Tag Archives: Group: Liberty Institute

OneNewsNow.com: Liberty Institute is filing a lawsuit against the city of Austin, Texas, for its ordinance that limits the constitutional rights of free speech for pregnancy resource centers.

Religion Clause: Under the proposed consent decree (full text), reached after mediation by a former Texas Supreme Court justice, the government agreed to 50 stipulations that facilitate the VFW, the Memorial Ladies and the American Legion’s providing honor guard ceremonies and condolence cards, including religious expressions, unless the family objects . . .

Pantagraph: But the religious leaders are bolstered by well-funded Christian legal organizations supporting their cause. The most prominent — the Alliance Defense Fund, a group based in Scottsdale, Ariz., that spent $32 million in 2010 — is challenging a 1954 tax code amendment that prohibits pastors, as leaders of tax-exempt organizations, from supporting or opposing candidates from the pulpit. The fund sponsors Pulpit Freedom Sunday, in which it offers free legal representation to churches whose pastors preach about political candidates and are then audited by the Internal Revenue Service. (So far, no IRS investigations have been triggered.) Last fall, 100 churches participated — up from 33 in 2008. This year’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday scheduled for Oct. 2, is expected to draw more than 500 churches. [Kelly Shackelford of Liberty Institute quoted]

Tom Hambruger and Matea Gold at Tribune Washington Bureau via Kansas City Star (also in Sacramento Bee): As pastors speak out on political matters, they’ve drawn admonitions from groups such as Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which warns that such activism could jeopardize their churches’ nonprofit status. But the religious leaders are bolstered by well-funded Christian legal organizations supporting their cause. The most prominent – the Alliance Defense Fund, a group based in Scottsdale, Ariz., that spent $32 million in 2010 – is challenging a 1954 tax code amendment that prohibits pastors, as leaders of tax-exempt organizations, from supporting or opposing candidates from the pulpit. The fund sponsors Pulpit Freedom Sunday, in which it offers free legal representation to churches whose pastors preach about political candidates and are then audited by the Internal Revenue Service. (So far, no IRS investigations have been triggered.)

OneNewsNow.com: District Attorney Keith Treadway believes the law prohibits prayers over the public address (PA) system at sporting events, but Kelly Shackelford of the Liberty Institute says the Freedom From Religion Foundation is misinforming people. “You have a right to speak a religious thought, even if it’s on government property, even if it’s on a PA system that’s government -owned, even if it’s on a public street, a public park, which are also government property,” he contends.

CitizenLink: “This emanates from some written policies that the people who aren’t religious shouldn’t have to hear religious things. But these policies are leading to people being robbed of the ceremonies they want for their husbands and fathers,” said Liberty Institute President Kelly Shackelford. “We’ve clearly got a director here who’s out of control and is anti-religious, but she thought she could get away with it because of the policy.

One News Now: Gregory Baylor of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) says the problem surfaced when discriminatory policies against religious organizations were discovered at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). We resolved that situation with [UTSA], and we had a concern that other … public colleges and universities in the state of Texas might have similar policies,” Baylor explains.

Saying that the Freedom From Religion Foundation did not have standing to sue, U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller threw out the lawsuit.

San Antonio Express-News: The Alliance Defense Fund, a network of Christian attorneys opposed to abortion and gay marriage, has sent letters to 136 public colleges . . . Gregory Baylor, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said the federal Civil Rights Act and the Texas Employment Discrimination law exempt religious employers from the discrimination ban.“It is not permissible for an auto manufacturer to say, ‘We don’t want any Hindus on the manufacturing line,’ but it is permissible for the local synagogue to say, ‘We want our rabbi to be Jewish,’” Baylor said. Douglas Laycock, a professor at the University of Virginia Law School and expert on religious liberty laws, agreed . . .

Shackelford, whose Plano-based group pushes for limited government and promotes Judeo-Christian values, said he has been telling callers that Perry has long favored an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would define marriage as being only between a man and a woman.

