Tag Archives: Group: Pacific Justice Institute

The Blaze: “SB 323′s primary purpose is to penalize BSA based on its constitutionally protected membership policy and the values that underlie it,” lawyers for the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom wrote in a letter to lawmakers last week. “This type of targeted punishment of a group based on how it exercises its associational and free speech rights violates the First Amendment.”

Washington Post (AP): “SB 323’s primary purpose is to penalize BSA based on its constitutionally protected membership policy and the values that underlie it,” lawyers for the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom wrote in a letter to lawmakers last week. “This type of targeted punishment of a group based on how it exercises its associational and free speech rights violates the First Amendment.” | also at NBC

One News Now: Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel David Cortman says nonprofits serving youths have constitutional protection to promote their beliefs and values. “America’s youth organizations that have benefitted our country for generations should be free from harassment by politicians who don’t agree with the very values that have made these groups successful,” says Cortman. “The Constitution protects the freedom of youth organizations like the Boy Scouts to promote the values that have defined them as an organization for well over 100 years.” . . . . ADF senior legal counsel Jeremy Tedesco explains further. “The First Amendment protects the freedom of youth organizations to associate with members and leaders who share their values,” he explains. “Our youth deserve to continue to benefit from these groups, and bills like SB 323 severely threaten their ability to do so.”

Religion Clause Blog: The Pacific Justice Institute announced last week that it had filed suit in a Tulare County, California state court on behalf of John Vadnais, an elder at a local church, who wants to share his Christian belief with other shoppers at Visala Mall.

Sacramento Bee: On Tuesday morning, U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller ruled that the law prohibiting licensed mental health providers from steering patients under 18 away from gay and lesbian lifestyles does not infringe on the suing providers’ constitutional guarantee …

AP: A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked California from enforcing a first-of-its-kind law that bars licensed psychotherapists from working to change the sexual orientations of gay minors, but he limited the scope of his order to just the three providers who have appealed to him to overturn the measure. | Order: Welch v. Brown | Pacific Justice Institute press release: Federal Judge Rules that CA SB1172 Violates Free Speech

The Hill: he Stop Harming Our Kids Resolution, H.Con.Res. 141, is a sense of Congress resolution that finds efforts to change the sexual orientation of minors are harmful, and should be prohibited.

Yahoo News: A college student who claims he once had same-sex attractions but became heterosexual after conversion therapy has filed a lawsuit against California, which has enacted a law that bans so-called “gay cures” for minors.

AP: The Pacific Justice Institute challenged the law signed Saturday by Gov. Jerry Brown. The lawsuit was filed late Monday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento.

Lisa Shaw Roy, The Evangelical Footprint, 2011 Michigan State Law Review 1235-1291.

Funding for evangelical advocacy received a boost with the formation of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) in 1994. Prominent movement leaders, such as James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ, formed ADF to fund litigation and to coordinate the efforts of Christian litigation firms.

ADF has been responsible for providing funding in several high profile cases, including Rosenberger, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. ADF also sponsors litigation firms with overlapping interests, such as the Christian Law Association, Pacific Justice Institute, the Home School Legal Defense Fund, and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, to name a few. While ADF began solely as an umbrella organization to provide funds to individual lawyers and law firms, ADF now also takes its own cases.

Though its success as a funding organization seems apparent given, for example, the number of Supreme Court amicus curiae briefs that disclose ADF support, some opine that its success in coordinating evangelical litigation efforts has been mixed.

Pacific Justice Institute: The California Senate today voted in favor of a groundbreaking bill designed to prohibit counselors and therapists from telling young people it is possible to change same-sex attractions.

LifeSiteNews: “The State should respect the choices that parents make for their children and avoid attempts at ideological indoctrination,” the permanent observer mission of the Holy See to the United Nations wrote in a statement released last Tuesday.

Pacific Justice Institute: AB 2109 by Assemblyman Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), seeks to rein in parents who object to mandatory vaccines for students. Current law allows parents to opt out by sending a letter to the school, expressing the beliefs that prompted their decision. Assemblyman Pan’s bill would require the creation of a new government form for those parents to complete, and would also require them to get a signature and information from a doctor, nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant about vaccines and communicable diseases.

One News Now: California attorney expects opponents of traditional marriage to lose in The Golden State if the Proposition 8 case is heard by the full panel of judges on a federal appeals court.

Sarah Pulliam Bailey at :WSJ.com: What counts as a church? Chuck and Stephanie Fromm recently found out. After hosting several periodic Bible studies for up to 50 people in their home in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., the Fromms were fined $300 for violating a city ordinance that prohibits groups of three or more people from gathering without a permit.

