Tag Archives: ZZ: Sherman v Koch

LifeNews.com: In case you missed it, the appeal that was filed in the federal embryonic stem cell lawsuit regarding taxpayer funding, Sherley and Deisher et al. v. Sebelius et al., is moving forward.

Buffalo Grove Patch: “Buffalo Grove atheist activist Rob Sherman says ‘the war continues’ to keep prayer out of public schools . . . [David Cortman], Senior Legal Counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund, which filed a friend-of-the court brief in the case, said the opinion is on sound legal footing. ‘It highly unlikely the 7th Circuit Court will revisit the ruling,’ said Cortman.”

OneNewsNow: “A federal appeals court has upheld an Illinois law that allows public school students to engage in voluntary prayer and reflection as part of a moment of silence during the school day . . . ‘The plaintiff claimed that simply because another student would be able to pray silently, that somehow created a constitutional crisis and injured them in some way — which we are certainly at a loss to figure out,’ says [David Cortman] with the Alliance Defense Fund.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State / Wall of Separation: “[L]ast week, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals . . . held the legislature had a secular purpose in passing the Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act and upheld the law as constitutional . . . Not surprisingly, Religious Right groups like the Alliance Defense Fund, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, are hailing the decision.”

Courthouse News Service: “Illinois public schools must give students a moment of silence before class each morning after the 7th Circuit reversed a lower court’s finding that the so-called ‘Silent Reflection Act’ violated the First Amendment . . . The ACLU supported Sherman’s challenge to the act. The Illinois Department of Education was supported by the Alliance Defense Fund.” Sherman v. Koch, No. 09-1455 (7th Cir. Oct. 15, 2010)

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit Friday upheld an Illinois law that allows public school students to engage in voluntary prayer and reflection as part of a moment of silence during the school day.

OneNewsNow: “School officials are awaiting a federal court decision concerning the ‘period of silence’ law in Illinois schools . . . David Cortman [said] ‘During that time [students] could think about whatever they want to, and heaven forbid they could pray, and some local atheists — with the help of our friends at the ACLU — decided to bring a challenge based on the so-called “separation of church and state,”‘ Cortman explains.”

Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney Andy Norman will be available for media interviews following a hearing Wednesday in Sherman v. Koch. In October, ADF and allied attorneys with the Chicago firm of Mauck & Baker filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit on behalf of the Illinois Family Institute in support of the state’s “period of silence” law.

OneNewsNow: “David Cortman of the Alliance Defense Fund — which this week filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the law — explains that under the law, students are not required to pray and teachers are not involved . . . ‘what’s interesting about the case is [that] it’s a period of silent reflection where a student simply is allowed to pray if they so choose.’”