ADF, allies send letters urging campus officials to change any job posting policies discriminating against religious organizations

Christian Post: Two other senators have already called for Ocasio to step down. Hutchison is asking the Veterans Affairs Secretary to investigate the circumstances surrounding Ocasio’s actions, according to KHOU.

Fox News: he people who packed onto the grounds were pastors and lawmakers, war vets, moms who lost children in battle, and just regular everyday Americans. Americans like Kimberly Walker who are not happy with the cemetery’s director.
“I’m just here out of righteous anger,” Walker said.

The American Legion: On June 28, Liberty Institute in Dallas filed court papers alleging that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the director of the Houston National Cemetery, Arleen Ocasio, are engaging in “religious viewpoint discrimination” in violation of the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The American Legion will support the case as an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) as soon as possible.

Freedom isn’t that complicated. As freedom-loving Americans, we all know when it is violated. This is why there was an immediate and clear public outcry when there was an attempt to censor citizens’ speech at the Medina Valley High School graduation. Most everyone knew that this attempt, backed by threat of “incarceration,” was wrong.

Ken Klukowski at the Washington Examiner: James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and the rest of the framers of the Constitution would be astounded to hear a federal judge order a valedictorian’s prayer is not protected by the First Amendment, but marketing sickening video games to children is protected by the First Amendment.

A federal appeals court has lifted the order banning public prayer at a Texas high school graduation Saturday.

Christian Post: Texas Governor Rick Perry on Friday criticized a federal judge’s decision to ban prayer from a high school graduation ceremony, calling the ruling “reprehensible.”

San Antonio Express-News: s a federal appeals court weighs whether a judge was correct to keep public prayers out of the Medina Valley High School graduation ceremony, the furor over the issue is attracting more activists and political players who don’t like the decision.

LifeSiteNews.com: Public interest groups, Alliance Defense Fund, The Justice Foundation, and Liberty Institute, had persuaded university officials to relent . . . “Christian organizations shouldn’t be discriminated against for their beliefs and denied equal access to public university services that are available to everyone else,” said ADF Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor. Baylor said that while UTSA officials did “the right thing,” he added that “the larger battle isn’t over.” “More and more universities are excluding Christian organizations from their campuses and are thereby communicating the message that groups are free to use their facilities and services only if they don’t practice their religion,” he continued.

. . . a Texas federal district court issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Department of Veterans Affairs from regulating the content of the invocation and benediction that are to be delivered at a Memorial Day ceremony in Houston’s National Cemetery.

Christian Institute: In March this year it was revealed that a schoolchild in America was banned from handing out invitations to classmates for a Christmas party held in a church . . . The case was taken up by religious liberty group, Alliance Defense Fund.

One News Now: The Texas Supreme Court is being asked to intervene in two homosexual “divorce” cases. According to Liberty Institute attorney Jeff Mateer . . .

Sacramento Bee: “The school officials are asking the court to change the law to actually allow religious discrimination for the first time in American law; the judges were very attentive and active today, and we are hopeful they will reject this radical request from the school officials,” said Kelly Shackelford, Esq., president/CEO for Liberty Institute, which represents several students and their parents in the case.

One News Now: The head of Liberty Institute says the infamous “candy cane” case — to be heard on Monday — could result in “a massive shift of power away from citizens and families to the government.”

Kelly Shackelford, president/CEO of Liberty Institute. “The debate over same-sex marriage and divorce should play out in our democratic institutions and should not be short-circuited by activist judges.”

One News Now: In a Texas case filed against the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), the high court ruled that jail inmates who successfully file a religious discrimination claim under the law cannot collect damages. But Liberty Institute Chief Counsel Kelly Shackelford believes that violates Congress’ intent.

Washington Examiner: Evidently terrified at the thought of people praying for divine blessing and peace, the militant atheist organization Freedom From Religion Foundation filed suit. Last April, a Wisconsin federal district judge struck down the National Day of Prayer as unconstitutional, holding it an endorsement of religion in violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. April 14, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago dismissed the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction.

