Tag Archives: Group: Thomas More Law Center

Religion Clause Blog: On Wednesday the Thomas More Law Center announced that it has filed a federal civil rights action on behalf of a Houston, Texas Christian street preacher who was arrested three different by Houston police. According to the press release . . .

Womenenews via Reuters: On May 22, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit center based in Scottsdale, Ariz., is hoping that the 7th Court of Appeals in Chicago will issue an injunction so its client, Grote Industries, won’t be subjected to fines for not providing the contraceptive coverage required by law since Jan. 1. (newly added to Reuters)

Womensenews.org: “Nonprofit centers like ours that depend on donations are representing these small businesses pro bono because in addition to the fines, the cost of lawyers, travel and other expenses in pursuing these cases would wipe out the assets that took generations for the owners of these small businesses to accumulate,” said Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel of the Alliance Defending Freedom, in a phone interview. His group has 44 in-house attorneys and more than 2,400 volunteer attorneys.

LifeNews: The lawsuit was brought on behalf four brothers, Terrence, John, James and Christopher Nagle and their family-owned business, M&N Plastics, Inc. The case has been assigned to Federal District Judge Victoria A. Roberts.

Religion News Service: A former adviser to Sarah Palin and an attorney with a long record of advocating conservative causes, will become the first spokeswoman for the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the USCCB announced Monday (April 29).

Rees Lloyd at News with Views: For the first time in some twelve years, Americans will be able to exercise their First Amendment Free Exercise of Religion rights by attending Easter Sunrise Services at the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial – with the Cross established there by veterans to honor veterans once again intact . . . “We want to thank all those who fought so hard to save the cross. The VFW. The American Legion. Liberty Institute. Alliance Defending Freedom. Thomas More Law Center. The California Legionnaires of the Defense of Veterans Memorials Project. And so many more,” said Mrs. Sandoz. “We are very, very grateful to them.”

The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national non-profit public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, today announced that it has filed its fourth legal challenge to the HHS Mandate. This fourth case was filed yesterday on behalf of Michael Potter, Chairman and President of Eden Foods and his for-profit company, Eden Foods, Inc. in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Today, the religious and associational liberty of a ten-family Catholic homeschool group, the Fishers Adolescent Catholic Enrichment Society (FACES), will be at issue in the Indiana Court of Appeals.

LifeNews: Today, Thomas Beckwith, a devout Southern Baptist, and his family-owned Beckwith Electric Company, Inc, filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new form of tyranny and religious persecution—the HHS Mandate.

Bill Donohue at Newsmax: While there have been many organizations fighting the foes of Christmas — the Catholic League, the Thomas More Law Center, the Alliance Defending Freedom, the American Family Association — without the participation of men and women in our nation’s towns, villages, and cities, we wouldn’t be winning. Here are a few examples:

Andy Norman at Bell Towers: Most scholars, jurists, and those who love God recognize that preserving our religious freedoms in the United States today is inseparably linked with promoting religious diversity. When the new, the small, the controversial, and the unpopular are able to express their beliefs freely, we all benefit. That freedom, however, comes under attack every Christmastime. . . . In support of an accurate reading of the Establishment Clause numerous groups have joined the battle in recent years. These include the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian Legal Society, TMLC, Liberty Council and many others. Thanks to these organizations and the private law firms and attorneys willing to take these cases, the tide may be turning.

Daily Herald: The Arlington Heights Park District and the Thomas More Society said Monday they are hopeful their dispute over a Nativity scene for the Arlington Heights holiday display won’t reach the lawsuit stage, but attorneys have not yet reached a solution. On Friday the Thomas More Society filed a complaint with the Arlington Heights Park District because it rejected a Nativity scene for the annual holiday display in North School Park. The park district said it rejected the offer in part because it uses only its own lights for the display and because the theme of the display is children’s toys.