Ventura County Star: Port Hueneme will be the first city in Ventura County to post the words “In God We Trust” in City Hall after a 4-1 vote by the City Council on Monday.

Pacific Justice Institute: The Southern California city that issued citations against homeowners Chuck and Stephanie Fromm, for holding Bible studies in their home, has reversed course after attorneys for Pacific Justice Institute took the case to court. The city recently dropped its action against the couple and refunded the fines they had paid. However, the city has not yet changed its laws that led to the controversy.

Pacific Justice Institute: Opening legal briefs have been filed in the California Court of Appeal, arguing that San José school officials broke the law by refusing to even consider a parent’s request to change a controversial pro-gay celebration at her child’s middle school.

CBN.com: “It’s very difficult without paid signature gatherers. But the ground swell is so great, it’s actually possible that we just might make it,” said Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, one group supporting the effort.

OneNewsNow.com: Equality California has filed a complaint against the Stop SB 48 campaign, alleging that the Pacific Justice Institute and the Capitol Resource Institute are engaged in an “unlawful scheme” to qualify the referendum for the 2012 ballot.

Pacific Justice Institute: A parent of two young girls was caught off guard recently when her daughters came home from school with questions about a man dressed like a woman on duty in the school cafeteria. The parent was further chagrined when officials in the Sierra Sands Unified School District confirmed the story but insisted their hands were tied.

World Net Daily: Chuck and Stephanie Fromm already have been fined $300 for holding Bible studies for their friends at their home, and they face the potential for additional fines of $500 for each study held, according to a legal team taking their case to court.

Pacific Justice Institute: The ACLU spearheaded a campaign so the College would censure Dr. Lopez for comments they characterized as anti-homosexual and promoting a Christian belief system.

Pacific Justice Institute: A California case being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court raises nationwide concerns that cities are trying to seize unprecedented authority over private property, according to attorneys involved in the case.
Pacific Justice Institute represents a church in San Leandro—across the bay from San Francisco—that was prevented from moving into a building it had purchased on the open market, because the city wanted a moneymaking enterprise to get the property.

Pacific Justice Institute: An appeal has been filed with the California Court of Appeal in a lawsuit challenging a refusal by the superintendent and school board president of San Jose Unified School District to allow a parent to formally request changes to a controversial program at her child’s middle school.

OneNewsNow.com: Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute says, “The city of San Leandro is attempting to have the U.S. Supreme Court water down the federal civil rights statute by getting it to come to a finding that a substantial burden for churches must be something real extreme in order for this federal civil rights statute to kick in to protect churches who are wishing to build or grow or expand to a new location.”

After SB 48 was signed into law last week by Gov. Jerry Brown, Pacific Justice Institute worked quickly behind the scenes, with several other pro-family organizations to launch the referendum. Papers have been filed with the California Attorney General’s Office.

Redding.com Jim Wilson’s blog: It is likewise conservatives – like Pacific Justice Institute and the Alliance Defense Fund – who fight in the courts for just rulings and procedures today. But the shoe remains on the other foot for only a moment. Scripture says we need the Law and the Prophets to remain straight and God uses both camps in due season. Speaking as a conservative, we needed each other then and we need each other now.

Pacific Justice Institute: The PJI suit challenges the constitutionality of the individual mandate in the new law, which requires that nearly all Americans to buy health insurance, whether they want it or not. The Ninth Circuit is currently weighing whether to allow the suit to go forward.

“The reality is that the major textbook manufacturers do not create different textbooks for each state,” noted Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute.

Rev. Austin Miles at Examiner.com: That is only a few of the cases this year. Other Christian law firms who are funded by Christinas and can represent defendants free of charge, include Thomas More Law Center, Alliance Defense Fund headed by Alan Sears, and American Center of Law and Justice (ACLJ) headed by Jay Sekulow . . .

One News Now: California-based attorney Michael Newdow and the Freedom From Religion Foundation agreed to drop a case that challenged the constitutionality of the pastoral housing allowance exemption.

Pacific Justice Institute: On May 23-24 Redwood Heights Elementary School will be teaching children in grades kindergarten through fifth that there are more than two genders. The two days calendared for this are entitled “Gender Spectrum Diversity Training.” In documents released by the school, students will be taught that “gender is not inherently nor solely connected to one’s physical anatomy.”

Injury Board Blog Network: There are scores of other cases like these every year, filed by these groups and others, such as the Alliance Defense Fund, the Rutherford Institute, and many others… just as the Founders intended. The “tort reform” movement will eventually reach harm cases, through restrictions on the filing of any lawsuit, Americans don’t recognize the universality of the rights protected in our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Pacific Justice Institute: Ironically, the conflict arose after library officials frowned on the Tea Party’s distribution of the U.S. Constitution and similarly-themed information in the library’s breezeway during Constitution Week last September. Over the next few months, a library committee drafted a new policy designed to limit such activities.

