Tag Archives: State: New Hampshire

ADF attorney Doug Napier appeared on Ave Maria Radio with Al Kresta to discuss: NH court orders home-schooled child into government-run school

The MP3 runs just over 13 minutes.

American Free Press: “A girl has been forced to attend public school by a judge who was concerned that she was a Christian who needed exposure to ‘world views’ . . . ‘What if this were Muslims who don’t want their children exposed to infidel thoughts’? [Douglas Napier] asked. ‘Can a judge come into my home—even if my wife and I agree to homeschool our children—and say it’s in their best interest to put them in a government school?’”

ADF attorney Doug Napier appeared on the Michael Medved Show to discuss this: NH court orders home-schooled child into government-run school.

The MP3 runs just over 33 minutes.

ADF allied John Anthony Simmons appeared on WBFI radio with Ron Miller to discuss this: NH court orders home-schooled child into government-run school.

The MP3 runs just over 27 minutes.

More information:

www.ClearVictory.org

ADF National Litigation Academy

Home School Legal Defense Association

ADF allied attorney John Anthony Simmons appeared on NHPR radio with Shannon Mullen to discuss the NH Homeschooling case. Michael Donnelly of the Home School Legal Defense Association also appears in the broadcast along with a Harvard law professor.

The MP3 runs just under 4 minutes.

ADF Media Information: NH court orders home-schooled child into government-run school

Cal Thomas writing in the Gwinnett Daily Post: “The latest of many examples of government arrogance has come in New Hampshire, of all places, where the state motto is ‘Live Free or Die.’ A state judge has ordered a girl who was being educated at home by her mother to begin attending a public school because of the ‘rigidity’ of her mother’s religious views . . . There are a number of issues in this case, not the least of which is the court’s attempt to define what represents an ‘extreme’ religious view and what is more ‘mainstream.’ . . . Amanda’s mother retained the Alliance Defense Fund, the conservative legal alliance that works to defend religious liberty.”

ADF allied attorney John Anthony Simmons appeared on CFRB, the Ryan Doyle Show to discuss the case of a NH homeschooler ordered to attend public school due to her religious beliefs.

The MP3 runs just under 5 minutes.

ADF media information: NH court orders home-schooled child into government-run school

momlogic: “Recently, a New Hampshire court decided a 10-year-old girl should be enrolled in public school, per her father’s request . . . The ADF is dedicated to preserving religious liberty and maintaining the sanctity of marriage. They are trying to get the judge in the case to reconsider the decision. I say, however, that this organization is barking up the wrong tree. This is not a case about religious freedom. This is a case about parental rights.”

William McGurn writing in the Wall Street Journal: “Two Christian girls. Two sets of distraught parents. And two state courts smack in the middle of it. One of these courts is in New Hampshire, where a judge recently ordered that home-schooled Amanda Kurowski be sent to public school . . . So while . . . the Alliance Defense Fund filed a motion asking the judge to reconsider, last week Amanda started fifth grade at a local public school. At about the same time Miss Kurowski was starting school in New Hampshire, a state court in Florida was considering what to do with 17-year-old Rifqa Bary.”

ADF attorney Mike Johnson appears on the Meeting House on Faith Radio with Bob Crittenden to discuss this: NH court orders home-schooled child into government-run school.

The MP3 runs just over 13 minutes.

ADF attorney Mike Johnson appeared on Reality Check Radio with Mike and Clairie Monokian to discuss this: NH court orders home-schooled child into government-run school

The MP3 runs just over 8 minutes.

Mike Johnson of the Alliance Defense Fund and Kelly Shackelford of the Liberty Legal Institute appeared on Point of View Radio with Kerby Anderson and Penna Dexter to discuss the New Hampshire case involving a homeschooler ordered to public school. They also discuss pending campaign finance litigation at the U.S. Supreme Court involving the so-called Hillary movie and the litigation over a veteran’s cross memorial in the Mojave Desert.

The MP3 runs just over 17 minutes.

ADF Media Information Page: NH court orders home-schooled child into government-run school

ADF Alliance Alert posts related to the Campaign Finance Litigation – Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm’n (FEC)

www.DonTearMeDown.com

ADF Alliance Alert posts related to the Mojave Desert Cross – Salazar v. Buono

Veteran Memorial Project

ADF Allied attorney John Anthony Simmons appeared on 93.9 KPDQ FM with Georgene Rice to discuss the case of a New Hampshire homeschooler ordered to attend public school.

The MP3 runs just under 11 minutes.

