Tag Archives: ADF: Press Releases

MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin court threw out a challenge to the state’s marriage amendment Friday, ruling that the amendment does not violate state law.

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 …

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund and the Center for Arizona Policy asked a federal court Wednesday to require the City of Yuma to stop discriminating against a Yuma church. In July 2007, the city rejected the church’s application for a permit to use its property in the Old Town District for church services; however, the city has approved such permits for nonreligious groups that assemble in the district.

ADF attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief . . . arguing that a state board wrongly interpreted statutes so as to outlaw the practice of lay midwifery, a practice relied upon by many religious communities in the commonwealth . . .

lliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Glen Lavy, who recently argued before the California Supreme Court to defend marriage, will participate in a panel discussion Thursday on the national implications of the California Supreme Court’s May 15 marriage decision. The Family Research Council is hosting the event at the National Press Club in Washington.

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4532 ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND NEWS RELEASE May 27, 2008 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom 6th Circuit upholds protections for Grand Rapids citizens against sex shops GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The U.S. Court of …

A Georgia court granted a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the city of Suwanee Friday, allowing construction of a Catholic elementary school to begin.

An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney has secured a settlement with city of Beaumont officials that will result in changes to an ordinance that violates the First Amendment rights of citizens wishing to publicly express their views.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a petition with the California Supreme Court Thursday asking the court to delay the effective date of its May 15 decision on marriage until after California voters have been heard on a constitutional amendment in November.

The South Carolina General Assembly unanimously passed a bill Wednesday that provides guidelines to public bodies within the state regarding their right to open a meeting with prayer. The bill, which adopts a version of the Alliance Defense Fund. . .

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed suit in federal court Wednesday on behalf of a Mulvane citizen who was silenced by the mayor when she tried to express her concerns at a public meeting about the opening of a casino.

An Oregon appeals court ruled Wednesday that Measure 36, the state’s constitutional amendment affirming marriage as the union between one man and one woman, is constitutional.

Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks will argue before the Missoula County Fourth Judicial District Court on behalf of a mother who is asking the court to reject visitation and parental rights demanded by a woman not biologically or legally related to her children.

Ramsey County officials are demanding that nearly 800 churches and related organizations submit forms and information or else risk loss of tax-exempt status, despite Minnesota law that exempts churches from such requirements

The Maryland Court of Appeal ruled Monday in favor of a mother defending her parental rights against a non-parent’s claim to her eight-year-old girl. ADF attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the Family Research Council . . .

A settlement reached between Alliance Defense Fund attorneys and the Tomah Area School District means the district will respect students’ constitutional right to religious expression in their artwork.

The Family Policy Council of West Virginia mailed a model prayer policy designed by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys to Charles Town officials Friday in the wake of a recent complaint over the city council’s tradition of starting its meetings with an invocation. Numerous communities across the nation have adopted the model policy.

Brief filed with Ohio Supreme Court argues abortion clinic may not withhold records related to lawsuit asserting statutory rape cover-up.

. . . The Internal Revenue Service has concluded that political endorsements by Pastor Wiley Drake in e-mails and on his radio show were made without any connection to the church . . .

ADF attorneys who defended Proposition 22 note that the outcome illustrates precisely why a state law alone is not sufficient to protect marriage . . . The only way to make sure it does so in California is to amend the state constitution . . .

A federal court handed victory to a Rancho Bernardo church Friday in its land use battle with San Diego officials and two planning boards, noting that officials demonstrated “outright hostility” toward the church and failed to consider relevant federal law.

Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Glen Lavy will be available for media interviews Thursday at 10 a.m. PDT when the California Supreme Court releases its decision on the constitutionality of the state’s Defense of Marriage Act, Proposition 22.

The agreement allows the plaintiffs, Shannon Wallace and Wesley Sewell, to preach along public ways in Wiggins as long as no ordinances or laws are violated.

U.S. Coast Guard officials who initially refused to excuse an officer from being injected with a vaccine derived from an aborted child have relented in the wake of a lawsuit filed on behalf of the officer by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys.

A federal judge Friday ordered Deer Valley Unified School District officials to end its prohibition on a Christian student club’s PA announcements.

The Alliance Defense Fund announced a new initiative Friday that will challenge the tactics of groups that use the Internal Revenue Service to intimidate churches and pastors into silence on important issues of the day.

A Missouri judge ruled Friday that a state law that enforces health and safety standards for surgical abortion clinics also regulates clinics that dispense the abortion-inducing drug RU-486.

Schowengerdt will be asking the court to determine if a Missouri law that enforces health and safety standards for abortion clinics also regulates clinics that dispense the abortion-inducing drug RU-486.

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled 5–2 Wednesday that the state’s constitutional amendment protecting marriage does not allow for the extension of taxpayer-funded benefits to the unmarried “domestic partners” of state and municipal employees.

The court reasoned that it could not hear the case because the lower court’s decision had yet to “finally determine the action.”

Attorneys and allied attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom filed suit against Shippensburg University Wednesday for its continued violations of student free speech rights.