Family Research Council praised the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit for its 3-0 ruling today that dismisses a lawsuit against the National Day of Prayer . . .

One News Now: Texas citizen has won a lawsuit against the Ft. Worth suburb that jailed him for displaying a political sign. Chris Howe was defended by the Liberty Institute as he faced criminal charges in Watauga. Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel and founder of the legal group . . .

American Statesman: “Homosexual conduct” is still on the books as a crime in Texas eight years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional. But legislation to bring Texas law into line with the U.S. Constitution faces a rough ride through the Legislature . . .

Religion Clause: “The complex procedural history of the Establishment Clause challenge to the Sunrise Rock Cross in the Mojave Preserve veterans’ memorial has just become more complicated. Liberty Institute announcedyesterday that it has filed a new lawsuit on behalf of the VFW seeking to enforce the statute passed by Congress in 2003 (Defense Appropriations Act 2004, Sec. 8121) directing the Secretary of Interior to transfer title to the property to the VFW.”

“Liberty Institute just filed a lawsuit against the Obama Administration because it refuses to transfer ownership of the land on which stood the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial to the VFW, as directed by a 2003 Act of Congress.”

Gettysburg Times: “Four days after a Texas-based legal firm launched a campaign to save a Civil War chapel in Gettysburg, the nine-member Borough Council voiced displeasure Monday night with misinformation in the national media . . . ‘It’s not an issue with God. It’s an issue with the Uniform Construction Code,’ said Council President John Butterfield.”

OneNewsNow: “Liberty Institute and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, are at odds over a reconstructed Civil War-era chapel. The replica was constructed in 2006 by John Wega, who refounded the United States Christian Commission (USCC) . . . But Hiram Sasser, director of litigation for Liberty Institute, says the USCC recently received a letter from the borough demanding that the building be torn down. However, no reason was given.”

Dallas Morning News: “Advantage’s state-funded campuses showcase the latest breed of charter schools, born from faith-based principles and taxpayer funds. More than 20 percent of Texas’ charter schools have some kind of religious ties. That’s the case for six of the seven approved this year, including ones in Frisco and Arlington.”

Iowa Independent: “Five out-of-state organizations spent $948,355 . . . Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund and one of its affiliates, the Texas-based Liberty Institute, offered free legal representation to any church who openly violated federal tax law by advocating for the removal of the judges from the pulpit. Federal tax law forbids 501(c)3 organizations, including churches, from intervening in elections in support of or opposition to any candidate.”

WorldNetDaily: “The situation in Houston erupted after workers with a volunteer organization called True the Vote investigated the work of a Houston Votes group and found that of the 25,000 voter registrations submitted, only 7,193 apparently were actually valid.” James Bopp, Jr. of the James Madison Center for Free Speech and Kelly Shackelford of the Liberty Institute are quoted.

Education Week: “[A]t least one conservative constituency largely is still waiting for its day in the high court. Over the past two years alone, self-described religious-liberty groups on the right have asked the justices to hear appeals in some half-dozen cases involving religious expression in the public schools. In each case, the Supreme Court has refused . . . Half a dozen or so conservative legal organizations, as part of their advocacy work, regularly take up the cause of student religious expression—and, in some cases, nonreligious expression as well. In addition to Liberty Counsel, others include the Alliance Defense Fund, in Scottsdale, Ariz.; the American Center for Law and Justice, in Washington; the Liberty Institute, in Plano, Texas, which is not affiliated with Liberty Counsel; the Rutherford Institute, in Charlottesville, Va.; the Southeastern Legal Foundation, in Marietta, Ga.; and the Thomas More Law Center, in Ann Arbor, Mich.”

City Watch: “The theft, a federal crime under the Veterans Memorial Preservation and Recognition Act of 2003, remains unsolved. The Mojave National Reserve has prohibited the replacement of a memorial on the VFW’s land, citing a court order . . . On October 5, FamilySecurityMatters.org sent a second letter . . . asking the White House to allow the VFW to replace their memorial . . . ‘If we are not allowed to replace memorial crosses that are stolen or destroyed, then your administration will rightly be seen as openly encouraging attacks on religious symbols.’”

