Tag Archives: Category: Religious Liberty

Baptist Press: A florist who was told by the state of Washington she must provide her services for a gay wedding is countersuing the state, saying she has served gay customers her entire career and is concerned the state’s position on gay weddings will harm religious freedom.

National Review: IRS scandal notwithstanding, on Tuesday, the (Republican-dominated) Texas legislature passed S.B. 346, a bill to force non-profit organizations and trade associations to disclose the names of the people who support them financially. The law exempts unions, but covers groups that spend more than $25,000 or more in independent expenditures about political candidates. This applies even if those expenditures are a tiny fraction of the group’s overall spending . . .

NY Times: At the first Congressional hearing into the I.R.S. scandal, J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, told members of the House Ways and Means Committee that he informed the Treasury’s general counsel of his audit on June 4, and Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin “shortly thereafter.”

Times-Standard: Eureka attorney Peter Martin said on Thursday that he’s hoping that a motion filed with the Humboldt County Superior Court this week will lead to a decision by early August on whether the city of Eureka violated the California Constitution by holding invocations prior to City Council meetings.

Knox News: Craig L. Garrett, Blount County attorney, said in a letter to commissioners that he is researching the issue and “will update the commission regarding the legal ramifications of this issue in the near future.”

Washington Blade: The Nevada Assembly on Tuesday gave final approval to a bill that would add gender identity and expression to the state’s hate crimes law.

Daily Mail: Texas Republican congressman Kevin Brady had the harshest criticism for Miller. ‘Is this still America?’ he asked him. ‘Is this government so drunk on power that it would turn its full force, its full might, to harass, and intimidate, and threaten an average American who only wants her voice, their voices heard?’

Think Progress: The suit claims that Stutzman is entitled to religious conscience protections that allow her to ignore nondiscrimination protections, as ADF attorney Dale Schowengerdt attempted to explain to WorldNetDaily . . .

Towerload: “In America, the government is supposed to protect freedom, not use its intolerance for certain viewpoints to intimidate citizens into acting contrary to their faith convictions,” said Alliance Senior Legal Counsel Dale Schowengerdt. “Family business owners are constitutionally guaranteed the freedom to live and work according to their beliefs. It is this very freedom that gives America its cherished diversity and protects citizens from state-mandated conformity.

LifeNews: During intense questioning at a Congressional hearing this morning Rep. Aaron Schock asked acting commissioner Steven Miller if the IRS has asked a pro-life group about the content of its prayers.

On Top Magazine: Dale Schowengerdt, senior legal counsel with the ADF, said Stutzman had a right to refuse service based on her religious convictions. “In America, the government is supposed to protect freedom, not use its intolerance for certain viewpoints to intimidate citizens into acting contrary to their faith convictions,” he said. “Family business owners are constitutionally guaranteed the freedom to live and work according to their beliefs.”

Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty: The counter suit, filed by an anti-gay-marriage group called Alliance Defending Freedom, argues that Ferguson’s suit is attempting to force Barronelle Stutzman to act contrary to her religious convictions in violation of her freedoms under the state constitution.

Seattle Post Intelligencer: “In America, the government is supposed to protect freedom, not use its intolerance for certain viewpoints to intimidate citizens into acting contrary to their faith convictions. Family business owners are constitutionally guaranteed the freedom to live and work according to their beliefs,” said Dale Schowengerdt, senior legal counsel with the Arizona-based group.

Seattle Times (AP): Barronelle Stutzman of Arlene’s Flowers claims the state is violating her religious beliefs. The Tri-City Herald reports that attorneys for Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal ministry, filed the suit Thursday in Benton County Superior Court on behalf of Stutzman.

Gayopolis: Whenever there’s a lawsuit like this, scratch the surface and you’ll find the odious Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly the Alliance Defense Fund) behind it. One more thing to thank Arizona for.

Today, the Thomas More Society offered over 150 pages of analysis and evidence to the House Ways and Means Committee about repeated IRS harassment of pro-life organizations.

One News Now: Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Jonathan Scruggs explains that as part of an assignment, their client created a pro-life poster that the principal ordered to be taken down after just one parent complained. But as the attorney notes, restricting speech based on one complaint is known in legal circles as a “heckler’s veto.”

The Hill: “When you talk about targeting, that’s a pejorative term,” Miller said. Asked if the IRS’s actions had been illegal, he responded: “I don’t believe it is.” He then added of the behavior: “I don’t believe it should happen.”

Tri-CityHerald:“Everyone knows that plenty of florists are willing to assist in same-sex ceremonies, so the state has no reason to force Barronelle to violate her deeply held beliefs,” attorney Dale Schowengerdt with Alliance Defending Freedom said in a statement.

The Hill: Only two Democrats sided with Republicans in the party-line 229-195 vote — Jim Matheson (Utah) and Mike McIntyre (N.C.). All Republicans voted in favor of repeal.

