Tag Archives: ZZADF: 4013

Jordan Lorence at the NYC info: Religious liberty will likely take a step forward May 22, when the New York City Council votes on a resolution asking the New York Legislature to overturn a state law that permits the New York City public school policy that bans private worship services in the vacant buildings when school is not in session. | originally posted at Speak Up Movement.

Jon Scruggs at Speak Up Movement: In this respect, our proposed “worship paradigm” highlights the importance of the Bronx case and reveals conceptual flaws underlying the effort to exclude New York City churches from school buildings after hours. With the Bronx decision liable to come any day now, it will be interesting to see whether the Second Circuit continues to perpetuate the worship service/discussion distinction. For those with eyes to see and ears to hear (i.e. those who adopt our proposed worship paradigm), the continued perpetuation of this false distinction strikes right at the heart of our religious freedoms.

David Hacker at the Speak Up Movement Blog: We have a lot to be thankful for this year at Alliance Defending Freedom as our clients prevailed time and again in cases across the country. Here’s a recap of the top university victories in 2012 . . .

Jordan Lorence appeared on the World and Everything In It with Mary Reichard to discuss the Bronx Household of Faith case. | MP3 audio 5:43 mins

Reuters: They’re focusing on a type of worship that is Judeo-Christian, and that is the type of religion being excluded,” Jordan Lorence, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, the Christian nonprofit representing the Bronx church, told a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

One News Now: “Well, we are facing the reality that we are before … the same three judges who ruled against us 2-1 in June of 2011,” he tells OneNewsNow. “But we [now] have some different arguments and new evidence, and we are hopeful that they will take a fresh look at this and vote in favor of religious liberty.”

Jordan Lorence at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: The ongoing legal battle for equal access of churches to meet in New York City’s public schools returns to court Monday

Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence will be available for media interviews following his oral argument Monday in favor of a ruling that would allow churches and other faith groups to continue meeting for worship services in New York City public school buildings on weekends.

Jordan Lorence appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss the the case and other issues. | MP3 audio 7:28 mins

Jordan Lorence appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss the the case and other issues. | MP3 audio 11:53 mins

Townhall: The Obama Department of Justice has shown surprising indifference to religious liberty by declining to follow the DOJ’s earlier repeated support for the right of religious groups to meet for worship services in New York City public schools during non-school hours.

Nathan Cherry at the Engage Family Blog: The silent battle taking place that you have probably not heard much about is in the area of zoning and equal access for public facilities. Churches are systematically being forced out of public spaces and told “no” by local zoning offices for permits to expand, or buy property . . . Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence has been working on the Bronx Household of Faith case in New York City for over 17 years. He spoke with FPCWV president Jeremy Dys in this issue of Engaging the Issues. Lorence explains that the fate of every church that meets in a public school hangs in the balance pending the outcome of this case. You can rest assured that if this case is not resolved in favor of the churches, and the school system is allowed to evict the churches, that and ripple will be felt from coast to coast as other school systems follow suit.

Jordan Lorence at the NY Post: The New York City ban is emblematic of the much-too-widespread habit of public officials considering private religious expression to be dangerous and threatening, like asbestos that must be expunged from the ceiling tiles of the public square.
Simply put, the government does not treat churches “neutrally” when it treats them worse than everyone else.

Jordan Lorence on Engaging the Issues with Jeremy Dys of the WV Family Policy Council to discuss the Bronx Household case. | MP3 audio 21:28 mins

New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms Albany Update: The Alliance Defending Freedom has been fighting this raging battle for seventeen years and it isn’t over yet. While the churches will likely remain in the schools through the summer, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms expects Mayor Bloomberg’s Administration to appeal this decision come September. Win or lose, it looks like this religious freedom case will end up back in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jordan Lorence at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: : Bronx Household of Faith Wins Permanent Injunction Against NYC School Policy Banning Worship Services
New York City will likely appeal the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. It may be more challenging to convince the Second Circuit to agree with the District Court’s ruling in favor of religious liberty, because the Second Circuit has ruled both for and against the policy in the past. The Second Circuit in February said that it would rule before school starts in early September. If the Second Circuit reverses and upholds the ban on worship services, ADF will likely appeal again to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sarah Torre at the Heritage Foundation: “Churches that have been helping communities for years can continue to offer the hope that empty buildings can’t,” explained Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Jordan Lorence, who has been litigating the case. “The court’s order allows churches and other religious groups to meet for worship services in empty school buildings on weekend on the same terms as other groups.”