Andy Kopsa writing in The Iowa Independent: “The campaign to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices over a 2009 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage has attracted the attention of some of the most influential conservative organizations in America . . . The Liberty Institute, the Texas organization offering to defend pastors who run afoul of the IRS by encouraging congregations to vote against the judges, is an affiliate organization of the Alliance Defense Fund.”

Iowa State Daily: “Gordon’s church also participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday in September, a national effort organized by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative group, aimed at convincing pastors to endorse political candidates from the pulpit in violation of the current tax code.”

USA Today: “Gordon said he has recruited leaders at more than 100 churches . . . The Liberty Institute, a socially conservative nonprofit group in Texas, has promised free legal protection to any church that joins the campaign. Gordon’s plan is one of several efforts by conservative churches to challenge the IRS on a law they view as unconstitutional. The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona organization that promotes conservative biblical values, has sponsored a "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" in recent years, a day when pastors speak specifically about candidates for office.”

KVUE: “The State Board of Education is taking a close look at textbooks on Friday and will consider a resolution that says some textbooks favor Islam over Christianity . . . The Plano-based Liberty Institute supports the resolution. ‘I would think every Texan would be against government discrimination against any religion,’ said institute president Kelly Shackelford.”

Fresno Bee (AP): “A nonprofit group filed a motion Tuesday in a federal court on behalf of the California department of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a VFW post in Barstow. The motion will be heard next month.”

Everyday Christian: “According to Liberty Institute, San Antonio Police arrested Todd Leibovitz, a recent Bible college graduate, for sharing his faith on a public sidewalk. Leibovitz was jailed for 16 hours and cited for peddling without a license.”

“The 5th Texas Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a Dallas judge didn’t have jurisdiction to grant a divorce to two Dallas men who wed in Massachusetts. The court also says Texas’ same-sex marriage ban is constitutional.”

Liberty Counsel: “Tomorrow Liberty Counsel will meet the Collier County, Florida, School Board in the Fort Myers federal courthouse. This lawsuit challenges the board’s recent ban on Bibles during Religious Freedom Day on school campuses in Collier County, Florida.”

The Washington Post: “The cross, a version of which has sat atop Sunrise Rock since World War I veterans erected it more than 75 years ago as a memorial, disappeared May 9. Nothing but bolts remained where the 6 1/2 -foot cross, made of welded white pipes, once stood . . . All of this raises the legal question: If there’s no cross, is there still a case? . . . “You would hope some vandal could not come in and alter the direction of a case that raises important constitutional issues,” said Hiram Sasser, a lawyer at Liberty Institute.”

Kelly Shackelford writing at Constituting America: “Today, very little debate exists over the Twenty-second Amendment and executive term limits, though various members of Congress occasionally propose legislation to repeal the Amendment. Even now, two hundred years after President Washington stepped down after his second term, Americans generally accept the two-term limit as an adequate amount of time for a President to serve.”

OneNewsNow: “Judge Ewing Werlein, Jr. has thrown out a lawsuit against Houston over city council prayer. Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of Liberty Institute, represented Houston in the lawsuit filed by Kay Staley and Ray Hill, two non-believers.”

Religion Clause: “In Pounds v. Katy Independent School District, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77175 (SD TX, July 30, 2010), a Texas federal district court granted a motion to reconsider its earlier decision involving a First Amendment challenge to a holiday card fundraising project at a Texas elementary school . . . In sending home the order form supplied by an outside company, the school blacked out one message choice– a religious quotations from the New Testament. The court held that the school’s admitted viewpoint discrimination violated parents’ First Amendment free speech rights and was not justified by an attempt to avoid an Establishment Clause violation.”

