Tag Archives: Alliance Defense Fund

ADF Attorney Dale Schowengerdt appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss the ruling. | MP3 audio 5:16 mins

OneNewsNow.com: “That the government should have the right to take children away from their families simply for the act of home education — that is without due process, without any real evidence gathering — that is almost a military state power,” he contends.

Inside Higher Ed: But a lawyer at the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian group working to defend religious freedom in colleges, said Forese’s bill is necessary and that discrimination against Christian academics is real.
“This type of legislation is sorely needed,” said ADF senior counsel David Cortman in an e-mail message to Inside Higher Ed. “When you compare the lopsided number of liberal professors to those who are conservative, there certainly is a crisis of one-sided views being taught to the next generation. Public universities are no longer the marketplace of ideas, but rather have become storefronts of indoctrination.”

Jason Mattera at Human Events: Such a ruling adheres to an “extreme version of the establishment clause and separation of church and state,” Jordan Lorence, a senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, the legal firm representing the local churches, told HUMAN EVENTS. “It’s hard for the bureaucrats and judges to grasp the difference between government sponsored religion and government accommodating everybody to use an empty building.”

WorldNetDaily: ADF Litigation Counsel Catherine Foster said, “Americans deserve to know if their hard-earned tax money is being funneled to groups that are misusing it.”

NPR: A 23-page memo from the Susan B. Anthony List and the Alliance Defense Fund outlines what those groups’ leaders say are a series of funding irregularities uncovered in various state and federal audits of Planned Parenthood affiliates.

God Discussion (includes video): Austin R. Nimocks, a lawyer who argues against same-sex marriage for the Alliance Defense Fund, noted that while some polls showed increasing support for gay marriage, voters had never approved it at the polls.”

The Hill: In her letter, Blackburn specifically cites the Alliance Defense Fund report as justifying further action.

A recent European Court of Human Rights ruling increases the pressure on Sweden to return a 10-year-old boy to his parents after the government abducted him from his parents nearly three years ago for being home-schooled.

LifeNews.com: Blackburn also refers to recent information released by the Alliance Defense Fund and the Susan B. Anthony List showing more examples of fraud and abuse from Planned Parenthood affiliates nationwide in terms of misusing taxpayer funds . . . The ADF report found: . . .

ADF Attorney Jeremy Tedesco at the Online Library of Law and Liberty: In the end, the court struck at the very heart of what Julea’s lawsuit is all about: that the First Amendment prohibits public universities from demanding that students change or violate their beliefs as a condition to getting a degree. As the court said: “A university cannot compel a student to alter or violate her belief systems . . . as the price for obtaining a degree.” The Sixth Circuit is right, “Tolerance is a two-way street.” A fact that is often lost on public universities when it comes to Christian expression and belief, as Julea’s case so clearly shows.

ADF Attorney Joe Infranco and John Eastman, Chairman of the Board of the National Organization for Marriage appeared on Ave Maria Radio with Al Kresta to discuss the ruling. | MP3 audio 13:08 mins

ADF Attorney Casey Mattox on the Vicki McKenna Show to discuss the audit presented to Congress. | MP3 audio 15 mins

ADF Attorney Dale Schowengerdt appeared on several radio shows to discuss the Prop. 8 ruling. | The Drew Mariani Show - MP3 audio 11:40 mins | WSHO in New Orleans with Kathleen Benfield – MP3 audio 16:13 mins | The Victoria Taft Show - MP3 audio 7:56 mins

ADF Attorney Catherine Foster appeared on the Rita Cosby Show. | MP3 audio 3:14 mins

Inside Bay Area: Austin Nimocks, a senior lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, one of the groups defending the law, would not reveal the strategic considerations, but promised: “We will do something. I can guarantee that.”

The Bend Bulletin: Austin Nimocks, a lawyer who argues against same-sex marriage for the Alliance Defense Fund, noted that while some polls showed increasing support for gay marriage, voters had never approved it at the polls. In 31 statewide votes, voters have consistently defined marriage as between a man and a woman, he said. “I don’t see a shift in momentum,” Nimocks said. “You can use all the polls you want. You can say anything you want to about civil unions or domestic partnerships, but when it comes to marriage, the record is clear.”

Sacramento Bee: roposition 8 backers are already dismissing the ruling as the work of a liberal appeals court. As Brian Raum, a lawyer for the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, said in a statement, “We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage – tried in San Francisco – turned out this way.” But before they engage in the usual stereotyping of the 9th Circuit, Proposition 8 proponents might want to carefully examine the legal precedents the appeals court relied upon in handing down its decision.

The Alabama Baptist: The Vanderbilt is just one of dozens of cases playing out on campuses all across the country, said David Cortman, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund. “The university is supposed to be the marketplace of ideas, but it ends up being the storefront of censorship,” he said, noting the CLS v. Martinez decision does not apply to private schools.

Bloomberg: This is a blatant matter of abusing the rights of church officials to be involved in local affairs,” said Joel Oster, a lawyer in Kansas for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based group that represents religious organizations. “We are excited about this case because of the precedent that could be established.”

WNYC: Similar efforts are underway on the right. The Susan B. Anthony List, a political action committee that supports candidates who oppose abortion rights, along with the Alliance Defense Fund, released a report on Tuesday that it says details Planned Parenthood’s “systemic abuse of taypayer dollars.”