Ken Klukowski at Breitbart: Can an American citizen exercise his religion through his privately-owned business? The fate of Obamacare’s disturbing HHS contraception mandate turns on that question, and now the federal courts are split on the answer regarding an issue very likely to end up at the U.S. Supreme Court . . . Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)—the largest religious-liberty legal organization and network in the country—is representing several companies, and has won the first round in two cases so far. These are Newland v. Sebelius in Colorado, and Tyndale House Publishers v. Sebelius in D.C. In fact, ADF is representing companies in at least seven lawsuits, including two plaintiffs in my home state of Indiana. Thomas More Law Center is representing another early success, representing Weingartz Supply Company in Michigan, while the Becket Fund suffered an early setback representing Hobby Lobby. And yet another—Liberty Institute—is preparing to launch litigation.

CNSNews: Erik Stanley, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly the Alliance Defense Fund), said flatly that CREW’s complaint is “bogus.” “This is a favorite tactic of advocacy groups that believe in a radical secularist view of America,” Stanley …

LifeNews: Another plaintiff has won a court ruling against the Obama administration’s abortion pill mandate. Federal District Court Judge Robert H. Cleland of the Eastern District of Michigan issued an opinion yesterday evening granting a motion for Preliminary Injunction that effectively halts enforcement of the HHS mandate against Plaintiffs Weingartz Supply Company and its owner and president, Daniel Weingartz. | Ruling: Legatus v. Sebelius | Thomas More Law Center press release

Thomas More Law Center: The City of Frankenmuth, Michigan formally rejected a demand by Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) to remove a 55 foot steel American Bicentennial Cross on city-owned land. In a July letter, AU claimed the Cross on public land unlawfully endorses and promotes Christianity, and asked Frankenmuth to remove the cross or face “a significant risk of litigation.”

Thomas More Law Center: The Government attorney, on the other hand, argued that because Weingartz was a secular corporation it had no constitutional right to free exercise of religion or free speech. The Government also contended that the organization Legatus lacked standing, as the group was a non-profit company potentially eligible for a one year safe-harbor from the law.

Thomas More Law Center: This Friday, September 28, 2012, Federal District Judge Robert H. Cleland, of the Eastern District of Michigan, will hear oral arguments in Thomas More Law Center’s motion for Preliminary Injunction to stop implementation of the HHS mandate. The oral arguments are scheduled to begin at 9:30am, in Courtroom #712, at the U.S. Courthouse in Detroit, Michigan.

The Thomas More Law Center, yesterday afternoon, filed its opening brief in support of its motion for a Preliminary Injunction to stop enforcement of the HHS Mandate.

The Thomas More Law Center announced today that it is representing the City of Frankenmuth, Michigan concerning a constitutional challenge to the 55 foot cross located on public land. The stainless steel cross, constructed with private donations, was erected in1976 as a part of the City’s celebration of America’s Bicentennial.

Thomas More Law Center: The Federal lawsuit involved the disciplinary action taken against Captain Fields after he refused orders to attend a Mosque event because it conflicted with his Christian faith and had nothing to do with any official police function. He also told his superiors that he would not require any of his subordinates to follow the order if they shared similar religious convictions.

Thomas More Law Center: A stunning new development has come to light surrounding allegations of public corruption over the sale of Farmington Public Schools (FPS) property to the Islamic Cultural Association (ICA). On Wednesday, August 8th, Reverend Bruce D. Burwell, Senior Pastor of Light of the World Christian Center in West Bloomfield, read aloud a prepared statement on how the person in charge of FPS properties told him the property was not for sale when he expressed an interest in purchasing it for his church. FPS subsequently sold the vacant Eagle Elementary school property to the Islamic Cultural Association.

WorldNetDaily: Regarding the Denver case, Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defending Freedom represents Hercules Industries, and said the government mandate on contraception is blatantly unconstitutional, and he expects the case to be watched very closely by the Catholic Church and other challengers to the mandate. “This case does not involve stopping anybody from doing anything in terms of employees,” Bowman told WND. “What it involves is using Obamacare to impose mandates on families who are just wanting to earn a living, forcing them to violate their faith and to facilitate things that violate their faith simply because they’re Americans who want to have a business and follow their religious values.”

