ultimately went in favor of his client. “Frankly, I’m not a huge fan of Hazelwood being extended to the public university context,” Tedesco said. “I think it’s very clear, though, that student publications at the college level wouldn’t — at least shouldn’t — be governed by Hazelwood, and I don’t think the decision says that at all.”

Baptist Press: “It is time to get New Hampshire taxpayers out of the abortion business,” said Manchester, N.H., lawyer Michael Tierney, who is affiliated with the Alliance Defense Fund. “Planned Parenthood’s business model is centered on abortion, and New Hampshire taxpayers want no part in it.”

UPI.com: Ward is being represented by lawyers from the Alliance Defense Fund, a faith-based legal group. “Public universities shouldn’t force students to violate their religious beliefs to get a degree,” said Jeremy Tedesco of the ADF. Ward said she was willing to counsel gay and lesbian students on other matters but refused to counsel them with regard to sexual orientation.

Sacramento Bee: Ward’s lawyers at the Alliance Defense Fund, a faith-based legal group, hailed the decision. Public universities shouldn’t force students to violate their religious beliefs to get a degree,” said the Alliance’s Jeremy Tedesco, the lawyer who argued the case. “The court rightly understood this and ruled appropriately. Rather than allow Julea to refer a potential client to another qualified counselor – a common, professional practice to best serve clients – EMU attacked and questioned Julea’s religious beliefs and ultimately expelled her from the program because of them.”

Huffington Post (includes video): “Public universities shouldn’t force students to violate their religious beliefs to get a degree,” Jeremy Tedesco, the Alliance Defense Fund lawyer who argued the case, told the Free Press. “Rather than allow Julea to refer a potential client to another qualified counselor — a common, professional practice to best serve clients — EMU attacked and questioned Julea’s religious beliefs and ultimately expelled her from the program because of them.”

NewsOK.com: Ward’s lawsuit, in which she is represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, stems from an incident near the end of her time as a graduate student at EMU. “She had no problem counseling gay and lesbian clients,” the court noted, explained that “Ward [had] asked that she be allowed to refer gay and lesbian clients seeking relationship advice to another counselor,” but instead she was dismissed from the program for allegedly violating ACA code of ethics by discriminating against homosexual clients.

David French at National Review Online: I argued the case at the trial-court level (and cough lost cough) when I was at the Alliance Defense Fund and was on the appellate briefs, but the credit and congratulations go to Julea Ward, my former ADF colleagues, and my friend ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco, who argued the case at the Sixth Circuit. Well done, Jeremy.

LifeNews.com: “Pro-life students shouldn’t have to get a permission slip to share their beliefs on campus,” said ADF Legal Counsel David Hacker. “Making free speech the exception rather than the norm and then corralling it to a limited area is unconstitutional and contrary to the ‘marketplace of ideas’ that a university is supposed to be. We appreciate the college’s efforts in working with us to revise its policies and rectify this problem.”

Pastor Bill Devlin appeared WHCR 90.3FM. | MP3 audio 23:04 mins

ADF Attorney David Hacker appeared on the Victoria Taft Show to discuss the situation at Chemeketa Community College in Oregon. | MP3 audio 5:20 mins

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled Friday in favor of Julea Ward, an Eastern Michigan University graduate student represented by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys who was expelled from a counseling program for her beliefs. In a strongly worded opinion, the court reversed a district court decision in favor of the university and sent the case back for trial, saying “a reasonable jury could conclude that Ward’s professors ejected her from the counseling program because of hostility toward her speech and faith….”