NW News Network: Her lead counsel, Dale Schowengerdt says, there is no reason to use the state’s anti-discrimination law to force her to provide flowers for this ceremony. In fact, he says her religious rights and freedom are rooted in the state’s constitution.

CNSNews: The audience rose to its feet after Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Penn.) chided acting Commissioner Steve Miller about the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) treatment of taxpayers at a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday.

Josh Israel at Think Progress: The Losing Arguments Of Anti-LGBT ‘Alliance Defending Freedom’

ADF testimony in Minnesota, Colorado, and Washington all failed to sway legislators. Asked whether ADF believes its tact has been effective or swayed any lawmakers’ votes, legal counsel Jim Campbell told ThinkProgress: “First Amendment-protected freedoms are vital to the continued flourishing of our constitutional republic. They should not be ignored by state legislators who vote to redefine marriage. The failure to respect freedoms long-enshrined in our Constitution will lead to needless litigation. Sadly, even when those rights are eventually vindicated in court, the legal process will take a significant toll on innocent citizens who are simply trying to live in accordance with their conscience. Alliance Defending Freedom will be at the forefront of defending those Americans.”

Howard Gleckman at Christian Science Monitor: The Supreme Court pushed the IRS into the morass of regulating political speech with its Citizens United decision. Congress needs to pull the IRS out of the political swamp.

King5.com: “In America, the government is supposed to protect freedom, not use its intolerance for certain viewpoints to intimidate citizens into acting contrary to their faith convictions,” said Alliance Senior Legal Counsel Dale Schowengerdt. “Family business owners are constitutionally guaranteed the freedom to live and work according to their beliefs. It is this very freedom that gives America its cherished diversity and protects citizens from state-mandated conformity.”

AP: An internal IRS memo says Joseph Grant, commissioner of the agency’s tax exempt and government entities division, will retire June 3.

NewsMax: A pro-marriage organization claims the IRS leaked confidential financial documents to a rival group which were then used against GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney during the 2012 election.

MLIVE.com: “Detroit is where the Nation of Islam started. Detroit is almost considered now, a dead city. So we’ll come back to Detroit where we began and look at the condition of Detroit, pool our resources and try to buy properties in Detroit and start rebuilding one of the greatest cities in America where we’re concerned.”

WorldNetDaily: That was confirmed today when Dr. James Dobson, whose has served as an adviser to presidents and now runs Dr. James Dobson’s FamilyTalk, said his organization’s status was threatened because it didn’t present “all views.”

Politico: Liberty University’s challenge to the health reform law will go back before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., on Thursday, with the school focused on getting Obamacare back before the Supreme Court. Liberty’s lawsuit is the most wide ranging of the outstanding legal challenges to the health law, hitting everything from contraceptive coverage to the employer mandate.

Kent Harper at Mesquite Local News: Search the U.S. Constitution until both eyes are sore and you’ll find no reference to “the separation of church and state.” What you will find is the beginning portion of the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

National Religious Broadcasters Email (links to Alliance Defending Freedom press release): At the government’s own request, a federal appellate court has dismissed the Obama administration’s appeal of an order that stopped the President from enforcing his abortion pill mandate against Tyndale House Publishers.

NRB: In light of the Internal Revenue Service’s admission to “inappropriate” scrutiny of conservative groups, NRB President & CEO Dr. Frank Wright has encouraged House Speaker John Boehner and other Congressional leaders to stand up for churches and non-profit religious organizations.

The Raw Story: The American Humanist Association threatened to sue Missouri’s Fayette School District and several school officials on Wednesday for their alleged roles in holding morning religious ceremonies with students on school grounds every week for at least the last year.

WSBTV.com: “We are guaranteed a freedom of religion, not a freedom from religion. And as far as I’m concerned, this is very intolerant,” Atlanta Tea Party chairman Julianne Thompson said.

The Daily Times: Under pressure from a Wisconsin-based advocacy group, the Blount County Commission tonight will consider approval of a formal written policy clarifying its practice of allowing prayer prior to its regular monthly meetings.

Barry Lynn of AU at Washington Post: Every year, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Religious Right legal group founded by radio and TV preachers, hosts “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” During this euphemistically named and highly choreographed event, a handful of misguided pastors openly break the law by endorsing or opposing candidates from the pulpit. Some send their sermons to the IRS and occasionally even send me a copy so I can forward them to the IRS. These churches didn’t just go up to the line, they leaped right over it.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing a Washington florist sued by state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a countersuit against him Thursday.

Freedom from Religion Foundation: The Freedom From Religion Foundation today contacted Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, protesting his decision to override the Department of Natural Resources and return bibles to all lodge rooms and cabins in Georgia state parks. The DNR, appropriately, had removed the bibles after a guest complained.