Thomas More Law Center: The case before Judge Cleland was filed on May 6, 2012 by the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on behalf of Legatus, the Nation’s largest organization of top Catholic business leaders, and the Ann Arbor-based Weingartz Supply Company, and its president Daniel Weingartz.

One News Now: A Christian has won a long legal battle for the right to continue displaying a nativity scene in public. Robert Muise of the American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) explains that the display has been used for years in Warren, Michigan and has become a holiday fixture.

How Appealing links to the ruling and offers this excerpt: According to today’s opinion, in challenging the law, the plaintiffs alleged that “the expression and practice of their anti-homosexual religious beliefs will lead to federal investigation and prosecution under the Act, in violation of their First Amendment rights.”

Satawa v. Macomb County Road Commission, No. 11-1612 (6th Cir. Aug. 1, 2012)

PublicEye.org (authored by Kapya John Kaoma and published by Political Research Associates): Conference panelists varied from a new brand of less vitriolic pro-traditional family advocates such as Dr. W. Bradford Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at University of Virginia, to Piero Tozzi, an attorney for the right-wing Christian group the Alliance Defense Fund, to Floyd Godfrey, a practitioner of the harmful and discredited practice of reparative or conversion therapy for “treating” same-sex attraction . . . The ACLJ is now one of the principal legal advocacy groups in the conservative movement, along with the Alliance Defense Fund, Liberty Counsel, the Liberty Institute, and the Thomas More Law Center.
The group has built strong partnerships with many Religious Right groups, including the Christian Defense Coalition, Faith and Action,
the American Family Association, and WallBuilders. Its reach has expanded globally with affiliates in countries including France, Israel, , Kenya, Pakistan, Russia, Zimbabwe, and Brazil.

Republic (AP): Catholic business leaders are suing the Obama administration and Health and Human Services officials to block a federal rule that requires employers and individuals to get health insurance to cover contraceptives and sterilizations. The Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center says Tuesday that the suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit on behalf of Legatus. | Thomas More Law Center press release and link to the complaint

LVTSG.com: According to a Fox News story which aired yesterday (click here to see the Fox News video ), the Commandant of Camp Pendleton, California, Colonel Nicholas F. Marano, USMC, is expected to rule shortly on whether two memorial crosses erected atop Mount Horno can remain in place.

Late this morning, Detroit Federal District Judge, Denise Page Hood, granted the Thomas More Law Center’s motion for an Emergency Temporary Restraining Order and enjoined the City of Dearborn from requiring Pastor Jones to sign a Hold Harmless’ agreement before approving his application to speak in front of a mosque on Saturday, April 7th.

Christian Newswire: Yesterday afternoon, the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) filed a federal lawsuit in the Federal District Court against the City of Dearborn, and its police chief over the City’s new tactic to stop Pastor Terry Jones from speaking out against Sharia law.

One News Now: A law firm that defends and promotes Christian heritage and moral values has reportedly become the target of several international Islamic news agencies. The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) says the Islamic news outlets have recently targeted the firm and its president, Richard Thompson . . .

The Thomas More Law Center announced today that it has appealed a controversial decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. The appeal was filed in the case of Bradley Johnson v. Poway Unified School District late last week.

TPMMuckraker: This suit is just one of many that argues that “religious liberty” is at stake as LGBT rights expand. And, along with the Alliance Defense Fund, the Thomas More Law Center dedicates itself to fighting against “a culture increasingly hostile to Christians and their faith.”

THOMAS MORE LAW CENTER 24 Frank Lloyd Wright Dr. Ann Arbor, MI 48105 PH: 734-827-2001, FX: 734-930-7160 NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: December 15, 2011 Contact: Kathleen L. Lynch, (734) 827-2001 Attached: PDF version Student Sues School District and Teacher …

OneNewsNow.com: Phill Kline angered pro-abortion politicos by conducting a probe of Planned Parenthood when he was attorney general, finding that the abortion provider was performing abortions on minors without parental involvement and without reporting the crimes to authorities.