The Dallas Morning News: “In recent years, Liberty has moved to extend its reach and has tapped into the growing field of Christian legal advocacy. It has become involved in national conservative causes from a Mojave Desert cross to the National Day of Prayer. Along the way, the nonprofit’s annual budget has quadrupled to more $2 million. It has merged with its parent policy organization endorsed by evangelist James Dobson, opened an Austin office and relocated its headquarters to a building for Christian ministries.”

PR Newswire: “Today Family Research Council and The Liberty Institute announced the filing of a motion for argument in a recent National Day of Prayer (NDP) case citing the Obama Administration’s weak defense of the NDP as the cause. Last April, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb declared the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional. The district court’s decision is now being reviewed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.”

“‘Religious liberties are under attack across the country,’ Kellum says. ‘My sense is that there’s some type of knee-jerk reaction, almost an allergic reaction, if someone sees the expression of religion,’ he says.”

OneNewsNow: “Two employees of the University of Texas at Arlington who prayed over a co-worker’s cubicle — and were subsequently fired — will have their day in court. Attorney Jeff Mateer of Liberty Institute tells OneNewsNow that after work hours, the plaintiffs prayed over the cubicle of an employee with whom they had had trouble. After losing their jobs, the workers brought suit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and the first phase of the case has ended in their favor.”

CentreDaily.com: Today, Liberty Institute filed an amicus brief in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the National Day of Prayer in Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Obama. Among those Liberty Institute represents in the brief include Dr. James Dobson, the Family Research Council (FRC), Focus on the Family Action (Citizenlink), the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU), Let Freedom Ring, and Liberty Counsel, along with 28 family policy councils located in states nationwide . . . View the brief online at http://tinyurl.com/2837gj5.

Centre Daily Times: “Today, Liberty Institute filed an amicus brief in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the National Day of Prayer in Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Obama. Among those Liberty Institute represents in the brief include Dr. James Dobson, the Family Research Council (FRC), Focus on the Family Action (Citizenlink), the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU), Let Freedom Ring, and Liberty Counsel, along with 28 family policy councils located in states nationwide.” | Liberty Institute Press Release (Google Viewer) | Brief (Google Viewer)

“[The 5th Circuit] ruled Wednesday that the principals could be held liable for taking away [students' 'Christian-themed materials']”

Religion Clause: “On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Morgan v. Plano Independent School District, (Docket No. 09-1131). (Order List.) In the case, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals found that rules adopted in 2005 by a Texas school district restricting the times and places at which students can distribute written materials are constitutional, at least on their face. At issue were students who wished to distribute religious-themed candy canes and tickets to church musical and drama programs.”

Dallas Morning News: “The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied an appeal from Plano parents who sought to reverse a decision in a years-long lawsuit sparked by candy cane pens in the Plano school district. Some Plano ISD parents wanted the justices to overturn a lower court’s decision in December that upheld the school district’s policy regulating when students can pass out religious materials, such as the candy cane pens. The court, without comment, declined to hear their appeal. Kelly Shackelford, president of the Plano-based Liberty Institute, which represented the parents, said he was disappointed by the court’s decision not to hear the case.”

PR-USA.net: “Today, the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) voted 9-5 to complete its review and updating of social studies educational standards for the state, as scheduled for K-12 courses, except for the Economics standards, which passed by a unanimous vote, 14-0 (one abstention). Additionally, the SBOE, in a bipartisan vote, passed an amendment to the social studies educational standards comparing and contrasting the phrase ‘separation of church and state’ with the Founding Fathers’ reasons to protect religious freedom . . .” (Liberty Legal institute attorneys quoted)

PR-USA.net: “The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), The American Legion, Military Order of the Purple Heart, and Liberty Institute just sent a letter to President Obama asking him to help put the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial back in its rightful place following its vandalism and theft on May 9. Additionally, Americans nationwide are signing on to the letter in support of the veterans groups at www.PutTheCrossBack.com.”

WorldNetDaily: “Military heroes from across the nation sent a letter today to President Obama asking for help to restore a veterans’ memorial cross that stood in the Mojave Desert for generations but was knocked down by vandals after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the symbol . . . According to the Alliance Defense Fund, an organization that has worked on the issue, the focal point of the case was whether someone who has suffered no harm but only claims being ‘offended’ can sue to destroy religious references on public monuments and memorials.