CNSNews: While the first reported instances of extra IRS scrutiny for conservative groups began in Cincinnati in March of 2010, the attacks began to pick up steam on a national level soon after Soros-funded groups began firing off letters to the IRS in October of that year – following the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling.

Trial Insider: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel, in an order issued Tuesday, asked both sides to submit new briefs on whether the court should substitute its view of the law and application of the Constitution for that of the trial judge, or limit itself to the existing question of whether the trial judge overstepped his authority.

CNN: Treasury Secretary Jack Lew requested – and has accepted – the resignation of the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service in the wake of its handling of requests by conservative groups for tax-exempt status, President Barack Obama said Wednesday.

Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission: We have no interest in fomenting conspiracy theories or faux outrage, seeing that such will serve neither the gospel of Jesus Christ nor our mission to minister to our neighbors with this gospel. We have no interest in misrepresenting our military leaders or their civilian command. The Bible calls on us to pray for and to honor our government leaders (Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pet. 2:13-17). At the same time, we do not want to ignore potential threats to religious liberty. The First Amendment guarantees of the free exercise of religion and the freedom from an established state religion are grounded in a natural right—the right to a free conscience under God.

Sun Sentinel: Provide copies of all 7,000 web pages. All blog posts, newsletters, bulletins, fliers and hand bills. Provide copies of the agendas and minutes of board meetings and resumes of each board member. The percentage of time spent on activities, sources of money… Faced with round after round of such questions, the group abandoned its attempt, disbanded and re-invented itself under the name National Liberty Federation.

MyFox8.com: The Rockingham County school board has voted against opening its public meetings with a prayer in a 7-3 vote on Monday night.

Cecil Whig: “The Cecil Whig conducted an online poll, which was overwhelmingly for prayer,” Broomell said as she tried to garner support from her colleagues during Tuesday morning’s work session. The Whig’s poll was an unscientific poll, in which 192 people voted in favor of council prayer while 51 opposed the idea.

US Newswire at Wall Street Journal: Today, the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina granted a motion to include Liberty Institute’s clients, The American Legion and The American Legion Post 290 of King, N.C., in a pending lawsuit over the constitutionality of a veterans memorial in King’s Central Park. A copy of the order can be viewed at https://www.libertyinstitute.org/document.doc?id=81.

Christian News: According to the Times Free Press, one parent, Mitzi Yates, found a permission slip in her son’s backpack and contacted the school to ask that the Bibles not be distributed to children even if parents approved.

CNSNews: The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which first accused the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of seeking to intimidate Tea Party groups 14 months ago, legally represents 27 such groups and is now demanding that the IRS approve the tax-exempt status of 10 of the groups or face possible legal action.

Washington Free Beacon: The Department of Defense was criticized earlier this year for a report on religious extremists that included what critics saw as an overly broad list of worrisome groups. The list included “Evangelical Christianity” and “Catholicism” in a list that also included al Qaeda and the Ku Klux Klan. Christian groups pushed back against the label. “It is dishonorable for any U.S. military entity to allow this type of wrongheaded characterization,” the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) said in a statement . . . ADF also criticized the Department of Defense for relying on the liberal Southern Poverty Law Center, which itself has inspired left-wing terrorism, to create its report.

How Appealing links to coverage and the ruling in Rich v. Secretary Florida Department of Corrections.

One News Now: ADF attorney David Hacker says Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) was barring student Jacob Dagel from freely handing out flyers protesting the use of college funds to subsidize a governor’s lesbian, “gay,” bisexual and transgender youth conference. “They required student to get permission ten days in advance of doing anything on campus, and then once they got that permission, they could only speak or hand out flyers or papers to their peers if they sat at a table in the student center,” Hacker details. “It’s a really restrictive policy and one that was clearly unconstitutional.”

Virtue Online: OL president David W. Virtue D.D. recently interviewed retired US Air Force Fighter Pilot and ACNA Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Derek Jones, about the newest diocese soon to be on the Anglican scene, the Diocese of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy, a ministry of the Anglican Church in North America, and its astonishing growth . . . So, I would suggest to anyone who is inclined to give financial gifts above the tithe to Christian organizations fighting for Religious Liberty, Marriage, etc., you would be better served in giving to venerable and notable groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, Traditional Values Coalition, Beckett Fund and the Family Research Counsel to name a few. Of course, I believe the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty is the current leader among all organizations in the fight for Religious Liberty in the military and could use support. I have close, and often weekly, interaction with various leaders of these groups. (

Religion Clause Blog: In Bible Believers v. Wayne County, (ED MI, May 14, 2013), a Michigan federal district court dismissed a suit for declaratory and injunctive relief and nominal damages brought by a group of traveling Christian evangelicals who were escorted away by police and threatened with dsorderly conduct citations at last year’s Arab International Festival in Dearborn, Michigan.

