Tag Archives: ADF: Nate Kellum

The Underground: “Brian Johnson of Hayward, Wis., handed out Bibles in the weekend Twin Cities Pride Festival after U.S. District Judge John Tunheim ruled in his favor against festival organizers, the AP said. … Johnson’s attorney, [Nathan Kellum] of the Alliance Defense Fund said that while Johnson does not perceive himself to be an anti-gay activist, he does see himself as an evangelist, the AP said.” | ADF News Release

Statesman Journal: “An Oregon man has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city of Stayton for allegedly violating his right to display anti-abortion signs featuring images of aborted fetuses. … ‘Pro-life advocates shouldn’t be kept from expressing their beliefs simply because city officials or others may oppose their viewpoint or find it offensive,’ ADF Senior Counsel [Nate Kellum] said in a statement.” | ADF News Release

Wall Street Journal: “A Wisconsin evangelist will be able to distribute Bibles and discuss sin this weekend at a Minneapolis gay-pride festival, the result of a federal court ruling Friday that could spark a First Amendment battle in the Midwest. … Mr. Johnson received free legal aid from the Alliance Defense Fund of Scottsdale, Ariz., a group that offers legal assistance in cases focusing on abortion, families and religious freedom. … [Mr. Kellum] said Twin Cities Pride has ‘a constitutional right to speak their peace,’ and ‘that’s what Mr. Johnson does.’”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a lawsuit Thursday against the city of Stayton on behalf of a man who was approached by police officers and told he could not display his pro-life signs on a street corner.

Pioneer Press: “U.S. District Judge John Tunheim heard arguments from attorneys for the festival, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and from Brian Johnson, the man whose desire to hand out Bibles and tell festival-goers homosexuality is a sin started the imbroglio. … Johnson was not at the hearing, but was represented via telephone by [Nathan Kellum], a Memphis attorney for Alliance Defense Fund. … ‘They want to control the message,’ he said of Twin Cities Pride. ‘All he intends to do is walk through the park, talk to people and, if the situation arises, hand out Bibles. There’s no basis to control the conduct.’” | The Complaint

Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “A federal judge is expected to decide Thursday afternoon whether a Wisconsin evangelist may hand out Bibles without a vendor license at this weekend’s Twin Cities Pride festival in Minneapolis’ Loring Park. … Johnson’s attorney, [Nate Kellum], who was present via teleconference during the hourlong hearing before a full courtroom, argued that Pride is attempting to keep Johnson from distributing materials at the festival ‘because they don’t like his message.’”

Minneapolis Star Tribune: “A born-again Christian evangelist and organizers of the nation’s third-largest gay pride festival are locked in a free-speech dispute expected to land them in federal court just three days before 200,000 people descend on Loring Park for the Twin Cities Pride festival. … ADF senior counsel [Nate Kellum] said the case is ‘unusual in that you have a private entity suing the city to keep another citizen from speaking.’ Kellum said ADF will fight the request for an injunction.”

ADF attorney Nate Kellum appeared on Common Sense with Shea Daily to discuss a lawsuit over a requirement that individuals obtain a permit to exercise First Amendment rights at national parks, monuments. | MP3 16:25 mins | Boardley v. U.S. Department of the Interior resource page

lliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Nate Kellum and ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Heather Gebelin Hacker will be available for media interviews Thursday following a hearing in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior, brought by a Christian man kept from sharing his faith at Mt. Rushmore National Park in South Dakota.

First Amendment Center (AP): “A conservative Montana group [contends] its exclusion from a state employee charitable-donation program is discriminatory because it’s based on the group’s religious views . . .’Government officials are denying state employees the opportunity to give to one group, while allowing them to contribute to groups with other views and activities that the state is more fond of,’ said [Nate Kellum], senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.” | ADF News Release

Billings Gazette: “A Laurel-based conservative religious group is suing state officials, claiming that it is being illegally excluded from a charitable-giving program for state employees . . . ‘Christian groups shouldn’t be penalized for their beliefs,’ said [Nate Kellum], senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Tennessee-based alliance of Christian lawyers and organizations, which is representing the Laurel group.” | ADF News Release

Missoulian (AP): “A conservative Montana group has filed a lawsuit against the state contending its exclusion from a state employee charitable donation program is discriminatory because it’s based on the group’s religious views . . . ‘Government officials are denying state employees the opportunity to give to one group, while allowing them to contribute to groups with other views and activities that the state is more fond of,’ said [Nate Kellum], senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.” | ADF News Release

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday on behalf of the Montana Family Foundation, which was excluded from the Montana State Employee Charitable Giving Campaign even though other issue advocacy and religious groups were allowed to participate.

