Tag Archives: ADF: Tim Chandler

ADF Attorney Tim Chandler writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: “Perhaps the best way of answering this is to consider who the ‘government authorities’ are. Our system of government features a series of authorities at different levels (e.g. local, state, and federal) and of different types (e.g. executive, legislative, and judicial). Yet one authority in our system stands above all others: the United States Constitution. By using the judicial system to insist that government officials follow the Constitution, a church is not resisting authority. It is simply using the established system of government to appeal to a higher authority.”

ADF Attorney Tim Chandler writing at speakupmovement.org/church: “Recently, the Roman Catholic Church has come under fire after two of its schools, one in Massachusetts and one in Colorado, declined to enroll students who have same-sex parents. Not surprisingly, these decisions created a firestorm of public criticism and outrage, raising questions about whether churches should have the right to make these types of enrollment decisions . . . One of the most basic and fundamental principles of the First Amendment is that churches should remain autonomous and not have the government interfering with their internal affairs. But churches lose that freedom when the government imposes non-discrimination laws that intrude into religious matters, like operating a private school.”

ADF Attorney Tim Chandler writing at speakupmovement.org/university: “[A]bove all else, [Stevens] will be remembered as the intellectual leader of the Court’s liberal wing. And in that role, he was consistently a staunch advocate for erecting a ‘high and impregnable wall between church and state’ and has issued numerous opinions that have diminished our religious freedoms.”

OneNewsNow: “The Massachusetts Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to a ‘bubble zone’ law that requires pro-life counselors to stay 35 feet away from abortion clinics . . . [Tim Chandler], an attorney with Alliance Defense Fund, laments that that the state’s highest court now has turned away McCullen v. Coakley . . . ‘As far as a ban on speech around abortion clinics, this is the most sweeping law that has ever been approved by a court and [it] effectively eliminates the ability of people to communicate with these mothers.’” | Ed Whelan at Bench Memos: Cert Denied in McCullen v. Coakley

CitizenLink: “Life advocates in Massachusetts will have to remain 35 feet away from abortion clinics after the Supreme Court rejected a challenge Monday to a Massachusetts law that prevents people from discussing the harms of abortion near the entrances of clinics . . . ‘Penalizing life advocates because they choose to exercise their First Amendment rights in a public place is unconstitutional,’ said ADF Legal Counsel [Tim Chandler].”

Tim Chandler serves as legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund at its Sacramento Regional Service Center in California, where he is the supervising attorney. Chandler is admitted to the bar in California, as well as to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and each federal district court in California. He is a Blackstone Fellow and has practiced law since 2004, having earned his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law.

ADF Senior Counsel Joseph Infranco and ADF Legal Counsel Timothy Chandler will be available for media interviews following oral arguments in a long-running lawsuit over the Mt. Soledad Veterans’ Memorial. In March, ADF attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of The American Legion Department of California in defense of the 55-year-old Mt. Soledad cross after the American Civil Liberties Union and atheist Steve Trunk challenged its constitutionality.

Bay Area Reporter: “A sought after Republican campaign adviser for three decades beginning in the 1970s, Fred Karger called it quits and retired nearly five and half years ago . . . In the process Karger has morphed into the main nemesis of the Alliance Defense Fund, an anti-gay group that has provided legal counsel to campaigns in numerous states against LGBT rights, and the National Organization for Marriage, a group helping to finance anti-gay ballot fights across the country . . . Timothy D. Chandler, an attorney with the Folsom, California-based Alliance Defense Fund, did not respond to a call seeking comment for this article. Chandler has subpoenaed Karger to appear at an October 13 deposition in the California case . . .”

LifeNewsa: “Tim Chandler, legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, responded to the ruling and told the Boston Globe pro-life advocates “shouldn’t be penalized for expressing their beliefs.’ He said ADF and the pro-life advocates are evaluating the ‘next legal step,’ which would likely involve appealing the decision to the Supreme Court.”

Medical News Today: “Tim Chandler, legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which helped represent the plaintiffs, said abortion-rights opponents “shouldn’t be penalized for expressing their beliefs.” He added that the fund and its supporters were evaluating the ‘next legal step’ (Finucane, Boston Globe, 7/10).”

Martin Finucane reports in The Boston Globe: “‘The government cannot single them out for punishment simply because they want to share their message with people entering the clinic,’ Chandler said in a statement. ‘The government simply cannot create censorship zones where the First Amendment does not apply in order to silence a particular viewpoint.’ He said the fund and its allies were evaluating the ‘next legal step.’”

Lindsay Toler reports in the Seattle Times: “‘We’re willing to keep fighting if we need to,’ Chandler said. He said his group, the Alliance Defense Fund, will continue to research the case, but their clients have not yet decided whether to begin another trial. ‘It’s not dead,’ acknowledged Chuck Lind, general counsel for the Kent School District.”

