Tag Archives: State: Arizona

Ken Klukowski at the Washington Examiner: The tuition organization was represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, which argued that the program doesn’t violate the Establishment Clause because the choice of whether to support a religious school was being made by private citizens, not the government. ADF also argued that the plaintiffs lacked standing to file the suit.

NY Sun: [A] huge victory for proponents of parental choice in education” is how today’s news was characterized by the Alliance Defense Fund, a not-for-profit law firm that has played a leading role in the struggle to expand religious liberty. It represented a group called the Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization, one of more than 50 non-profit 501(c)(3) corporations that ADF said have been set up to distribute private donations in the form of scholarships to more than 27,000 students attending hundreds of private schools at the Grand Canyon State. It’s not just Christians who will benefit from this ruling.

Leader Telegram: The Alliance Defense Fund applauded the ruling and said it sets a “national precedent” that “empowers parents. (They) should be able to choose what’s best for their own children,” said David Cortman, its senior counsel.

Tucson Citizen: “It’s an extremely important decision, not only for all the citizens of Arizona but for the millions of Americans who support school choice,” said David Cortman, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian-oriented religious-rights group that represented the Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization, which intervened as a third party in the case. “But it’s much more broad than simply the issue of school choice. Any type of tax credit or tax deduction that may happen to benefit religious organizations would also have been suspect had the court accepted the ACLU’s arguments,” Cortman added.

Livingston Daily: David Cortman, an Alliance Defense Fund lawyer who represented a Christian school tuition organization that intervened in support of the Arizona policy, said the ruling “absolutely should embolden legislatures.” He said groups such as his that support “choice” programs would press states to enhance options for parents beyond public schools.

Daily Caller: The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) was thrilled to hear the decision. “Parents should be able to choose what’s best for their own children. This ruling empowers parents to do just that,” said ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman. “Parents should decide what schools their children attend and where their money goes. The ACLU failed in its attempt to eliminate school choice for hundreds of thousands of students nationwide and also failed to demonstrate that it had any constitutional basis for its clients to file suit in the first place.”

CNA: “Parents should decide what schools their children attend and where their money goes,” said Cortman, who serves as Senior Counsel for the defense fund. He said that the American Civil Liberties Union “failed in its attempt to eliminate school choice for hundreds of thousands of students nationwide and also failed to demonstrate that it had any constitutional basis for its clients to file suit in the first place.”

One News Now: Cortman says the high court’s decision creates a national precedent that will prevent similar legal attacks in the future. “What’s important in this case is that the ACLU failed in its attempt to eliminate school choice for hundreds of thousands of students across the country — and just as importantly, failed to demonstrate that its clients had any constitutional basis to file suit,” says the ADF attorney.

SCOTUS Blog: The Court pares down, to the absolute minimum, the right of taxpayers to challenge government programs that provide financial aid to religion. Arizona’s tax credit system that benefits parochial students survives a challenge.

Adam Liptak at the NY Times: The plaintiffs’ position, Justice Kennedy wrote, “assumes that income should be treated as if it were government property even if it has not come into the tax collector’s hands.” But, he added, “private bank accounts cannot be equated with the Arizona State Treasury.”

Wall Street Journal (full text via Google): With one more vote, the current Court’s liberal minority would surely ban school choice involving any religious schools. The Arizona decision shows again that the Court is only a single vote away from many decisions not all that far removed from those of the Ninth Circuit.

It held that the challengers to an Arizona tax credit which provides tax credits for contributions to tuition organizations, which then use the contributions to provide scholarships for, among others, religious schools, lack standing under Article III because they are challenging a tax credit, rather than government spending.

LifeSiteNews: HB 2416 expands the state’s informed consent law, clarifies the term “abortion” to include chemical abortion, prohibits the proscription of RU-486 abortion pills through video-hookup (“telemed abortion”), and creates a requirement for a guardian ad litem for a minor seeking abortion without parental consent.

ACLU: “Unfortunately, today’s decision may encourage state legislatures seeking to subsidize religion without judicial review,” said Paul Bender, a law professor at Arizona State University’s law school and former U.S. Deputy Solicitor General who served as lead counsel for the plaintiffs and argued the case in the Supreme Court.

But the Supreme Court saw through all of that rhetoric and held that the ACLU’s clients have no right to come to court in the first place because they have no legal standing. In simple terms, they have no injury to complain of. The Court agreed with ADF’s argument that the money donated is private money—not the government’s—and that someone else’s donation creates no legal injury to ACLU’s clients.

Liberty Counsel: Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel and Dean of the Liberty University School of Law, commented: “Parents deserve the right to choose how to educate their children. This program gives parents the rights that everyone should enjoy. It is contrary to our history of liberty that parents should be forced to educate their children in government schools, particularly when some schools doom their children to failure. Parents know best about their children’s well-being and should be given every opportunity to provide a quality education of their choice.”