ADF Media information page: NH court orders home-schooled child into government-run school

Washington Times: “A New Hampshire court ordered a home-schooled Christian girl to attend a public school this week after a judge criticized the ‘rigidity’ of her mother’s religious views . . . Douglas Napier, senior ADF counsel, suggested the court has a bias against Christianity . . . ‘What if this were Muslims who don’t want their children exposed to infidel thoughts?’ he asked. ‘Can a judge come into my home — even if my wife and I agree to home-school our children — and say it’s to their best interest to put them in government schools?’”

Citizen of Laconia: “Family Division Justice Lucinda Sadler on Monday sided with the recommendations of Marital Master Michael Garner and rejected a motion to stay the child’s attendance at public school, which started on Tuesday . . . The Alliance Defense Fund had asked that a July 14 order requiring the child to attend public grade school be reconsidered and asked for a stay in the interim. The stay has been denied, but a narrative order on the motion to reconsider is still pending.”

WorldNetDaily: “A 10-year-old homeschool girl described as ‘well liked, social and interactive with her peers, academically promising and intellectually at or superior to grade level’ has been told by a New Hampshire court official to attend a government school because she was too ‘vigorous’ in defense of her Christian faith . . . ‘Parents have a fundamental right to make educational choices for their children. In this case specifically, the court is illegitimately altering a method of education that the court itself admits is working,’ said ADF-allied attorney John Anthony Simmons of Hampton.”

Christian Examiner: “The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has asked a New Hampshire court to reconsider its decision to order a 10-year-old homeschooled girl into public school . . . ‘The New Hampshire Supreme Court itself has specifically declared, “Home education is an enduring American tradition and right,”‘ said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Mike Johnson. ‘There is clearly and without question no legitimate legal basis for the court’s decision, and we trust it will reconsider its conclusions.’”

Joseph Bottum, writing at First Things: “A divorced couple’s irreconcilable differences make what seems a very bad occasion for legal decisions with serious First Amendment implications . . . The Alliance Defense Fund has more information on the case, but consider just the court’s disposition, on its own terms: Without any expert testimony as to whether the status quo was causing ‘actual harm’ to the child—the standard, applicable criterion for deciding in favor of change in such cases—Judge Sadler decided that the daughter’s best interests were served by removing her from an academically sound home-schooling regimen with the mother and placing her in the public-school setting preferred by the father.”

FOX News: “The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based organization that seeks to preserve religious liberty and the sanctity of marriage, has asked a family court judge to reconsider her July 14 decision to send the girl, identified in court documents as ‘Amanda,’ to a public school in Meredith, N.H.”

CBN News: “The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group, is challenging a New Hampshire court’s decision to remove a girl out of homeschooling . . . ‘The New Hampshire Supreme Court itself has specifically declared, Home education is an enduring American tradition and right,’ said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Mike Johnson.”

ADF attorney Mike Johnson appeared on KWRD-FM with Janet Mefferd to discuss the case of a homeschooled child ordered into a public school on the basis of her religious beliefs.

The MP3 runs just over 16 minutes.

ADF Media information page: NH court orders home-schooled child into government-run school

ADF allied attorney John Anthony Simmons appeared on Lifeline (KFAX) with Crag Roberts to discuss the case of a home-schooled girl who was ordered to public school to diversify her exposure to other faiths.

The MP3 runs just over eight minutes.

Related ADF media information page: NH court orders home-schooled child into government-run school

Boise Christian Living Examiner: “A New Hampshire court recently ordered 10-year old homeschooler, Amanda Kurowski, to public school because she defended her Christian faith too vigorously . . . ‘It is not the proper role of the court to insist that Amanda be ‘exposed to different points of view’ if the primary residential parent has determined that it is in Amanda’s best interest not to be exposed to secular influences that would undermine Amanda’s faith, schooling, social development, etc.,’ explained the Alliance Defense Fund.”

Christian Post: “[Amanda Kurowski's] strong Christian beliefs were reason enough for a New Hampshire court to order her out of homeschooling and into a public school . . . Although there is no dispute that Amanda is excelling academically and is generally interactive with her peers, her religious beliefs were seen as being held a bit too sincerely, Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney John Anthony Simmons explained . . .”

WorldNetDaily: “A Christian homeschooled girl was ordered by a New Hampshire court this week to attend a public school because her faith is a ‘bit too sincerely held and must be sifted, tested by, and mixed among other worldviews’ . . . Thankfully, attorneys working with the Alliance Defense Fund have filed motions with the court, asking it to reconsider the order . . .”

