Tag Archives: State: Minnesota

Deborah Savage at Public Discourse: To demand that we recognize same-sex romantic relationships as marriages, and teach our children so, is to prevent them from discovering reality.

MPR: County recorders have an annual statewide meeting this month, where they plan to discuss the wording for marriage applications and licenses for same-sex couples, particularly the section where applications read “bride” and “groom.”

Life News: Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys and allied attorneys filed an appeal Monday on behalf of two African-American taxpayers in Minnesota who are challenging the unauthorized use of state funding for elective abortions. In May, a trial judge dismissed the lawsuit. “The critical taxpayer dollars of Minnesotans should not be used for medically unnecessary abortions, nor should such funding be used to take the lives of more African-American babies than other babies,” said lead counsel Chuck Shreffler, one of more than 2,200 allied attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom. “The Minnesota Supreme Court was clear in ruling that taxpayers should not be stuck with the bill for abortions ‘on demand.’”

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys and allied attorneys filed an appeal Monday on behalf of two African-American taxpayers in Minnesota who are challenging the unauthorized use of state funding for elective abortions. In May, a trial judge dismissed the lawsuit.

Eugene Volokh reports on the ordinance at the Volokh Conspiracy.

The Hill: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) — the conservative firebrand and Tea Party favorite who was briefly a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination — announced Wednesday that she would not seek reelection to Congress in 2014.

CBS (Minnesota): The group that pushed Minnesota lawmakers to legalize gay marriage disclosed Wednesday it invested more than $2 million in the successful lobbying effort. Minnesotans United for All Families.

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

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

Zenit: The archbishop said the decision “also renders senseless the very idea of President Obama’s National Fatherhood Initiative, in that a bill now becomes law in Minnesota that effectively claims that a mother and a father together are superfluous and can be replaced by two men or two women.”

AP: The Minnesota Senate voted Monday to make gay marriage legal, the last legislative step before Gov. Mark Dayton’s promised signature will make the state the 12th in the U.S. to do so.

LifeNews: Lawyers at the Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit on May 3. “Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said Legal Counsel Matt Sharp. “The First Amendment protects freedom of speech for all students, regardless of their religious or political beliefs.”

L. Brent Bozell III at The Journal: Lawyers at the Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit May 3. “Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said Legal Counsel Matt Sharp. “The First Amendment protects freedom of speech for all students, regardless of their religious or political beliefs.”

CBS: In Minnesota, for instance, a sixth grader at Nova Classical Academy was one of several students handing out pro-life fliers to other students during their lunch break. They weren’t making a big deal about it, or forcing the fliers on students who didn’t express an interest. This is just an issue these students care about. (One flier read, “Save the baby humans. Stop abortion.”) A few days later, the students were called into the school director’s office . . .

L. Brent Bozell at the Patriot Post: Lawyers at the Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit on May 3. “Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said Legal Counsel Matt Sharp. “The First Amendment protects freedom of speech for all students, regardless of their religious or political beliefs.”

Star Tribune: The state Senate plans to consider the bill Monday and leaders expect it to pass there too. Gov. Mark Dayton has pledged to sign it into law.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune is here.

Winona Daily News: The House is scheduled to debate and vote today on a measure that would make the state the 12th in the country to allow gay marriage. An amendment posted Wednesday from GOP Rep. David FitzSimmons suggests reframing the bill’s proposed changes to Minnesota’s marriage laws, swapping in the term “civil marriages” in all instances whether couples are of the same or different genders.

EdenPrairie Patch: After remaining publically undecided through much of the same-sex marriage debate, Rep. Jenifer Loon (R-District 48B) endorsed a measure from Rep. Tim Kelly (R-District 21A) to remove the term “marriage” from state law for both heterosexual and homosexual couples.

Matt Sharp at Alliance Defending Freedom: I’m often surprised by the number of school administrators under the mistaken belief that the First Amendment has an age limit. They think that while a kid is in elementary or middle school, they can stop them from expressing their views and that kids have to wait until high school to have constitutional rights.