LifeNews.com: Indiana officials filed a legal brief on Monday with a federal appeals court asking that it reverse a judge’s decision this summer overturning its new comprehensive pro-life law that limits abortions and de-funds Planned Parenthood.

The Thomas More Law Center announced today that it will petition for an en banc review of the controversial Ninth Circuit Court 3-judge panel decision that overturned a lower court decision, which had upheld the right of a school teacher to display patriotic banners in his classroom that mentioned God.

The Blog of Legal Times: The Thomas More Law Center today announced that it had filed its petition for certiorari in Thomas More Law Center v. Obama, its challenge to a June 29 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit that upheld the so-called “individual mandate” under the landmark health care legislation.

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 . . .

LifeNews.com (6/28): Three pro-life legal groups have weighed in on the case — including the American Center for Law and Justice, Alliance Defense Fund and Thomas More Society — and they have said the law is constitutional. Planned Parenthood of Indiana in 2008 suspended an employee after a video showed the staffer covering up a girl’s statutory rape.

President Obama’s controversial health care law got a major boost Wednesday when the first ruling by a federal appeals court affirmed that Congress can require Americans to have minimum insurance coverage.

Washington Examiner: President Obama’s solicitor general, defending the national health care law on Wednesday, told a federal appeals court that Americans who didn’t like the individual mandate could always avoid it by choosing to earn less money.

This past Friday, an angry, hate-filled, unruly, mostly Muslim mob of several hundred people broke through police barricades and rushed across the street toward Pastor Terry Jones while he was speaking in front of the Dearborn, Michigan City Hall. The mob was yelling and screaming, making obscene gestures, holding Korans, throwing shoes and water bottles at Pastor Jones and his supporters.

Press and Guide: Jones was thrown in jail before he said anything because of what may have happened. Thompson has said what happened in Jones’ case was a complete breach of the first amendment and that it cries for appeal. “It is ironic when an American citizen is arrested for wanting to say something, and the reason why they are arrested is because people are afraid of what other people might do when the man speaks and that makes it wrong.”

Wall Street Journal: Now, the law firm representing Jones, the conservative Thomas More Law Center, says it will file an appeal tomorrow challenging the court verdict as unconstitutional. Richard Thompson, chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, said the verdict amounted to a prior restraint of Jones’ First Amendment rights.

National Catholic Register: A high-profile clash between the city of Dearborn, Mich., and an evangelical group with outreach to Muslims is raising questions about the propriety of proselytism and whether American towns are accepting sharia law.

Rees Lloyd writes at World Net Daily: “A joint statement of two of America’s greatest living military heroes – Adm.l Jeremiah A. Denton (USN, ret.), a POW for seven years, seven months in Vietnam, and Maj. Gen. Patrick H. Brady (USA, ret.), Medal of Honor recipient – calling for the 112th Congress to reinstate the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which was repealed in a rush by the lame-duck session of the Pelosi-Reid-Obama 111th Congress, has sparked a strong and growing response. That response has ranged from an almost immediate action by American Legionnaires in California to pass a formal resolution calling on the 112th Congress to reinstate DADT, to endorsement and re-publication of the joint statement of Adm. Denton and Gen. Brady by such national organizations as the Thomas More Law Center and the Alliance Defense Fund . . . ”

Thomas More Law Ctr.: “The Thomas More Law Center, yesterday afternoon, filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking that it reverse a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision which upheld San Francisco’s virulent anti-Catholic resolution . . . ”

The Michigan Messenger: “Four Michigan residents have appealed a September decision by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas L. Ludington in a suit challenging the constitutionality of the 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.”