What’s Wrong With the World: “It is absolutely obvious to anyone who reads the ADF’s motions that the court has ordered the child into public school so that she will be in an environment more hostile to her faith and hence more challenging to it.”

Concord Monitor (AP): “The Alliance Defense Fund has asked a family court judge to reconsider a decision last month that sends the 10-year-old daughter of Brenda Voydatch to a public school in Meredith.”

WorldNetDaily: “A 10-year-old homeschool girl . . . has been told by a New Hampshire court official to attend a government school because she was too ‘vigorous’ in defense of her Christian faith . . . The recommendation was approved by Judge Lucinda V. Sadler, but it is being challenged by attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, who said it was ‘a step too far’ for any court.”

CitizenLink: “The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has asked a New Hampshire court to reconsider its decision to order a 10-year-old home-schooled girl into public school. ‘Parents have a fundamental right to make educational choices for their children,’ said ADF-allied attorney John Anthony Simmons.”

Eugene Volokh writing at The Volokh Conspiracy: “So the logic of this decision, if accepted, might well eventually carry over to decisions about intact families, too . . . The Alliance Defense Fund has more on this case, including pointers to its filings in the case.”

Dakota Voice: “The Alliance Defense Fund is attempting to dissuade a New Hampshire court from ordering a 10-year old girl from homeschooling into a public school.”

WCAX.com (AP): “A religious freedom group has taken up the cause of a New Hampshire mother who wants to keep home-schooling her daughter. The Alliance Defense Fund has asked a family court judge to reconsider a decision last month that sends the 10-year-old daughter of Brenda Voydatch to a public school in Meredith.”

The Citizen of Laconia: “In a potentially precedent-setting case, an attorney for a local woman is asking a Belknap County family court judge to reconsider a ruling that the woman’s daughter attend public school in Meredith rather than continue with home-schooling . . . The Alliance Defense Fund on Wednesday announced that it has filed papers in Laconia asking to reconsider the decision issued last month. John Anthony Simmons, an attorney associated with the Defense Fund, who is representing the 10-year-old girl’s mother, said the judge has also been asked to stay the order so the daughter can continue with her home-schooling while the judge reconsiders the matter.”

OneNewsNow: “A Christian homeschool girl in New Hampshire has been ordered into government-run public school for having ‘sincerely held’ religious beliefs . . . Simmons contends that parents have a ‘fundamental right to make educational choices for their children.’”

“the [Master] nonetheless proposed that the Christian girl be ordered into a government-run school after considering ‘the impact of [her religious] beliefs on her interaction with others.’”

Boston Globe (AP): “In New Hampshire this year, the House held an assisted suicide bill for further study this fall and a vote in January. Judiciary Committee Chairman David Cote, D-Nashua, said Monday that committee work sessions probably will start next month. Cote said the committee as a whole will study the issue, rather than a subcommittee.”

Michael Foust reports at Baptist Press: “The poll shows that by a margin of 49-41 percent, New Hampshire likely voters disapprove of the law that made the state the sixth nationwide to legalize “marriage” for homosexual couples. Ten percent are undecided. The poll was conducted by Research 2000 for the liberal blog DailyKos.com, a fact that conservatives say only adds to the poll result’s validity. The polling company interviewed 600 likely voters from July 13-15.”

WCAX.com: “Traffickers face up to 30 years in prison if the victim is under 18. The law also outlines procedures for the state to take property used in the illegal activity. It takes effect Jan. 1″

Associated Press: “Gov. John Lynch has until midnight Wednesday to decide whether to sign a bill that prohibits human trafficking in New Hampshire.”

Boston Globe (AP): “Time is running out for New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch to decide if he’ll sign a bill to legalize marijuana use by severely ill people.”

Mark Hemingway writes at National Review: “What’s happening in New Hampshire is a sign that Republicans everywhere should be using same-sex marriage as a campaign issue, says Brown. Of the recent states that have legalized same-sex marriage — Iowa, Maine, and New Hampshire — none has done so through democratic means, and the actions of the courts and legislatures run against public opinion.”

Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life:

“Stunned by four states legalizing same-sex marriage in just two months, social conservatives are working hard to stop it, often through the avenue where they’ve had their greatest success: the ballot box.

‘The integrity of our most fundamental institutions is in question and needs to be in question,’ says Mike Heath, executive director of the Maine Family Policy Council, an evangelical Christian lobbying group.

‘I see our institutions as having become openly hostile (to religious views). They’re responsive to the elite and moneyed interests that dominate our statehouse. … The only hope here is the people.’

Reason No. 1 for turning to the ballot box? It works . . .”