Nate Kellum serves as senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund at its Memphis Regional Service Center in Tennessee, where he focuses his litigation on defending religious free speech rights in the public square. Joining ADF in 2004, Kellum is admitted to the bar in Tennessee, Mississippi, and numerous federal appellate courts. He has practiced law since 1988 and earned his J.D. from the University of Mississippi.

Christian Web News: “‘Christians shouldn’t be prohibited from expressing their beliefs in a clearly public area. Our courts should understand this more than anyone else,’ said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum. ‘This man was doing nothing other than exercising his First Amendment right to peacefully share his faith with people willing to interact with him or accept his religious literature. That is a protected free speech activity that cannot be outlawed on a public sidewalk, whether it is near a courthouse or anywhere else.’”

WorldNetDaily: “‘It’s ridiculous that people have to think twice about whether it’s OK to publicly celebrate Christmas,’ ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum said about the dispute . . . ‘Banning Christmas displays is clearly out of sync with the beliefs of the American people, common sense, and the Constitution,’ said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Joel Oster. ‘Eradicating the Nativity scene … sends a hostile message to the more than 90 percent of Americans who celebrate Christmas.’”

OneNewsNow: “Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is appealing a decision to permit a bad speech policy to stand while a lawsuit against Georgia State University proceeds . . . ‘Some officers affiliated with Georgia Southern said basically he could either keep quiet, stop talking about Jesus, or be arrested — and while he was trying to confer with the officers about this, they just decided to arrest him,’ Kellum explains.”

OneNewsNow: “‘What the First Amendment demands is an accommodation of all religious beliefs, including Christianity,’ [Nate Kellum] contends. ‘And it forbids the hostility toward any religious beliefs, including Christianity.’”

Merced Sun Star: “‘It’s ridiculous that the people of Merced have to think twice about whether it’s OK to have a “Christmas” parade. An overwhelming majority of Americans celebrate Christmas and are opposed to any kind of censorship of Christmas,’ said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum. ‘City officials shouldn’t self-censor the perfectly constitutional name of their town’s Christmas parade because of unfounded beliefs spread by groups hostile to our nation’s traditions.’”

California Catholic Daily: “‘It’s ridiculous that the people of Merced have to think twice about whether it’s okay to have a ‘Christmas’ parade,’ said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum.”

OneNewsNow: “‘Unfortunately the village of Amelia in Ohio decided to call off a Christmas parade that had been ongoing for 29 years,’ [Nate Kellum] says. ‘For 29 straight years, they’ve had a Christmas parade; but this year they decided to cancel the event for fear of being sued.’”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys sent a letter Thursday to the mayor, solicitor, and council members of the village of Amelia, urging them to reconsider cancelling this year’s 29th annual Christmas parade.

WBIR: “‘They said recess is instructional time and that’s why we cannot allow kids to read the bible. And so I wish it was a misunderstanding but unfortunately what they have said revealed otherwise,’ Nate Kellum said . . . ‘They’re disappointed at this point but they’re still optimistic because it’s not over,’ Kellum said. The plaintiffs will probably appeal.”

Knoxville News Sentinel: “‘We are disappointed in the verdict,’ Kellum said. ‘We wanted a policy change, or a court ruling, and we still do not have either. We are still very much concerned that at any point in time, a school administrator can step in and say, “You can’t do that.”‘”

Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Nate Kellum will be available for media interviews this week following the last day of trial in Whitson v. Knox County Board of Education, which concerns a 10-year-old student who was prohibited from reading and discussing the Bible during recess.

ADF attorney Nate Kellum and David Fowler, President of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, appeared on the Chris Fabry Live Show to discuss cultural issues raised by Breakpoint’s Chuck Colson: Are we ready for what may be coming in the next 12-24 months? Will Christian values survive?

The MP3 runs just over 27 minutes.

CitizenLink: “A school district near Nashville, Tenn., has agreed to allow religious speech on student-made posters . . . ‘We’re glad that the school acknowledged the constitutional right of these children and these parents and decided to respect their freedoms to express their views just like anyone else,’ said Nate Kellum, senior counsel with ADF.”

“In March, Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a federal lawsuit against the district after school officials had censored the word ‘God’ from student-made posters promoting National Day of Prayer and See You at the Pole events.”

The Tennessean: “‘It was all about having a proper balance when it comes to religious expression,’ said attorney Nate Kellum with the [Alliance] Defense Fund, which filed suit in March on behalf of the families.”