Pacific Justice Institute: Attorneys for Pacific Justice Institute, who represented plaintiff and youth pastor Matthew Snatchko, noted, however, that the settlement is consistent with a California Court of Appeal decision last August that criticized the mall’s rules that attempted to limit consensual conversations between mall patrons. The court held in favor of Snatchko.

Pacific Justice Institute: A public high school that reportedly suppressed student speech on last year’s “Day of Silence” opted to change its approach after facing the threat of legal action from Pacific Justice Institute.

Christian Post: ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Matt Sharp also agrees that Christian students should express their opinions. In a blog he wrote, “Christians who oppose the blatant promotion of the homosexual agenda are often labeled as bullies. But respectfully speaking the truth is never an act of bullying. In fact, speaking the truth is the greatest act of love we can show to others.”

Pacific Justice Institute: Pacific Justice Institute is sending a legal demand letter to a high school in Oregon that reportedly used last year’s pro-LGBT “Day of Silence” to suppress student speech that supported heterosexuality. The next “Day of Silence” is scheduled for this Friday, April 15.

Pacific Justice: “A former student at Gateway East High School of the Grossmont Union High School District has filed suit against GUHSD, saying he was disciplined and suspended for sharing his faith with fellow students and for bringing his Bible to school. The student is represented by Pacific Justice Institute.”

Pacific Justice Institute: In a move that some parents and educators see as further proof that state legislators have lost touch with economic realities, the California Senate Education Committee on Wednesday will consider a bill that would require schools to spend scarce resources to become more gay-friendly. SB 48 . . .

Pacific Justice Institute: “In light of the recent protests by public employee unions in Wisconsin and several other states, the Pacific Justice Institute is renewing its pledge to represent employees who seek to disassociate from their unions for religious reasons.”

“The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled that the city of San Leandro illegally discriminated against a church by not allowing it to use its own property for worship services. The church, Faith Fellowship Foursquare Church, is represented by staff attorneys with Pacific Justice Institute.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is heading to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. In two separate cases, one brought by same-sex couples married in Massachusetts and the other by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a judge struck down a challenged section of the law which defines marriage for the purpose of interpreting federal statutes, regulations and administrative bureaus whenever the word ‘marriage’ or ‘spouse’ is used.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “Prominent atheist Michael Newdow is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to declare that the national motto, ‘In God We Trust,’ is unconstitutional. Pacific Justice Institute is a co-defendant in the lawsuit, alongside U.S. government officials.”

One News Now: “Callers can dial into the conference call and hear speakers from organizations like the Pacific Justice Institute, Eagle Forum, and the Alliance Defense Fund. The PreserveLiberty.com consultant encourages believers to continue to labor in prayer and remember God’s faithfulness towards America, but he says they must also be prepared to engage their culture.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “Due to the personal involvement of Judge Reinhardt’s wife in the Prop. 8 case and his own inability to be impartial based on his prior rulings against protection of traditional marriage, the Pacific Justice Institute is taking the extraordinary step of calling for his recusal from the case. PJI filed an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit, detailing support for traditional marriage in ancient civilizations that otherwise tolerated homosexual behavior.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “A heated controversy in this Bay Area city over mandatory pro-gay curricula for all students has taken an unexpected twist that is leaving gay activists and the ACLU scrambling to explain why a film shown to elementary students portrays African-American families in a negative light.”

EarnedMedia: “The controversy centers around three films, ‘That’s a Family,’ ‘Let’s Get Real,’ and ‘Straightlaced,’ that promote the idea that gay relationships are just as normal as any other family structure. The films are being mandated as part of a legal settlement between the ACLU and VCUSD. A parent questioned the District’s refusal to allow objecting families to opt out of the instruction, which has been mandated for all students in the District – including first-graders. The Vallejo City Unified School District governing board will hear from the community and discuss the issue Wednesday night beginning at 5 p.m.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “A federal judge has ruled that an unusual belief system called Anthroposophy is not a religion, so public schools can continue to utilize its methodology . . . Kevin Snider, Chief Counsel of Pacific Justice Institute, commented, ‘This ruling illustrates the double standard that many people see in public education: widely-held beliefs like Christianity and Judaism are excluded, while unusual beliefs like Anthroposophy are promoted. We believe this dichotomy is legally untenable, and we look forward to appellate review.’”