One News Now: “As to the Democrats’ criticism of the new standards, Jonathan Saenz, director of legislative affairs for Liberty Institute, remarks that ‘it takes a true liberal extremist to oppose students reading the Constitution.’”

PR Newswire: “After almost 18 months of review, educators, experts, parents and members of the business community are sending a message: we don’t want the American Atheists and the ACLU in charge of writing our history standards and we don’t want a delay of the final vote,” said Jonathan Saenz, Esq., director of legislative affairs for Liberty Institute. ‘Liberal fringe efforts to complicate, obfuscate, and denigrate our heritage and history must be rejected. A vote delayed is a vote denied.’”

FoxNews: “And, in an ironic development, the theft of the cross could provide an avenue for its unchallenged return, according to a lawyer involved in a contentious legal debate about whether it violates the separation of church and state . . . ‘There’s an interesting possibility,’ said Hiram Sasser, the director of litigation at the Liberty Legal Institute, which is representing the VFW in the case.”

PR-USA.net: “Today, Liberty Institute announced the launch of StopRewritingHistory.com, a site that offers concerned citizens the chance to sign a petition of support for the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE), encouraging the elected body to keep the social studies standards, to stand strong against liberal attempts to distort the truth, and to not to delay the vote scheduled for Friday, May 21, 2010.”

Washington Times: “Two weeks after the Supreme Court said it could stay, the Mojave Cross war memorial has been ripped out of and stolen from its rocky embankment in the California desert . . . ‘What our opponents can’t accomplish through the courts, they’ll accomplish through criminal vandalism,’ said [Joe Infranco], senior counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund, which filed a brief on behalf of the memorial. ‘These are intolerant cowards.’”

The Alliance Defense Fund–jointly involved in a project with the American Legion and the American Legion Department of California to defend veterans’ memorials across the country–is strongly condemning the theft of the Mojave Cross veterans’ memorial from the California desert.

“Thieves have stolen a cross in the Mojave Desert that honored American war dead, less than two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the religious symbol to remain on federal land . . . ”

Jonanathan Saenz of the Liberty Legal Institute writes at the Star-Telegram: “The debate over Texas social studies is out of control again . . . Why? It’s all about politics. The board is made up of 10 Republicans and five Democrats who are elected by Texas voters. That is a problem for liberals who see the public school system as the best way to radically change the course of our nation by changing the worldview of the next generation and distorting our history. Finally, after four public hearings and more than 14 months of review and discussion, they have confessed their true motivation: to control what our kids are taught in school by keeping some teachers, parents and the democratic process out . . . ”

OneNewsNow: “Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney [Joe Infranco] tells OneNewsNow the initial lawsuit was filed by one of the usual groups. ‘Essentially what you have here is a case brought by the ACLU — America’s number-one religious censor — that was based upon the wounded sensibilities of a lone atheist who was “offended” by the fact that there was a cross on this property,’ Infranco illustrates.” | ADF News Release

PR Newswire: “Today, Liberty Institute, representing State Rep. Warren Chisum and former State Sen. Todd Staples, argued alongside the Texas Attorney General’s office in Dallas’ ‘same sex divorce’ case before the Dallas Court of Appeals. Liberty Institute challenged the legality of District Judge Tena Callahan’s decision to grant a divorce to a homosexual couple, citing that such action is unconstitutional under the Texas Constitution, which does not recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions.”

The AP reports on Same Sex “Divorce” litigation pending in the state of Texas. Excerpt: “Abbott disagrees with the judge in that case, who ruled in October that the same-sex marriage ban violates equal rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel for the conservative Liberty Institute in Plano, called that decision ‘outrageous judicial activism’. . . ‘It’s a backdoor run at establishing same-sex so-called marriage against the people’s vote,” Shackelford said. ‘Once you grant the divorce, you are recognizing that there was a marriage.’”