In a unanimous ruling, the Kansas Supreme Court Tuesday thwarted an effort by accused serial abortionist George Tiller to stop a grand jury from issuing subpoenas to obtain medical records from him.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund are urging the Minneapolis Public Schools not to implement a program that would instruct kindergartners and other elementary school students to embrace homosexual behavior.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled Thursday that Washington pharmacists’ rights of conscience will be protected while an appeal by state officials who oppose those rights moves forward.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys sent a legal memo to the Colorado Legislature Wednesday informing members of problems with a statewide non-discrimination bill currently under review. If passed, the bill would add “sexual orientation” and “transgender status” as protected categories in the state’s nondiscrimination laws.

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.

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

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.

ADF attorneys will also be available to defend, free of charge, any municipality that is threatened with legal action for observing the event.

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

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund have filed an appeal to the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit against the Boyd County Board of Education on behalf of Kentucky student Timothy Morrison. Morrison’s constitutional rights were violated when a former mandatory “tolerance” program at his high school instructed him to suppress any speech that opposes homosexual behavior.

An ADF-allied attorney filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday after a new Bellmead ordinance forced a church to stop operating a ministry for parolees. The House Where Jesus Shines, Inc., sponsored by the Church of the Open Door, is suing the city of Bellmead for intentionally changing the zoning on the ministry’s newly purchased property to preclude it from opening its doors, even though it is in an industrial zone.

A court Thursday blocked the city of Chicago’s attempt to stop a lawsuit filed by an ADF-allied attorney representing Beth-El All Nations Church.

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

Monday, high school students across the nation will have the opportunity to participate in the fourth annual “Day of Truth,” a student-led initiative sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund.

A 7th Circuit panel has ruled that a student represented by ADF can wear a T-Shirt with the phrase “Be Happy, Not Gay” in protest of the “Day of Silence.”

Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Joe Infranco will lead a press conference Thursday when signed petitions from California voters in favor of a marriage amendment to the state constitution are submitted to the Sacramento County Office of the Registrar of Voters.

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

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

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed an appeal Monday on behalf of a group of New York taxpayers in an effort to stop officials from illegally recognizing same-sex “marriages” performed outside the Empire State.

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

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed an appeal Tuesday to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on behalf of an Arizona State University pro-life club in a lawsuit challenging unlawful restrictions on their speech.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund say they will appeal a ruling by the New Mexico Civil Rights Commission Wednesday because of its “stunning disregard” for the First Amendment.

A federal court denied most of UNCW’s motion to dismiss on Monday, holding that Adams raised legitimate arguments regarding the possibility that the school refused to grant him full professorship status because of his religious beliefs and conservative political viewpoint.

“Public officials throughout the country need to be encouraged and reminded that they can and should resist the increasingly radical demands of secularist groups, such as the ACLU.”

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

The Alliance Defense Fund filed a motion Wednesday asking a Maryland court to allow voters to defend a petition being challenged by advocates of homosexual behavior even though the signatures have already been certified.

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

The ADF Center for Academic Freedom filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday challenging the University of Maryland-Baltimore County’s speech zone and speech code policies on behalf of a student pro-life group.

After a 10-year legal battle, a federal judge has dismissed an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against a home providing social services for at-risk children. The lawsuit claimed the home, Sunrise Children’s Services, should not receive partial expense reimbursements from the government for its needy youth programs because of the home’s religious affiliation.

U.S. Department of Justice filed a brief Tuesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in support of churches seeking to rent public buildings on the same terms and conditions as other community groups.

Christian students at high schools nationwide will participate in the fourth annual “Day of Truth” on April 28.

In 2004, then-sophomore Chase Harper wore a T-shirt to school expressing a biblical viewpoint on homosexual behavior during the school’s “Day of Silence,” an event sponsored by the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance club.

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

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled Wednesday that a six-foot granite monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments in the city of Everett does not violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Alliance Defense Fund funded a friend-of-the-court brief filed by Steve Fitschen of the National Legal Foundation.

California challenged the Weldon amendment shortly after Congress approved it but the federal judge said it was premature.

ADF attorneys filed an appeal Friday on behalf of four Christians arrested and convicted on charges of disorderly conduct for praying in a public park.

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

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Citizens for Community Values Friday after an Ohio library denied the community organization use of a public meeting room.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund have appealed a decision by a federal judge against disenfranchised petition signers who sought to put Oregon’s “domestic partnership” law before the voters. The case will now be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom have successfully reached a settlement with California State University system officials to eliminate problematic restrictions on student speech at all 23 of the system’s schools.

“Forcing pro-life students to pay for insurance in order to exercise their right to free speech guaranteed under the First Amendment is unconstitutional. Free speech should not have a price tag.”

“At the hearing, ADF Senior Counsel Glen Lavy will defend California marriage laws that recognize marriage as a union between one man and one woman only.”

Florida appeals court upholds ruling in favor of HOA in ADF-supported case against men running porn Web site from home

ADF attorney available to media following trial of arrested Christians . . .