Center for Arizona Policy: Center for Arizona Policy filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the program, along with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, Christian Legal Society, and several religious liberty organization and scholars

FRC applauds the work of its allies the Alliance Defense Fund, Liberty Counsel and the American Association of Christian Schools. We also thank U.S. Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), whose 1995 authorship of the Arizona Scholarship Tax Credit legislation while serving in the Arizona legislature set the groundwork for today’s historic ruling.”

AFC: The effort to review the Ninth Circuit’s decision was led by the Institute for Justice and the Alliance Defense Fund

Fox News: “Parents should be able to choose what’s best for their own children. This ruling empowers parents to do just that,” Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel David Cortman said in a statement. “The ACLU failed in its attempt to eliminate school choice for hundreds of thousands of students nationwide and also failed to demonstrate that it had any constitutional basis for its clients to file suit in the first place.”

Deborah Sheasby writes at AZ Policy Foundations Blog: CAP-supported Senate Bill 1288, which says that professionals cannot lose their state-issued license or accreditation because of the free exercise of their religion, came under some fire during a floor session in the state House earlier last week.

AP: Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has signed legislation to ban abortions for people who want them over ethnicity or gender.

ParkerLiveOnline.com: Erik Stanley, the ADF attorney bringing the suit, says Assessor George Nault “sat on the paperwork for three years”. The following video was produced by the Alliance Defense Fund . . .

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the “Complete Story” with Dick Bott to discuss this: ADF files suit to protect Ariz. church from foreclosure based on $50K illegal tax bill. | MP3 audio 29:12 mins

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Janet Mefferd Show to discuss this: ADF files suit to protect Ariz. church from foreclosure based on $50K illegal tax bill | MP3 audio 19:17 mins

SCOTUS Blog: The Court holds oral argument Monday on the constitutionality of Arizona’s system for using public funds to subsidize some state political candidates, a case with nationwide implications.

Fox News: The bills were modeled after legislation passed last year in Nebraska premised on research suggesting a fetus is able to feel pain after 20 weeks. Similar proposals are percolating in at least nine other states, according to one organization’s estimate.

Religion Clause Blog: The East Valley Tribune reported yesterday that the Arizona Senate has passed HB 2565 that will bar colleges and universities from discriminating against students because of their religious beliefs or religious expression and will permit religious and political student groups to exclude members who do not share their beliefs.

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss this: ADF files suit to protect Ariz. church from foreclosure based on $50K illegal tax bill. | MP3 audio 5:40 mins

The Arizona House of Representatives on Wednesday approved controversial legislation that would make the state the first in the nation to ban abortions conducted due to the race or gender of the fetus.

Fox News: The Arizona Senate is toughening a proposed ban on abortions for people who want them because of race or gender.

ADF attorney Erik Stanley at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog (includes video): The Church’s story in this case is truly remarkable.  The County had no basis to assess the property taxes against the Church in the first place and the Church faces the very real prospect of losing everything because the County refuses to correct its own wrongdoing. Take a minute and view the video about the Church of the Isaiah 58 Project and what it is doing to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in its community . . .

Deborah Sheasby writes at the Center for Arizona Policy Foundations Blog (includes video): “These incidents are occurring across the country, including right here in Arizona. That’s why CAP is supporting HB 2565, which ensures that universities and community colleges do not infringe on the rights of students to practice their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

Reuters: “The Arizona Senate on Thursday rejected five immigration bills, placing a major stumbling block in the way of state conservatives’ hopes to pass more laws cracking down on illegal immigrants.”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed suit against La Paz County Wednesday for hitting a rural Arizona church with a $50,000 tax bill that the state agrees the church does not owe. The bill has resulted in a tax lien on the church’s property which could result in foreclosure and an end to the church’s ministry, including its outreach to the needy–a program praised by the Quartzsite mayor, town manager, and police chief.

East Valley Tribune: “The First Amendment says you can’t prohibit the free exercise of religion,” said Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy. And Herrod, who also is an attorney, called the concept of a separation of church and state “a fallacy.” Brett Harvey, senior legal counsel to the Scottsdale-based Alliance Defense Fund, said what Brewer – and others – have done with these declarations is legal. “It is perfectly acceptable for politicians and for public officials to recognize the religious heritage of this country,” he said. And Harvey said the U.S. Supreme Court has even upheld things like prayers to open meetings and swear in public officials.

Freedom from Religion Foundation: “The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national state/church watchdog, and four of its Arizona members, with the legal help of attorneys Richard W. Morris and Marc. J. Victor, filed a lawsuit in federal court yesterday seeking to enjoin Arizona Gov. Janice K. Brewer from declaring an “Arizona Day of Prayer” in conjunction with the National Day of Prayer.”