ADF attorney Tim Chandler appeared on KIRO FM to discuss the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case of Truth v. Kent School District. Click here for more information.

The mp3 audio link is here.

Christian Examiner: ‘One person’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by America’s veterans and families,’ said ADF Legal Counsel Tim Chandler. ‘Americans want these memorials to be protected. What is more important: the feelings of a single ‘offended’ person or honoring the memory of thousands of American heroes in a way that has been considered constitutional throughout our nation’s history? If the Mojave cross is not allowed to stand, then numerous other veterans’ memorials are vulnerable to legal attack.’”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys secured a settlement Tuesday with the village of Fife Lake on behalf of Forest Area Bible Church, which will no longer be forced to pay discriminatory rental fees to use the village’s municipal building.

Nathan Black reports in The Christian Post: “‘Christian groups shouldn’t be excluded and discriminated against for their beliefs,’ said Tim Chandler, legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, which filed suit on behalf of the ministry. ‘Christians have a First Amendment right to control the content of their own meetings. The court correctly ruled that the government has no business interfering in what religious groups say.’”

Nathan Black reports in The Christian Post:

“Tim Chandler, legal counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund, stated, ‘One person’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by America’s veterans and families.’

‘Americans want these memorials to be protected,” he added. “What is more important: the feelings of a single ‘offended’ person or honoring the memory of thousands of American heroes in a way that has been considered constitutional throughout our nation’s history? If the Mojave cross is not allowed to stand, then numerous other veterans’ memorials are vulnerable to legal attack.’”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday on behalf of Forest Area Bible Church after unfair rental fees imposed by the village of Fife Lake forced the congregation to stop meeting in a local building.

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4841 ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND MEDIA ADVISORY February 26, 2009 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom Hearing Friday on temporary restraining order against NY’s Broome Community College ADF attorney representing church will be available for …

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit Monday on behalf of North Pointe Church against the Broome Community College board of directors and administrators after school officials enforced a policy banning groups that engage in “religious services and observances.”

An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney together with ADF attorneys have filed a brief on behalf of pro-life advocates in federal appellate court against a Massachusetts law that creates a 35-foot “buffer” zone around abortion clinics.

OneNewsNow.com reports: . . . Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries was using a local public library room for a meeting — which included a Bible message and prayer — until library officials threw them out. Alliance Defense Fund attorney Tim Chandler …

Mercury News: Whether an Antioch public library infringed on a religious group’s constitutional rights by banning prayer within the government building will again be debated in federal court today . . . “The bottom line with this case is Christians …

World Magazine reports: I’m no lawyer but I have to admit, when I first saw that the Alliance Defense Fund had filed a class-action suit on behalf of Prop 8 donors that sought to have a campaign finance law declared …

WorldNetDaily reports: . . . “Putting the names and employers of the people who supported Proposition 8 on the Internet for anyone to see has caused serious problems,” said James Bopp Jr., the lead attorney for Prop. 8 supporters. “No …

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4789 ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND MEDIA ADVISORY January 8, 2009 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom ADF attorney available to media after hearing in Calif. library access case Contra Costa County policy banning groups from …

Two Christians arrested for expressing their faith in public have been assured by town officials that their constitutional right to religious free speech will be respected in the future.

A federal court ruled Thursday that an Ohio library violated the Constitution when it denied Citizens for Community Values access to its meeting room on the grounds that the proposed event contained “inherent elements of a religious service.”

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4635 ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND MEDIA ADVISORY August 6, 2008 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom ADF attorney available to media following Prop. 8 ballot title hearing ADF, ProtectMarriage attorneys: Language of ballot title is …

Jeff Johnson reports on OneNewsNow: . . . Ohio-based Citizens for Community Values wanted to use the Union Township Civic Center to hold a “Politics and the Pulpit” seminar in advance of the Ohio primary. But officials with Civic Center …

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4566 ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND MEDIA ADVISORY June 20, 2008 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom ADF attorneys available to media following hearing in crucial Calif. homeschooling case Court of Appeal’s decision made most homeschooling …

WorldNetDaily reports: Quoting from the Bible has been banned in a community room at the public library in Clermont County, Ohio, and now a couple who sought to use the facility for a financial planning seminar has brought a court …

. . . what will happen to those marriages if voters approve a proposed constitutional amendment in November that would restrict marriage to the union of a man and a woman? . . .

Library officials counter that the group was not barred from using the library meeting space to discuss religion or any other topic. But library policy prohibits prayer and singing as “inherent elements of religious service.” . . .

Library officials counter that the group was not barred from using the library meeting space to discuss religion or any other topic. But library policy prohibits prayer and singing as “inherent elements of religious service. . . .

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.