Posted: 06/09/2009

|

Category: Marriage & Family

|

Source: pewforum.org

Tags: Category: Marriage and Family, Group: Cornerstone Policy Research, Group: Iowa Family Policy Center, Group: Maine Family Policy Council, Group: National Organization for Marriage (NOM), State: Iowa, State: Maine, State: New Hampshire, Topic: Homosexual Agenda, Topic: Marriage

Harry R. Jackson, Jr. writes at Townhall: “Last week marked a nadir in the battle for biblical marriage. Two huge events occurred. First, former VP Dick Cheney voiced his support for same-sex marriage. Second, New Hampshire became the sixth state in the Union to legalize gay marriage. Despite these two events, nationalizing same-sex marriage is absolutely not inevitable . . . ”

WorldNetDaily: “A polygamy advocacy organization says the New Hampshire law that is intended to assure ‘equal access to marriage’ for all instead specifically embeds in state statutes bigotry against polygamists.”

CitizenLink: “‘While the debate over the lack of religious-liberty protections revealed the dangers to the First Amendment rights of citizens, the language added to the bill is pitifully ineffective,’ [Bruce Hausknecht of Focus on the Family Action] said. ‘Not only will the law create family situations where children will be deprived of either a mother or a father, but citizens are being deprived of significant First Amendment rights, as well.’”

Associated Press: “It was tough enough to get New Hampshire’s lawmakers and governor to approve gay marriage, but Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson says there’s an even tougher job ahead: getting churches to fully embrace gay marriage and gay people.”

Baptist Press: “Jim Campbell, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, another religious liberty legal organization, said a statute would be more likely to be overturned in court if it did nix previous marriages. But he agreed that New Hampshire could, if it wanted, reverse course on the overall issue of ‘gay marriage’ legalization. ‘Assuming the government has the authority to redefine marriage, it also has the authority to restore it to its traditional definition,’ he told BP.”

Reuters: “New Hampshire’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives endorsed gay marriage in a 198-176 vote, hours after the state Senate approved the legislation 14-10 along party lines, making the state the fourth this year to back gay marriage in the United States.

Governor John Lynch, a Democrat, signed the bill, which goes into effect on January 1.”

Baptist Press:
The New Hampshire governor is right to recognize the threat to religious liberty posed by same-sex marriage, but he underestimates the threat by a long shot,” Austin R. Nimocks, an attorney with the legal organization Alliance Defense Fund, told Baptist Press. “The protections he proposes do not cover business owners and individuals with religious objections to same-sex marriage, and these are exactly the kind of cases that the Alliance Defense Fund is having to defend.”

Legalizing “gay marriage” also negatively impacts children, Nimocks said.

“All non-partisan research and plain common sense tells us that children need a mom and dad, so the issue is bigger than a ‘personal relationship,’” he said. “In the end, the question is this: Which parent doesn’t matter: a mom or a dad?”

“By a vote of 14-10 in the Senate and 198-176 in the House, the changes in HB 73 create the last piece of a gay marriage puzzle that the Legislature has assembled.”

The House is expected to vote later today.

UnionLeader.com: “Senate rules require that all committee of conference votes be unanimous. They also require that committees of conference contain senators from each party. When Sen. Sheila Roberge, R-Bedford, refused to sign the conference report approving the amendment to the same-sex marriage bill, Sen. Larsen removed her from the committee and replaced her . . . ”

Baptist Press: “The New Hampshire governor is right to recognize the threat to religious liberty posed by same-sex marriage, but he underestimates the threat by a long shot,” Austin R. Nimocks, an attorney with the legal organization Alliance Defense Fund, told Baptist Press. “The protections he proposes do not cover business owners and individuals with religious objections to same-sex marriage, and these are exactly the kind of cases that the Alliance Defense Fund is having to defend.”

Kevin Smith, executive director of Cornerstone Policy Research, said the changes still did not protect individuals . . . “This is just more window dressing. It’s the latest attempt to try to give the governor more cover for having flip-flopped on gay marriage,” Smith said.

Another vote is expected on Wednesday.

Because a committee of conference vote needs to be UNANIMOUS in order for it to be brought before the House and Senate again, the Senate President then REMOVED Senator Roberge from the committee and REPLACED her with Senator Houde, who “dialed in” his vote . . .

Michael Medved writes at Townhall: “Moreover, the whole concept of carving out special ‘religious protections’ (reported as a major trend by Peter Steinfels in the New York Times and now favored by leading gay activists as part of their push for same sex marriage) reflects the certainty that faith-based organizations will become an immediate and prime target of the gay rights movement.”