Melissa Bailey reports in the New Haven Independent: “‘Mr. Morrell strongly desires to share his religious message on public ways in New Haven, and would do so, but he is chilled and deterred from expressing his message on said public ways in New Haven for fear of arrest,’ reads the complaint, filed by attorney Nathan Kellum of the Tennessee-based Alliance Defense Fund.”

lliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a lawsuit Monday against Georgia Southern University officials on behalf of a Christian man arrested for sharing his faith in the campus’s “free speech area.”

CitizenLink: “Nate Kellum of the Alliance Defense Fund said the restrictions did not prevent anyone from participating. ‘They certainly wanted others to attend to hear the good news of Jesus Christ,’ he said. Kellum explained that other clubs in the school are able to put restrictions on membership. ‘There was a group on campus called the Gay Straight Alliance,’ he noted, ‘and they limit their membership to only those who agree with particular views on homosexual behavior.’”

Aaron J. Leichman reports in The Christian Post: “Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund had filed a petition with the court in March, asking the justices to review the case in hopes that they would ‘bring an end to this discrimination once and for all. Christian student groups shouldn’t be penalized for their beliefs,’ said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum after the Christian legal group took their case to the high court. ‘Excluding a club simply because its members are religious is a clear violation of their First Amendment rights and the Equal Access Act.’”

“The Supreme Court on Monday declined to stop a school district from blocking a group of Christian students from forming a Bible club on campus . . . ”

CitizenLink: “‘Christians are not required to request permission from the government before exercising their First Amendment rights,’ said Nate Kellum, senior counsel for ADF. ‘We are pleased that Norfolk officials have agreed to respect the constitutional rights of Christians citizens, and that they can now express their faith freely and without fear of harassment or arrest.’”

“Christians are not required to request permission from the government before exercising their First Amendment rights. We are pleased that Norfolk officials have agreed to respect the constitutional rights of Christians citizens . . . ”

KnoxNews.com (AP): U.S. District Court Judge Robert Echols issued a preliminary injunction last week, barring the school district from censoring religious speech on posters. Any future policy must be “reasonable, viewpoint-neutral, and in accordance with federal law,” he ruled. “We are elated with the judge’s ruling,” said Nate Kellum, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.

Tennessean: “Nate Kellum, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which represented the parents, said the ruling will allow his clients to put up posters for Thursday’s National Day of Prayer, without incident. ‘We are elated with the judge’s ruling,’ he said.”

“A federal court Friday suspended a policy used by Wilson County Schools officials to censor ‘In God We Trust’ and other phrases referencing God and prayer on posters in the hallways of Lakeview Elementary School.”

The Elizabethton Star (AP): “The most recent lawsuit alleged the school district was showing hostility toward God and their religion. ‘This vague policy coupled with hypersensitivity leads to inconsistent application,’ said Nate Kellum, the group’s attorney. ‘What you’re talking about here is opinion, and what we’ve found is a backlash since (the ACLU case) that appears to be against religious speech.’”

One News Now: “Nate Kellum is with the Alliance Defense Fund. ‘Well, Christian students shouldn’t be censored just for expressing their beliefs. They do not check their constitutional rights upon stepping [through] the schoolhouse gate,’ he points out. ‘And yet that seems to be the philosophy of the school district here that they are selectively censoring their speech because, in their opinion, religious speech is inappropriate.’”

Associated Press: “‘This vague policy coupled with hypersensitivity leads to inconsistent application,’ said Nate Kellum, the group’s attorney. ‘What you’re talking about here is opinion, and what we’ve found is a backlash since (the ACLU case) that appears to be against religious speech.’”

ADF attorney Nate Kellum appeared on WallBuilders Live to discuss the issue and others.

The mp3 file runs just over nine minutes.

The ADF National Litigation Academy is mentioned during the interview. Click here for more information.

Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Nate Kellum will be available for media interviews following a hearing Monday in a lawsuit against the Wilson County School Board. ADF attorneys filed suit on behalf of parents and students at Lakeview Elementary School after school officials ordered “In God We Trust” and other phrases referencing God and prayer to be covered up on posters before they could be displayed in the school’s hallways.

The mp3 is here and runs about seven minutes. For related posts see the Tennesse + Religious Freedom tags.

OneNewsNow: A Christian club in Seattle is still going through the courts to gain recognition. The case has been in the courts since September 2001. Nate Kellum, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), explains. “Kentridge High School has refused to grant official recognition to a student club called Truth Bible Club because [the club] wants to require their members to hold certain religious beliefs,” he says.

WorldNetDaily: . . . Nate Kellum . . . “Excluding a club simply because its members are religious is a clear violation of their First Amendment rights and the Equal Access Act.”