Broadening IRS Victims Include Pro-Life Advocates, As Congress Investigates Thomas More Society Cases Demonstrate Conservative Bias Only “Tip of Iceberg”   (May 15, 2013 – Chicago)  The Thomas More Society is speaking out about blatant bias by the supposedly apolitical …

James Bovard at Wall Street Journal: As David Burnham noted in “A Law Unto Itself: The IRS and the Abuse of Power” (1990), “In almost every administration since the IRS’s inception the information and power of the tax agency have been mobilized for explicitly political purposes.”

Politico: The same Internal Revenue Service office that singled out Tea Party groups for extra scrutiny also challenged Israel-related organizations, at least one of which filed suit over the agency’s handling of its application for tax-exempt status.

Politico: The IRS came after Billy Graham, too, his son charged Tuesday in a letter to President Barack Obama. Franklin Graham, the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the family’s international humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse, said that the IRS notified the organizations in September that it was conducting a “review” of their activities for tax year 2010.

Daily Mail: When a Tennessee lawyer asked the IRS for tax-exempt status for a mentoring group that trained high school and college students about conservative political philosophy, the agency responded with a list of 95 questions in 31 parts, including an ultimatum for a list of everyone the group had trained, or planned to train.

Politico: Larry Conners, a veteran local news anchor at KMOV Channel 4 in St. Louis, says that the Internal Revenue Service has been targeting him since an April 2012 interview he conducted with President Obama — a fact that he dismissed as coincidence until the recent reports about the IRS targeting conservative groups.

Tony Perkins at LifeSiteNews: Now, some in Congress want to get in on the act with a bill that would intentionally deprive children of a mother. Under this legislation, the government would punish any adoption agency that gives priority to married, heterosexual couples.

American Freedom Law Center: A Michigan federal judge today dismissed a civil rights lawsuit brought by several Christian evangelists who were violently assaulted by a hostile Muslim mob while preaching at an Arab festival last year in Dearborn, Michigan, which has the largest Muslim population in the United States.  Video of the Muslim assault went viral on YouTube.

Eugene Volokh at the Volokh Conspiracy: Today’s New York Times has an article by Adam Liptak about Scott v. Saint John’s Church in the Wilderness, the case in which I filed a cert petition recently. In that case, as many readers may recall, the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld an injunction that bars my clients from (among other things) displaying “gruesome images” of aborted fetuses outside a church.

Disabled children attending faith-based schools who qualify for aid under a federal program will now be eligible to receive tuition aid in the wake of an Alliance Defending Freedom lawsuit against the Montana Office of Public Instruction.

Bangor Daily News: South Bristol Elementary School eighth-graders will launch their handmade skiffs next month without the traditional “blessing of the fleet” after a letter from Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State informed the school that student involvement with the historic maritime ceremony violated the First Amendment.

WATE.com: The Blount County Commission votes this week on a formal prayer policy for commission meetings.

San Francisco Chronicle: Plaques displaying the Ten Commandments have been removed from classrooms in the Muldrow School District after its board opted to “honor thy constitution” rather than risk a federal lawsuit.

Matt Bowman on the Vince Coakley Show to discuss: Obama admin. surrenders in abortion pill mandate case. | MP3 audio 14:01 mins

Barry Lynn at the Huffington Post: But some houses of worship do it anyway. They openly violate the law and even brag about it. One Religious Right outfit, the Alliance Defending Freedom, even sets aside a Sunday each year to encourage political chicanery. This is not a secret. Americans United has been pressing the IRS to put a stop to this for years. The agency continues to drag its feet.

AP: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker call the allegations “Big Brother come to life.”

The Hill: The House Ways and Means Committee will examine the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of Tea Party groups at a hearing Friday.

Missouri Family Policy Council: Members of Congress are sending correspondence to Pentagon officials expressing concern about the rising tide of anti-Christian hostility in the U.S. Armed Services.

Pilot Catholic News: “We believe the government essentially conceded that its anti-religious legal position cannot succeed in court under scrutiny,” said Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Tyndale in court. [more]

Patheos: Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Gregory S. Baylor, whose organization argued for the constitutionality of the program, defended it on the grounds that “parents should be able to choose what’s best for their own children.” “The ultimate winners in the Indiana Supreme Court’s decision are Indiana families who want to provide the best education for their children, whether it is public or private,” Baylor said March 26.

Edmond Sun: Speakers for the event will Blair on the topic of “What Did the Founders Think? The Biblical Foundation of Government,” while Dan Fisher, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Yukon and a state representative for District 60, will speak on “What Did the Founders Do? The Black Robed Regiment.” Erik Stanley, an attorney and senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, will speak on the topic “What Can We Do? The Rights of Christians and Pastors in 2013.”