Daniel B. Wood at Christian Science Monitor at Yahoo! News: The Alliance Defense Fund, which helped to defend Prop. 8 in court, has not divulged its plans, but senior counsel Brian Raum has said the group expects to make a decision “in due time.”

Baptist Press (includes video of Alan Sears): Alliance Defense Fund attorney Dale Schowengerdt said that while the decision’s outcome was more narrow than Walker’s, its reasoning in striking down Prop 8 was broad. “It’s not a narrow ruling in many regards,” Schowengerdt told Baptist Press. “The court basically said there’s no legitimate reason to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman. The court said Proposition 8 was supported by nothing but animus.”

The New American: Steven Aden, senior counsel at the pro-family Alliance Defense Fund, expressed his disappointment with Handel’s departure from Komen, noting that she had become “another victim of Planned Parenthood’s mafia-style shakedown of the Susan G. Komen organization.”

David Cortman at the Washington Examiner: The intolerant and discriminatory exclusion of people of faith from university programs and professions has no place in a society dedicated to religious freedom and tolerance for all. Public universities, hospitals, and professional licensing boards should not force people to violate their sincere religious beliefs as the price to enter or stay in a profession. In the words of the court, “tolerance is a two-way street.”

EngageFamilyMinute.com: The document, titled “Data and Summary of Planned Parenthood’s Waste, Abuse, and Potential Fraud,” is scheduled to be released later today in conjunction with ADF president Alan Sears’ appearance on Congress to document the illegal activity and ask for government accountability. On a conference call earlier today I head from top executives at SBA and ADF on the need for this report and an accounting by PP for their activities.

College Times – Arizona State University (McClatchy): Brian Raum, a lawyer for the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, a supporter of Proposition 8, said in a prepared statement, “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.”

OneNewsNow.com: Thomasson expects the case to land in the nation’s highest court, with Justice Anthony Kennedy casting the deciding vote. In fact, Alliance Defense Fund says it will do exactly that (see accompanying video of ADF general counsel Alan Sears). [Brian Raum also quoted]

OneNewsNow.com: But Alliance Defense Fund attorney Bryon Babione maintains that she was fired because she took a stand for her faith. “The right to refer is a pervasive right in counseling, and she followed that, but she was nevertheless laid off for doing that,” he says. “They said it was inappropriate that she told the client that she had personal beliefs which would not allow her to effectively counsel that particular client.”

New Hampshire Public Radio (includes audio): A 23-page memo from the Susan B. Anthony List and the Alliance Defense Fund outlines what those groups’ leaders say are a series of funding irregularities uncovered in various state and federal audits of Planned Parenthood affiliates. “These problems reveal a pattern of gross financial mismanagement,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA List. Steven Aden, the Alliance Defense Fund’s senior counsel, added, “The 10 state audits amounted to nearly 8 million dollars in waste, abuse and potential fraud.”

Maggie Gallagher at National Review Online, The Corner: Professor Eugene Volokh, a supporter of same-sex marriage as a policy matter, picks up the most radical part of the Ninth Circuit decision: Alliance Defense Fund was right. Civil Unions lead to gay marriage. Okay, he doesn’t say that part about ADF, but Prof. Volokh does say . . .

OneNewsNow.com: “To begin with, there have been ten state audits of seven Planned Parenthood providers in California, New York, Texas, and Washington state that have discovered over $8 million in waste, abuse, and potential fraud between 2002 and 2008,” Aden explains.

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.

USA Today: Steven Aden, senior counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund, said he was saddened by Handel’s departure, noting that Handel’s public service to women “has become another victim of Planned Parenthood’s mafia-style shakedown of the Susan G. Komen organization.” The fund is an alliance of Christian attorneys that released a report Tuesday in which it alleges that Planned Parenthood has wasted taxpayer dollars.

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.”

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.

Defenders of marriage in California will appeal Tuesday’s ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit that upheld a district judge’s decision against the state’s constitutional amendment protecting marriage.

No court should undercut the democratic process by taking the power to preserve marriage out of the hands of the people.

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

he Alliance Defense Fund Tuesday officially made public its report to Congress identifying waste, abuse, and potential fraud by Planned Parenthood affiliates across the nation that may amount to multiple millions of dollars in wasted taxpayer money.

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]

The New American: But instead of abandoning its attack on the pregnancy centers, the city council simply replaced its objectionable ordinance with another equally onerous statute that, explained the ADF, “continues to require pro-life centers to post negative signs simply because the centers speak to women about pregnancy.” As with the first, the replacement ordinance continues to exempt abortion facilities from the First Amendment-violating law. [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 submitted legal opinion letter to Forest Service, will offer to defend memorial if attacked in court

Mandatory public, private school classes with graphic, church-bashing content
caused public outcry, lawsuit

In the wake of a federal court order that halted a Pulaski County Special School District flier policy, district officials have settled a lawsuit with Alliance Defense Fund attorneys representing a 3rd-grade student and her mother who had been denied permission to distribute fliers for church-sponsored activities.

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.

ADF, allies seek new court order after city’s decision to replace one bad law with another

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.