. . . officials at Kentridge High School in Seattle have refused to grant official recognition to the Truth Bible Club because they require their members to hold certain religious beliefs.

The mp4 video clip is here and runs just over 2 minutes. This case is receiving extensive media coverage. Related ADF press release: Tenn. school censors ‘God Bless the USA,’ ‘In God We Trust’

. . . the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of parents and students at Lakeview Elementary School in Wilson County after school officials ordered “God Bless the USA,” “In God We Trust,” . . . to be covered up . . .

. . . city police officers told Jim Deferio that he couldn’t share his faith at Ithaca Commons, even after showing the officers a court order prohibiting them from enforcing an unconstitutional “noise” ordinance.

One News Now reports: Ithaca, New York, is being taken to court over a free-speech case. Jim Deferio set out to take the gospel to the Ithaca Commons area where people meet to converse and where public events such as concerts, …

A traveling evangelist claims in a lawsuit that police in Ithaca wouldn’t let him preach in a public commons even after he showed them a federal court decision saying the local noise ordinance they cited was unconstitutional.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys have filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Ithaca on behalf of a Christian man denied his free speech rights even after he showed police officers a court order prohibiting them from enforcing an unconstitutional “noise” ordinance.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed suit against Southeastern Louisiana University officials Tuesday after they denied a Christian speaker the right to hand out tracts, display banners, and share the Gospel in an area of the campus reserved for outside speakers.

A federal judge signed a court judgment Tuesday against the village of Kewaskum, which had threatened a man with arrest for distributing Christian literature

An officer told Martin Mikhail the Bible was a “work of fiction” and threatened him with arrest. He was also informed that he would need to obtain a permit before he could share his faith with passers-by.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit Monday upheld a federal judge’s ruling against Temple University’s former “speech code.”

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4588 ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND MEDIA ADVISORY June 30, 2008 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom ADF attorney available to media following hearing in 4th of July cross case Cross displayed by Christian group deemed …

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled in favor of Alliance Defense Fund attorneys in a free speech case in which a Christian man was barred from exercising his First Amendment rights on campus.

The Tennessean reports: . . . A couple identified in court papers only as Jane and John Doe sued the school district after a Praying Parents group was allowed to link to Lakeview Elementary’s Web site, put notices in the …

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4538 ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND NEWS RELEASE May 30, 2008 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom ACLU fails to silence religious expression in Wilson County schools Religious expression can and will continue despite ACLU efforts …

Green was threatened with arrest for violating the city’s so-called “permit process” and was warned his sign would be confiscated if he didn’t leave the area . . . In 2005, ADF filed suit on behalf of Green and then filed a federal appeal in the case in 2007. But a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled against Green on April 16, last month . . .

The court already struck down a “speech code” policy at the university, but additionally ruled Wednesday that provisions of the school’s “Safe Space” program discriminate against religion and are therefore unconstitutional.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit to take another look at the case of pro-life advocate Dennis Green, whom Raleigh police silenced for peacefully expressing his views on abortion.

The AP reports on the Chicago Tribune: Nuxoll and one-time student Heidi Zamecnik, who wore a similar T-shirt to school in 2006, filed a lawsuit saying their civil rights had been violated. Indian Prairie Unit District 204 later said the …

ADF filed a federal lawsuit Thursday on behalf of a Christian group barred from displaying a cross in a Chesapeake public park.

ADF attorneys are appealing a federal judge’s decision to prohibit Christian high school students from expressing their views on homosexual behavior.

The April 18 release of the Ben Stein documentary “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” may be highlighting accusations of widespread censorship involving Intelligent Design, but professors and attorneys say the bias goes much wider

Kellum is appealing a lower court decision that upheld a Miami University speech policy that prohibited a Christian man from exercising his First Amendment rights on university property.

A man who wants to distribute Christian literature door-to-door filed a federal lawsuit Friday, alleging that a law in Kewaskum that bans the practice violates his constitutional rights to free speech and religion.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a lawsuit in federal court Friday to strike down a Kewaskum village ordinance that severely restricts the constitutional right to free speech and religious freedom.

Kevin Pulver had attempted to speak peacefully in a public area near Hastings College but was nonetheless repeatedly singled out by officers for “disturbing the peace” and being “too loud,” among other clai

In August 2003, Dennis Green, along with members of his friends and family, began to peacefully communicate a pro-life viewpoint on a public right-of-way in Raleigh, N.C., by distributing literature and holding signs expressing their beliefs.  Police officers told Green …

Nate Kellum’s