Thomas More Law Center: “Her crime: she was a Christian publicly filming her fellow Christian missionaries discussing the Gospel with Muslims at last year’s annual Dearborn Arab Festival, and she didn’t turn off her camera quick enough after a police officer ordered her to do so.”

Thomas More Law Center: “Last week, Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff, a federal district court judge in Michigan, dismissed a constitutional challenge to the U.S. Government’s bailout of AIG, which used over a hundred million dollars in federal tax money to support Islamic religious indoctrination through the funding and promotion of Sharia-compliant financing (SCF). SCF is financing that follows the dictates of Islamic law.”

Ligia M. De Jesus writing in the Washington Times: “International religious leaders, including the Dalai Lama, and legal scholars publicly expressed their support for the Italian government. Recently, the court authorized the intervention of several nongovernmental organizations as amicus curiae, …

Thomas More Law Center: “This afternoon, the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national, public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, along with co-counsel, David Yerushalmi, filed its opening brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in its first in the Nation challenge to the constitutionality of Obamacare. TMLC is challenging the Obamacare mandate that requires all legal residents to purchase ‘minimum essential’ healthcare coverage under penalty of federal law.”

Livingston Daily: “Robert Muise, senior trial counsel for the Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center, said there could still be legal action even though the Howell Public Schools district has already disciplined teacher Jay McDowell for his now-famous disagreement with student Daniel Glowacki on Oct. 20.”

Thomas More Law Center: “The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, filed its opening brief earlier this week with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, seeking to overturn a lower court decision dismissing its federal lawsuit challenging the Federal Hate Crimes Act passed in 2009.” The brief is here.

Thomas More Law Center: “When asked by McDowell whether he supports his activist agenda, Daniel responded that as a Catholic he does not. The outraged teacher angrily threw Daniel out of his classroom and gave him a written referral for his answer . . . McDowell is head of the school district’s teachers union; unsurprisingly, the Michigan Education Association, the state teachers union, has come to McDowell’s defense.”

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.”

The Detroit News: “A federal judge today dismissed remaining claims in a lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama’s Health Care Reform Act of 2010. U.S. District Judge George C. Steeh issued an order that dismissed four claims in a lawsuit filed by the Thomas More Law Center, a Christian public interest law firm in Ann Arbor.”

Sign On San Diego: “An appellate court panel . . . upheld last year’s jury verdict awarding damages to four San Diego firefighters who sued the city because they had been required to participate in the 2007 gay pride parade in Hillcrest . . . ‘Government employees should never be forced to participate in events or acts that violate their sincerely held beliefs,’ said Charles S. LiMandri, the West Coast regional director of the Thomas More Law Center and one of more than 1,800 attorneys who are part to the Alliance Defense Fund, which represented the firefighters.” ADF News Release

WWJ: “Judge George Caram Steeh ruled that Congress did not exceed its authority by requiring people to have insurance by 2014. He also turned down a challenge Thursday to the financial penalty that comes with having no insurance . . . The lawsuit was filed by the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor. The individual plaintiffs don’t have health insurance and said they object to the federal government demanding that they buy it.”

Thomas More Law Center v. Obama, No. 10-CV-11156 (E.D. Mich. Oct. 7, 2010)

Associated Press: “The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Michael Stratechuk. He sued in 2004, saying the South Orange-Maplewood school district’s ban violated the First Amendment’s freedom of worship provision.”

MLive.com: “A jury on Friday acquitted four Christian missionaries accused of breaching the peace at the Dearborn International Arab Festival in June, but their attorney says the legal battle is far from over. Robert Muise of the Thomas More Law Center plans to file a civil lawsuit on their behalf against the City of Dearborn ‘in short order,’ he said this morning on WJR-AM 760.”

For background information, see this ADF Alliance Alert compound tag: http://www.alliancealert.org/tag/state-michigan+topic-islam/

Detroit Free Press: “A jury acquitted on Friday four Christian missionaries who were accused of inciting a crowd while videotaping themselves proselytizing to Muslims at the Dearborn Arab International Festival in June.”