“As a handful of key pro-life bills are fighting their way to passage on Capitol Hill, pro-life legislators countrywide have mounted a a multi-faceted attack on the abortion industry with a surge of pro-life bills on the state level. Here is a roundup of the latest.”

ABC: “The mere fact that Arizona law has sprung up in over 24 other states within a few months of passage, I believe, is historic,” said William Gheen, president and spokesman of Americans for Legal Immigration, a group that supports stricter immigration laws.

CNN: “From her chambers in Phoenix, Arizona, the chief judge of federal judicial District of Arizona warns a bulging criminal caseload is being exacerbated by three unfilled bench seats, which the Obama administration and the Senate have, until recently, shown little urgency to address.”

ADF attorney David Cortman writes in the Washington Times: How many U.S. Supreme Court cases risk eliminating a child’s ability to get a quality education with completely private dollars? Not many, but if a case that will be decided by that court any day now goes the wrong way, that’s precisely what it will mean for many children – and for no good reason. | ADF Media Resource Page

Atlanta J. Constitution: “Authorities have determined a man who was stabbed and beheaded in a suburban Phoenix apartment was killed for stealing drugs from a Mexican cartel, in a gruesome example of drug cartel violence spilling over the border . . . More than 34,000 people have been killed in Mexico in drug-related violence since December 2006 . . . ”

AZ Republic: “The Arizona House has given preliminary approval to two bills that would impact the state’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood Arizona.”

ABA Journal: “The justices are scheduled to hear arguments March 28 in Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett, combined with the related case of McComish v. Bennett.”

“Arizona is one step closer to making it illegal to perform abortions based on the gender or race of the fetus – a move that critics say is a solution in search of a problem. But a majority of the Arizona House of Representatives on Monday agreed that there should be safeguards against such a procedure and passed House Bill 2443 a 41-18 vote . . . ”

AZCapitolTimes: “The Arizona House on Monday is scheduled to consider bills to place new restrictions on abortions, including steps that Planned Parenthood Arizona says would force it to drop medication abortions in its clinics outside the Phoenix and Tucson areas.”

SB 1482 would require the Commission on Judicial Performance Review to publish online a listing of appellate judges’ decisions and an electronic copy of the decisions. Posting this information in one easily accessible place for voters would shine light on what is currently a clouded and useless process for Arizonans.

SB 1472 would require the same Commission to publish information in the ballot publicity pamphlet listing the cases in which a judge’s ruling was declared unconstitutional and a brief statement of the reason why.

East Valley Tribune: “Without debate, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday refused to expand the Arizona Supreme Court from five to seven members.”

The Hill: “Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Monday he is open to the possibility of running for the seat of retiring Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) in 2012.”

AZ Republic: “Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., will announce Monday that he will run for the U.S. Senate being vacated by Sen. Jon Kyl, a source has told The Arizona Republic.”

Az Republic: “Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says she plans to file a counter-lawsuit against the federal government for failing to enforce immigration laws.”

Christian Science Monitor: So far, five senators have announced that they will retire at the end of of their terms rather than seek reelection. With the 2012 campaigns not far off, the departures of these incumbents are shaking things up. Here’s how.”

LifeNews: “Two committees in the Arizona legislature considered bills on Wednesday to further limit abortions after the passage of a package of bills last legislative session.”

AZ Republic: “U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl will announce Thursday morning that he will not seek a fourth term in 2012, a source has confirmed to The Arizona Republic.”

Keen News Service: “The case is Collins v. Brewer from Arizona. The case, brought by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, pits a group of 10 gay state employees (including Tracy Collins) against a new state law barring them from signing up their domestic partners and children for family health insurance coverage. Such family coverage is made available to straight employees who are married.”

AZ Republic: “This year, legislation is aimed at furthering restrictions on an increasingly popular prescription abortion pill as well as preventing doctors from using remote video technology to serve rural patients seeking abortions.”

The AZ Daily Star carries commentary by Dr. Gilbert Shapiro: Indeed, 84 bills (22 in the past two years) advanced by the Center for Arizona Policy have become law. No CAP-opposed bills were passed. It should come as no surprise this was due to overwhelming support from Gov. Jan Brewer and Republican House and Senate legislators. In 2010, The Arizona Capitol Times, a nonpartisan newspaper covering state politics and government, reported that “insiders” judged CAP and its president Cathi Herrod among the most influential lobbying organizations and lobbyists in Phoenix. Has theocracy come to Arizona?

Corruption in Government: “Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today announced that it has received documents from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that show DOJ worked hand-in-hand with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in mounting their respective legal challenges to SB 1070, Arizona’s get-tough illegal immigration law.”