Matt Sharp on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss this: Minn. School Says It Has ‘every Right To Prohibit Student Speech’ | MP3 audio 11:05 mins

Pioneer Press: Minnesota might be poised to become the 12th state in the nation to legalize gay marriage, as House leaders prepare for a floor vote Thursday, May 9.

AP on KSFY.com: A conservative legal group, the Alliance Defending Freedom, claimed when it filed the lawsuit last November that the state Department of Human Services is paying for abortions that aren’t medically necessary, without the legal authority to do so.

Miami Herald: Minnesota appears poised to legalize gay marriage, as the Democratic speaker of the state House said Tuesday that a gay marriage bill endorsed by the governor and likely to pass in the state Senate also now has enough backing in his chamber.

KARE11.com: “You have to have proof that he’s not representing. Well, the proof was in the last election when you have 62.5 percent of the voters (in the district) that voted for traditional marriage,” he told KARE 11. Radinovich recently announced he supports same sex marriage legislation.

TwinCities.com: A Senate Finance Committee will review the potential fiscal impact of a bill allowing same-sex couples to wed at a meeting Tuesday morning, May 7. A companion bill cleared the House Ways and Means Committee on a voice vote Monday night, May 6. Both are last stops before potential floor vote in each chamber.

InForum: A conservative legal group, the Alliance Defending Freedom, claimed when it filed the lawsuit last November that the state Department of Human Services is paying for abortions that aren’t medically necessary, without the legal authority to do so.

MPR (AP): But Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, said his group was disappointed and “seriously contemplating an appeal.”

LifeNews: Alliance Defending Freedom filed the suit on the Walkers’ behalf, and they still have the prerogative to appeal the decision. Rikelman said she believes it’s likely they will. As a group with a mission to make all abortion illegal, “it seems hard to imagine that they will give up so quickly,” she said.

Star Tribune: Legalizing same-sex marriage will eventually cost the state about $678,000 a year, a new report has found. The new wrinkle will send a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage to another committee test in the Minnesota House on Monday. The measure could then go to the House floor in coming days.

LifeNews: However, a sixth grade student in Minnesota was recently handing out simple fliers that read, “Save the baby humans. Stop abortion.” She passed them out at lunchtime to friends and classmates interested in the topic. The school considered this political activism and regarded it as offensive. She was banned from passing them out during or after school hours, even if students requested them. The school administration essentially denied this young girl of her constitutionally protected right to free speech. And to make matters worse, they said sixth graders don’t have this right to free speech until they reach high school. Alliance Defending Freedom has since filed a federal lawsuit on the grounds of censorship and “hostility toward religious expression.”

The Raw Story: The anti-choice group Alliance Defending Freedom filed the suit on the Walkers’ behalf, and they still have the prerogative to appeal the decision. Rikelman said she believes it’s likely they will. As a group with a mission to make all abortion illegal, “it seems hard to imagine that they will give up so quickly,” she said.

Engage Family Minute provides a quick summary.

Star Tribune: Gov. Mark Dayton is intensifying pressure on legislators to legalize same-sex marriage this year.

One News Now: ADF attorney Matt Sharp is representing the sixth-grader who was prevented from handing out the pro-life flyers during non-instructional time. “They were not even just trying to prohibit it during the school day, but even before and after school,” he explains. “So if they’re standing out on the sidewalk on school grounds, they would be prohibited from doing it. Again, that’s far too great a restriction [and] something the courts have never permitted at any school.” [more]

LifeSiteNews: Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said Legal Counsel Matt Sharp. “The law on this is extremely clear: free speech cannot be censored simply because it expresses a certain viewpoint that administrators don’t favor. The First Amendment protects freedom of speech for all students, regardless of their religious or political beliefs.”

UPI: “Unless there is a material disruption, students have the absolute right to distribute materials at school,” said Matt Sharp, an attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based legal advocacy organization representing Zinos. “There was no evidence of disruption at the school at all.”