“Why do you want to accommodate bigots? The issue is now being squarely presented in New Hampshire . . . ”

Family Research Council: “While the state waits on Lynch to hold up his end of the bargain, the bill on religious exemptions now heads to conference. The Speaker and Senate President (both Democrats) will be responsible for appointing the members to the conference committee. Although they’re expected to pick liberals who will vote with them, the rules clearly state that they must include at least one member from the other party. If the bill doesn’t pass out of the conference unanimously, it will die. FRC will keep you updated on the committee activity as it happens.”

The Catholic League: “Leading the fight for gay marriage in New Hampshire is Rep. Steve Vaillancourt. He proves, beyond any shadow of a doubt, why champions of religious liberty must resist gay marriage: he worked to kill the bill because it insulated religious institutions from its reach.”

Related post:

Corvino: Why moral approval matters

The Union Leader: “House and Senate Republicans this morning called for Gov. John Lynch to veto the same-sex marriage bills so lawmakers may move on to the critical issues facing the state.”

Kevin Landrigan writing in the Nashua Telegraph: “Austin Nimocks with the socially conservative Alliance Defense Fund said Lynch’s changes fail to protect conscientious objectors based on religion and predicted the law would lead to lawsuits.”

“The House vote against the governor’s amendment means the bill will be sent to a committee that will try to resolve the differences between the two chambers. It remains unclear how the governor would respond to any changes to his wording.”

“. . . a movement is afoot among some that pushes a compromise of marriage and religious liberty, which are constitutionally guaranteed and inalienable rights.”

“The committee voted down an amendment proposed by Republican committee members to further protect businesses and individuals who oppose gay marriage because of their religious beliefs . . . Austin Nimocks of the Alliance Defense Fund said litigation will result if the bill passes.”

Cathy Lynn Grossman has this post at USA Today comparing and contrasting comments by RNC Chairman Michael Steele with comments by ADF attorney Austin R. Nimocks.

Michael Steele saying marriage redefinition will harm small businesses: “Now all of a sudden I’ve got someone who wasn’t a spouse before, that I had no responsibility for, who is now getting claimed as a spouse that I now have financial responsibility for. So how do I pay for that? Who pays for that? You just cost me money.”

Austin R. Nimocks: “The [NH] governor is right to recognize the threat to religious liberty, but he underestimates the threat by a long shot. Where are the protections for business owners with religious objections to recognizing same-sex marriages? ”

Regarding Austin’s comments, Grossman observes: “The concern is here is not so much that business owners might need to provide benefits but that they would be forced to recognize client’s or potential client’s ‘counterfeit ‘marriages’… or face severe consequences.”

“The governor is right to recognize the threat to religious liberty, but he underestimates the threat by a long shot. Where are the protections for business owners with religious objections to recognizing same-sex ‘marriages’?

WMUR.com: “But in the civil marriage provision, there are no protections for officials or businesses that refuse to take part based on their personal or religious beliefs. Opposing lawmakers said it’s an example of legislation that was put on rush. ‘It’s certainly a flaw, and it’s something that came as a result of the last-minute nature of what came before the Senate, and then, last week, last-minute fixes,’ said Sen. Peter Bragdon, R-Milford. ‘Now, we have a last-minute thing to fix something else.’”

“New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch said Thursday he will sign a bill to make his state the sixth to legalize gay marriage, but only if it the already-approved legislation is revised to strengthen protections for churches and people who worked for them.”

Smith theorizes that the bill is being delayed because Lynch himself has asked for more time to consider the issue . . .

Christian Post: “New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch has until next Tuesday to decide the fate of a gay marriage bill that was sent to his desk after final legislature approval was given on Wednesday.”

UnionLeader.com: “In a statement released yesterday, Bishop John B. McCormack urged Lynch to veto legislation that would extend the state’s marriage laws to include same-sex couples . . . We further believe that trying to redefine marriage on the run, with the slimmest of legislative margins and without a robust investigation into all possible conflicts between same sex marriage legislation and religious liberties is contrary to the spirit of New Hampshire.”

The AP reports that it is unknown how long it will take the legislature to send the marriage redefinition bill to Governor. After the governor receives it, he will have five days act.

CitizenLink: “New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch has yet to touch the same-sex ‘marriage’ bill that is sitting on his desk. But if he does sign it, some of the ‘credit’ will go to gay-activist Tim Gill, who has poured massive amounts of money into the state.”

“The House voted today for a version of the bill passed by the Senate last week.”