AZ Capitol Times: “If a state lawmaker has his way, women seeking abortions in Arizona would be required to sign documents saying they’re not terminating a pregnancy because of the fetus’ race or sex.”

US Courts: “The chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona has declared a judicial emergency that temporarily suspends a time limit set by federal law for brining criminal defendants to trial.”

Four former Federal Election Commission Chairmen and a former Federal Election Commissioner filed a brief with the United States Supreme Court last Thursday arguing that Arizona’s campaign matching funds scheme violates the First Amendment.

Arizona Republic: “Gov. Jan Brewer unveiled a new website Monday that aims to help parents choose the best education options for their children. The governor announced the creation of arizonaschoolchoice.com as part of National School Choice Week.”

Associated Press: “Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer signed an emergency bill Friday allowing the cash-short state to seek a federal waiver to temporarily remove nearly 300,000 people from its Medicaid rolls in the first such request by a state.”

KSWT (AP): “A former Arizona Supreme Court justice is urging current justices to decide whether three nominees for the state redistricting commission are eligible for appointment . . . Much of a Supreme Court hearing [oral argument here] Tuesday on the challenge to Bender and two other nominees centered on whether the court should let the dispute go to court later based on challenges made to actual appointments.” | Order in Adams v. The Commission on Appellate Court Appointments, No. CV-10-0405-SA (AZ, Jan. 19, 2011) | Via Election Law Blog

Wall Street Journal: “As the shooting starts, the video shows Judge Roll pushing another man, Rob Barber, onto the ground, Mr. Nanos said. ‘It looks to us as though he is pushing against Ron Barber to move him out of the way.’ Both men fall to the ground; both are shot. The judge was shot in the back and died.”

Washington Post: “With doctors preparing Giffords for the rehabilitation stage of her recovery, the discovery Monday of a little-known statutory provision in Arizona law raised the prospect of a legal complication that, if left unamended, would endanger her hold on her seat . . . But in Washington, lawyers quickly concluded that the statute does not apply to members of Congress. The U.S. Constitution provides the qualifications for service in Congress and makes the House the sole judge of those qualifications.”

NECN: “Authorities in northeastern Arizona say they’ve arrested a Nebraska man after finding a computer hard drive in his car that reportedly contained more than 124,000 child pornography images.”

Washington Post: “Now that his spot on the bench is empty, the best tribute to Roll would be to fill it quickly – along with all the other empty federal judgeships across the country – and to give the federal courts more of the resources they so desperately need . . . It was Roll’s concern for his overwhelmed court that had him talking to staffers for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords when a gunman started shooting, according to an FBI statement.”

Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput: “Roll was devoted to St. Thomas More and kept a biography of the saint on a table near his desk. He liked mentoring young Christian attorneys because he believed their faith gave them a better moral foundation for the vocation of law . . . This life passes. Eternity is forever. We need to act in this world accordingly, with lives of Christian service. Maureen and John Roll shared a life of quiet, powerful, authentic Catholic witness. Please keep them both, and the entire Roll family, in your prayers.”

In addition to Judge Roll, who was known and loved by a number of ADF team members, we would like to extend our prayers to others killed, including Christina Green, Gabriele Zimmerman, Dorothy Morris, Phyllis Schneck, and Dorwin Stoddard, and their family members. We would also like to extend our prayers to the Tucson victims who were injured, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and the 18 others who we injured in the shooting, as well as their families.

AZ Republic: “Gov. Jan Brewer and state lawmakers paid tribute to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of Saturday’s shooting rampage during a somber and subdued opening to the 50th legislative session Monday.”

CNN: “The action, according to Senate spokesman Daniel Scarpinato, is in direct response to a controversial church’s announcement that it will picket the funeral of Christina Green, the 9-year-old who was one of six people killed Saturday during the attempted assassination of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.”

WTRF 7 (includes video): “I was shocked,” said Matt Bowman. “I was hoping the news was wrong. I was thinking about his family and his courtroom family, as well, and how much grief they must be going through right now. Judge Roll was really an ideal employer. He was a mentor, he was kind and caring and funny.” Currently, Matt serves as legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, engaging in full-time pro-life, pro-family and religious freedom litigation.

ADF attorney David French writing at National Review Online / Bench Memos: “While I can’t claim to have known Judge Roll as well as many other attorneys at the Alliance Defense Fund did (our headquarters is in Arizona), I did speak with him several times and knew him by reputation. He was a great American — a man of deep faith, a longtime public servant of the highest integrity, and unfailingly kind and humble.”

LifeNews: “The Knights of Columbus, a prominent Catholic group know for its pro-life work, is today mourning the death of one of the victims of the Arizona shooting Saturday . . . Roll had been a member of the Knights of Columbus for 24 years and members of the Fourth Degree will provide an honor guard at his funeral next week.”