Marshall Independent (AP): “Unless there is a material disruption, students have the absolute right to distribute materials at school,” said Matt Sharp, an attorney with the organization. “There was no evidence of disruption at the school at all.”

Duluth News Tribune: “Unless there is a material disruption, students have the absolute right to distribute materials at school,” said Matt Sharp, an attorney with the organization. “There was no evidence of disruption at the school at all.”

WorldNetDaily: However, the lawsuit brought by the Alliance Defending Freedom said that’s exactly backwards. “Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Sharp. “The law on this is extremely clear: free speech cannot be censored simply because it expresses a certain viewpoint that administrators don’t favor. The First Amendment protects freedom of speech for all students, regardless of their religious or political beliefs.”

Minneapolis Star Tribune: “Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” Matt Sharp, legal council for the alliance, said in a statement announcing the suit. “The law on this is extremely clear: Free speech cannot be censored simply because it expresses a certain viewpoint that administrators don’t favor.”

LifeNews: “Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said Legal Counsel Matt Sharp. “The law on this is extremely clear: free speech cannot be censored simply because it expresses a certain viewpoint that administrators don’t favor. The First Amendment protects freedom of speech for all students, regardless of their religious or political beliefs.”

 Religion Clause Blog: The complaint (full text) in A.Z. v. Nova Classical Academy, (D MN, filed 4/25/2013), recounts that a school administrator told plaintiff and her friends that they could not pass out the flyers because some students find them offensive . . . Alliance Defending Freedom issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.

Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit Friday on behalf of a 6th-grade student after a Minnesota public school prohibited her from distributing pro-life fliers to her classmates during non-instructional time.

MPR: The former deputy chief of staff to Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty says he supports legal same-sex marriage. Brian McClung, who now runs a PR firm, said support for same-sex marriage aligns with Republican values.

MinnPost: This past October, just a month before the election, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a very far-right religious organization in this country, prodded more than 1,500 clergy to stand up in their pulpit and directly oppose President Obama for re-election. We have filed many a complaint on the pastors to the IRS and we are a little frankly disappointed that so far we have not seen any action. MP: It’s interesting that you mentioned the Alliance. They were active here in the last two electoral cycles working to loosen our campaign finance and public disclosure laws in preparation for some of the issues on the Minnesota ballot. Is there a countervailing force?

AP on Pioneer Press: Gay marriage activists and their allies are gathering at Minnesota’s Capitol for an annual rally that’s likely to be dominated this year by the effort to legalize gay marriage in the state.

Pioneer Press: A group that opposes abortion rights is calling on state officials to investigate whether a Minneapolis clinic is breaking state law by providing same-day abortions.

Star Tribune: The Minnesota Senate on Wednesday voted down a move that would have allowed guest chaplains to explicitly mention Jesus Christ or any other religious deity when they lead the Senate in prayer.

MPR: The study from the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy at UCLA School of Law found support for gay marriage in Minnesota at 43 percent.

Religion Clause Blog: In In re Marriage of Sarah Peterson v. Adam Peterson,(MN Ct. App., March 25, 2013), the Minnesota Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, upheld a trial court’s award of sole physical custody of 3 minor children to the wife in a divorce action.

SC Times: The Catholic deacon who owns American Manufacturing Company in St. Joseph has received a preliminary injunction protecting him from provisions in the Affordable Care Act. The injunction was issued Tuesday in the 8th Circuit of the federal district courts by U.S. District Court Judge John R. Tunheim. | Hall v. Sebelius, Preliminary Injunction

Minneapolis Tribune: The fight to legalize same-sex marriage in Minnesota is about to get a new twist at the Capitol as a group of legislators unveil a proposal to allow civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.

Chuck Norris at Townhall: t’s Holy Week, but what’s not so holy is the assault on religious liberty in the U.S. Religious liberty has been called rightly America’s “first freedom,” not only because the right is contained in the First Amendment but also because it predates the U.S. and has its origin in God, not government, and the freedoms he endowed within us . . . A social service worker at a Minnesota senior living complex banned an elderly resident, in the Alliance Defending Freedom’s words, “from praying, reading her Bible, and discussing her faith in private conversations with other residents in the commons area.”