Pacific Justice Institute: “Teachers, African-Americans and others who voted for Prop. 8 might be surprised to learn that groups claiming to represent them filed legal briefs this week urging that Prop. 8 be struck down. Amicus or friend-of-the-court briefs were filed over the last two days by a number of groups supporting court-mandated gay marriage. Those groups include the California Teachers Association and the NAACP. ” | Perry Filings Here

Lyle Denniston writing at SCOTUSblog: “The Court is now scheduled to consider, at its private Conference on Nov. 5, a case filed by a California-based conservative legal advocacy group, the Pacific Justice Institute, and by a former California state legislator, Steve Baldwin, who is a devotee of limited government and now objects to the idea that the government could compel him to buy health insurance. The Institute also objects to parts of the new law that will affect it as an employer. Each has several other complaints about the law, too.”

Christian Post: “In an effort to breathe new life into legislation to protect marriage nationwide, the ranking Republican in the House Judiciary Committee, Lamar Smith of Texas, and his legal team have filed two motions in defense of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act . . . ADF asserted, ‘The DOJ’s practical abdication of its own proven legal arguments, plus its ambivalence on whether it will even appeal, warrants intervention to ensure that widely-supported Congressional legislation like DOMA receives a fair and vigorous defense.’”

Pacific Justice Institute: ” . . .  The question must be asked, what happens if the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court determine that Prop 8 proponents and Imperial County lack sufficient injury under Article III of the U.S. Constitution to have standing? The answer is that an amendment to the California Constitution will be erased without a meaningful review by the courts. The voters will have been disenfranchised . . . Under Article V of the Constitution, the Governor and Attorney General are a part of the executive branch and both have a duty to support and defend the State Constitution. Their oath of office requires them to do so “without mental reservation.” Unfortunately for the citizens of California, they are having second thoughts.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “The Pacific Justice Institute [filed an amicus brief] Friday afternoon with the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Prop. 8.”

WorldNetDaily: “The Supreme Court in California, which in 2008 ordered the creation of ‘same-sex marriage’ and was rebuffed within months by voters, now has refused to require that state officials follow the law and defend the constitutional mandate that marriage is only between one man and one woman . . . According to Staff Counsel [Jim Campbell] of the Alliance Defense Fund, one of the organizations arguing on behalf of traditional marriage advocate ProtectMarriage.com, the case really has just begun with Walker’s ruling.”

WorldNetDaily: “With a court deadline looming in just days, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown have filed court documents to fight demands from the Pacific Justice Institute that the state defend a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman – only . . . According to Staff Counsel [Jim Campbell] of the Alliance Defense Fund, one of the organizations arguing on behalf of traditional marriage advocates ProtectMarriage.com, the case really has just begun with Walker’s ruling.”

Law.com: “A new legal effort to force California’s governor and attorney general to defend Proposition 8 in court may have some political potency, but is unlikely to win in court, legal observers say . . . There’s a high standard to win a writ of mandamus. And in this case, the Pacific Justice Institute, which filed the petition, is up against issues of executive branch discretion, the separation of powers doctrine and an ambiguous state statute regarding the attorney general’s obligation — or discretion — to defend the state in lawsuits, said UC Hastings College of the Law professor and appellate expert Rory Little.”

Mercury News (AP): “A California court has refused to order Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown to appeal a ruling that overturned the state’s gay marriage ban.”

Ginny LaRoe writes at the Recorder: “A new legal effort to force California’s governor and attorney general to defend Proposition 8 in court may have some political potency, but is unlikely to win in court, legal observers say.”

“The Pacific Justice Institute petitioned the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento on Monday for an emergency order that would require the two officials to appeal a ruling that overturned Proposition 8.”

Courthouse News Service: “A Roseville shopping mall can’t stop patrons from having peaceful conversations about religion, a California appeals court ruled . . . ‘[T]he rules allow conversation between strangers on matters relating to the Galleria, its tenants, and/or the non-commercial activities sponsored by the mall or its tenants while prohibiting peaceful, consensual, spontaneous conversations between strangers in common areas of the mall on topics unrelated to the activities of the mall,’ Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye wrote.” | Snatchko v. Westfield, LLC, No. C059985 (CA3, Aug. 11, 2010) | Pacific Justice Institute: Appeals Court Slams Mall That Arrested Youth Pastor

OneNewsNow: “Alliance Defense Fund has already launched the process to send the appeal to the Ninth Circuit. ADF attorney Sara Tappen tells OneNewsNow that Walker’s ruling is remarkable in light of the magnitude of the issue. ‘It certainly does seem [that way],’ she replies. ‘We had a very strong case for that and we’re confident that at the Ninth Circuit they will be able to review that and see how strong our case for the stay was.’”