Christian Post: “A district court judge in Michigan declined to dismiss a case against four street preachers who were arrested back in June after engaging in conversations with attendees of a large Arab festival . . . ‘The behavior of these individuals drew and incited a large crowd to a point where they were in violation of city of Dearborn misdemeanor ordinances of breach of peace and failure to obey the lawful order of a police officer,’ city officials said in a press release. ‘This issue has nothing to do with First Amendment Rights; it has to do with public safety and the individual choices made by the arrested parties,’ they added in a statement posted on the city’s website.”

Judie Brown writing at Renew America: “Religious freedom is a phrase being bandied about today for all the wrong reasons. Not all legal defense teams or media types are causing it, but there is a smattering of confusion about it in the public eye these days . . . The Alliance Defense Fund tells those visiting its web site that religious freedom is under attack in America today, explaining that the American Civil Liberties Union’s http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/ReligiousFreedom ‘targeted attacks on religious freedom are more serious and widespread than you may realize. In courtrooms and schoolrooms, offices and shops, public buildings and even churches…those who believe in God are increasingly threatened, punished, and silenced.’”

Family Research Council: “Family Research Council President Tony Perkins will participate in a news conference call today at 11 AM ET to discuss the release of a new survey by the Center for Military Readiness gauging the opinions of likely voters on the Defense Authorization bill’s amendments forcing open homosexuality on the military and turning military hospitals into abortion facilities.” [The call includes Daniel Blomberg, Litigation Counsel, Alliance Defense Fund]

Thomas More Law Center: “In an unprecedented and astonishing development, the City of Dearborn, through its mayor and its official website, has personally attacked the four Christian missionaries arrested at the annual Arab International Festival on June 18, 2010. The Mayor’s intrusion into the case destroyed whatever semblance remained of an unbiased and professional law enforcement action following the illegal seizure of video cameras to prevent recording of the events surrounding the arrests.”

Thomas More Law Center: “On Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 3:00 p.m., Federal District Court Judge Thomas L. Ludington will hear Attorney General Eric Holder’s motion to dismiss the first court challenge to the federal ‘Hate Crimes Act.’ The hearing will take place in Courtroom 214, 1000 Washington Avenue, in Bay City, Michigan.”

Thomas More Law Center: “To the jeers and shouts of ‘Allah Akbar’ by the Muslim crowd, the four Christian missionaries were arrested and thrown in jail on June 18, 2010 by Dearborn Police officers at the Annual Arab International Festival held in Dearborn. One of the arrested missionaries was Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, MD, who was engaged in peaceful dialogue with several Muslim youths. The other three missionaries, who were merely videotaping the conversation, had their cameras and other equipment illegally seized before police arrested them as well . . . ”

Detroit News: “State Rep. Tom McMillin is asking the Attorney General’s Office to investigate an incident involving four Christian missionaries who were arrested at the Arab International Festival in Dearborn after talking to festivalgoers about religion. The foursome was arrested June 18 for disorderly conduct.” | More information on the case from the Thomas More Law Center.

AolNews: “A conservative legal group has asked a federal judge to force a Michigan bus company to run ads that offer support to Muslims who want to leave their religion, saying the ads are protected under the First Amendment. … ‘The only city so far that has dug their heels in is Detroit,’ said Robert Muise, a lawyer at the Thomas More Law Center in Michigan, the conservative legal group representing the Freedom Defense Initiative.”

Thomas More Law center has posted two videos and additional information here.

Thomas More Law Center: “These Christian missionaries were exercising their Constitutional rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion, but apparently the Constitution carries little weight in Dearborn, where the Muslim population seems to dominate the political apparatus. It’s apparent that these arrests were a retaliatory action over the embarrassing video of the strong arm tactics used last year by Festival Security Guards.  This time, the first thing police officers did before making the arrests was to confiscate the video cameras in order to prevent a recording of what was actually happening.”