Pioneer Press: Insurance companies would have the option of whether to cover abortions as part of policies sold through Minnesota’s health exchange under compromise legislation negotiated Wednesday, March 13.

MPR (includes audio): The bill allows churches or other religious organizations to opt out of providing wedding-related services or facilities if they oppose same-sex marriage. But opponents still raised concerns. Ken Connelly, a lawyer with the national organization Alliance Defending Freedom, told the Senate panel that the religious exemption is inadequate and will lead to persecution. “If the government declares that same-sex unions and opposite-sex unions constitute equally marriages under the law, the law will eventually punish and stigmatize those who stand by traditional marriage as discriminatory and irrational,” Connelly said.

Dale Carpenter at Volokh Conspiracy: Two committees of the Minnesota legislature, one from each house, will consider legislation tomorrow to legalize same-sex marriage in the state.

MPR News: Two public hearings are planned this week on legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage in Minnesota. The House Civil Law Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee are both scheduled to take up the bill on Tuesday.

Duluth News Tribune: Nine of the 17 members of the House Civil Law Committee told the Associated Press that they would be voting for the legislation that repeals the state law defining marriage as between opposite-sex couples only.

Star Tribune: Months after an amendment to ban the unions was rejected, 53 percent opposes legalizing them.

Jordan Lorence on The Jason Lewis Show to discuss this: Minn. Taxpayers Illegitimately Charged For Elective Abortion. | MP3 audio 34:23 mins

MPR News: Rep. John Lesch, DFL-St. Paul, who chairs the House Civil Law Committee, said he intends to hold a hearing next Tuesday or Wednesday. Lesch said he expects the hearing to be extended into the evening to ensure that the public has ample opportunity to testify.

MPR: The DFL-controlled Minnesota House has passed a key part of the Obama administration’s health care law — a state-based health insurance exchange. The bill’s chief author called the measure the most significant health reform in 50 years. But abortion restrictions adopted last night could run into trouble with Gov. Mark Dayton.

Volokh Conspiracy: That’s H.F. No. 826, which requires schools — including private schools that get any “public funds or other public resources” — to ban, among other things, “bullying” at school, defined as . . . .

Christian Post: A Minnesota-based organization advocating for laws defining marriage as being between a man and a woman will be holding a demonstration against a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.

LifeSiteNews: DePaul University has punished a student for publicizing the names of fellow students who admitted to vandalizing his organization’s pro-life display.

Minnesota legislators determined to legalize same-sex marriage opened up the newest battle ground over the issue, unveiling a proposal that would allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.

Star Tribune: A national group that has spent millions to defend the traditional definition of marriage has pledged to spend $500,000 against any Republicans who vote to legalize same-sex marriage.

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Republican state Sen. Branden Petersen is preparing to become a co-sponsor of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Minnesota.

KSTP.com: Gov. Mark Dayton tacked to the left Wednesday in his State of the State speech, arguing that past state and federal income tax cuts were bad for the economy and issuing his most ringing endorsement yet of legalizing same-sex marriage in Minnesota as a debate over that issue looms at the Capitol.

Star Tribune: Freedom to Marry plans to spend cash in Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island as well as Minnesota.

SCTimes.com: The battle over gay marriage in Minnesota begins its shift from the ballot box to the state Capitol this month.

Minnesota CBS: The group pushing a state Capitol vote to legalize gay marriage says a bill to do so currently lacks the votes to pass.

Star Tribune: Minnesota’s divisive fight over same-sex marriage is moving to a Capitol showdown. Supporters of legalization are preparing to roll out House and Senate proposals as early as next month. Legislative leaders who shied away from the issue earlier now are not ruling out a vote on the measure this spring.

KARE11.com: The Minnesota state senator who will take the lead in that chamber on a bill to legalize gay marriage says backers will wait at least a month or two into the upcoming legislative session before they start to push it hard.