WorldNetDaily: “Officials with the Alliance Defense Fund said the decision is radical. ‘Its impact could be devastating to marriage and the democratic process,’ said Senior Counsel [Brian Raum]. ‘It’s not radical for more than seven million Cailfornians to protect marriage as they’ve always known it. What would be more radical would be to allow a handful of activists to gut the core of the American democratic system and, in addition, force the entire country to accept a system that intentionally denies children the mom and the dad they deserve.’”

OneNewsNow: “So [Tim Wildmon, President of the American Family Association] . . .  is calling on all members of the House of Representatives who respect the Constitution to launch impeachment proceedings against this judge. Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Sarah Tappen thinks people are tired of judicial activism. Considering the fact that more than 52 percent of voters approved Proposition 8, she finds it ‘clear that whenever the people have been given an opportunity to vote, they have voted to uphold marriage as one man and one woman. Americans in numerous states have affirmed this, and we are prepared to fight all the way to the United States Supreme Court if necessary to see this decision overturned.’”

Worldview Times: “A former professor at San Jose City College has received a favorable settlement of a federal lawsuit against the school. The former professor, June Sheldon, was represented by attorneys for Pacific Justice Institute as co-counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom.”

Jim Wilson writing at The Record Searchlight: “Some people want to talk and some don’t. Telling them apart is not always easy – because political correctness can dictate identification in defiance of the facts – but it is certainly essential . . . I was invited to speak to the issue of the trauma women experience – physically, mentally, and emotionally – when they abort a pregnancy . . . The problem is that while I was speaking the spokespersons for the pro-choice position were leaving the hearing room as fast as they could . . . The Pacific Justice Institute and the Alliance Defense Fund recently partnered to negotiate a favorable settlement for a former professor at San Jose Community College who was terminated for citing studies that indicated homosexuality might be connected to maternal stress during pregnancy . . . Professor June Sheldon was terminated not because of disagreement with the theory – it is, after all, one of many theories – but for the thought crime of treating homosexuality as though it might be an issue with a pathology, rather than a gift.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “PJI has filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Catholic League and Ignatius Press in Association of Christian Schools International v. Stearns. This brief asks the Supreme Court to review a recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, which approved actions by the University of California system that effectively prevent private Christian, Catholic, and Jewish high schools from teaching courses in accordance with their faith traditions.”

FIRE: “Nearly three years after she was terminated over her protected classroom speech, the San José/Evergreen Community College District (SJCCD) has agreed to pay adjunct professor June Sheldon $100,000 in lost earnings in exchange for dismissal of her First Amendment lawsuit . . . On July 16, 2008, the Alliance Defense Fund and attorneys from the Pacific Justice Institute filed a lawsuit against the district and several administrators involved in her case.”

Pacific Justice Institute Press Release via Standard Newswire: “A former professor at San Jose City College has received a favorable settlement of a federal lawsuit against the school. The former professor, June Sheldon, was represented by attorneys for Pacific Justice Institute as co-counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom.” | ADFmedia.org Sheldon v. Dhillon resource page

“Professor June Sheldon was fired after objectively answering a student’s in-class question simply because a different student claimed to be ‘offended’ by her answer, even though it comported with the official class curriculum and a district policy on academic freedom.”

OneNewsNow: “After serving California for more than a decade as chief justice, Ronald M. George is finally resigning — news that has conservatives breathing a sigh of relief. … ‘He is a judicial activist and pulls his own views and political opinions,’ Huey explains. ‘For Christians, he was an enemy of First Amendment rights. As a judicial activist, he was an advocate of social engineering. He also did a lot of other harm.’”

Pacific Justice Institute: “The Pacific Justice Institute is calling for the removal of a painting from the Sacramento Public Law Library that defaces a Bible and is accompanied by a statement saying that religious faith makes people stupid.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “The case arose after a youth pastor, Matthew Snatchko, was arrested at the Roseville Galleria Mall in 2007 for striking up a casual conversation with two other shoppers about faith. Although Snatchko had first obtained the shoppers’ permission to broach the subject, a nearby store employee disapproved and called mall security guards, who arrested Snatchko. Criminal charges were later dropped, but attorneys with Pacific Justice Institute filed suit to challenge the mall’s tight restrictions on speech.”

Congratulations to allied attorneys Philip Clarke, Kevin Clarkson, Michael Cork, Brad Dacus, Kevin Snider, Rita Dunaway, Leah Farish, and Dorothy Yeung for their recent accomplishments and successes listed below. Please take time to congratulate them!