Becket Fund: The Becket Fund’s co-counsel on the brief is Michael McConnell, director of the Stanford Constitutional Law Center and one of the leading constitutional law scholars in the country. The Bronx Household of Faith is represented by Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund.

Christian Post: Churches that have been helping communities for years can continue to offer the hope that empty buildings can’t,” expressed ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence in a statement. “The court’s order allows churches and other religious groups to meet for worship services in empty school buildings on weekends on the same terms as other groups. ADF will continue to defend this constitutionally protected right if the city chooses to continue using taxpayer money to evict the very groups that are selflessly helping the city’s communities, including the public schools themselves.”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys won a permanent injunction Friday that allows churches and other faith groups to continue to meet in New York City public school buildings for worship services after hours.

Reuters: A lawyer for the Bronx Household of Faith praised the decision.
“There is no reason to exclude worship services from these empty school buildings, especially when the school allows all other community groups to meet,” said Jordan Lorence, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, which represents the Bronx church . . . For the church: Jordan Lorence, Benjamin Bull and Joseph Infranco of the Alliance Defense Fund. For the city: Jonathan Pines of the New York City Law Department.

CBN (includes video): “The court’s order allows churches and other religious groups to meet for worship services in empty school buildings on weekends on the same terms as other groups,” ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence said in a statement. “Churches that have been helping communities for years can continue to offer the hope that empty buildings can’t,” he added.

Timothy Dalrymple at Patheos: The good news, which just reached us here at the Alliance Defense Fund conference in Naples, Florida, is that the district court judge has just issued a permanent injunction against the city, which will allow churches meeting in schools to continue to do so indefinitely — or at least until the Second Circuit has an opportunity to reverse that decision.

Human Events: But on Friday, the Alliance Defense Fund won a permanent injunction against the city’s ban, allowing religious groups to once again meet in public schools after hours. ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence hailed the decision, saying “Churches that have been helping communities for years can continue to offer the hope that empty buildings can’t. The court’s order allows churches and other religious groups to meet for worship services in empty school buildings on weekends on the same terms as other groups.” The long legal tug-of-war over those empty public school classrooms probably isn’t over, as Lorence understands: “ADF will continue to defend this constitutionally protected right if the city chooses to continue using taxpayer money to evict the very groups that are selflessly helping the city’s communities, including the public schools themselves.” [more]

The Examiner: On Friday, the Alliance Defense Fund won a permanent injunction in a 17 year legal battle involving the Bronx Household of Faith and the NYC Board of Education. Religious groups will now be allowed to hold religious services and meet freely for worship in public school facilities as any other group can . . . DF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence made the following statements in regards to the case. “Churches that have been helping communities for years can continue to offer the hope that empty buildings can’t,.. I think that there are school officials and also Mayor (Michael) Bloomberg that unfortunately are clinging to a very absolute view of the Establishment Clause. They do not understand that the government should accommodate freedom of speech for religions. They view religions as something evil or bad that needs to be driven from the public schools. All we are asking is that we are treated the same as everybody else.”

Family Research Council: ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence disputed the other side’s claim that the city has an obligation to “keep worship out of school.” “It is discriminatory to punish churches,” he explained, especially since religious student groups are allowed to hold meetings in the same space. “I think [the city officials]… do not understand that the government should accommodate freedom of speech for religion. They view religions as something evil or bad that needs to be driven from the public schools. All we are asking is that we are treated the same as everybody else,” Lorence said.

Mirror of Justice: Bronx Household of Faith obtained a preliminary injunction and is now seeking a permanent injunction against New York City, which would stop the City from excluding Bronx Household and any other religious organization from equal access to public school facilities. [ADF not mentioned]

Christian Post: “I think that Judge [Loretta] Preska is with us,” said Jordan Lorence, senior counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund, in an interview with The Christian Post after the hearing.

Jordan Lorence at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Bronx Household of Faith has filed a motion asking the District Court to grant a permanent injunction against the New York City Department of Education’s policy barring religious groups from conducting worship services in the public schools during nonschool hours. New York City is asking the Court to uphold the policy.

Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence will be available for media interviews immediately following his oral argument in federal court Friday in favor of an order that would allow churches to continue meeting in New York City public school buildings on weekends.

Fred Mogul at NY Times (includes audio): Jordan Lorence, a lawyer who represents the churches, has argued that accommodating religious expression is very different from endorsing it. He said if the city was concerned about confusing students because their schools host worship services on Sundays — which the city has argued in court — then it should really worry about children who go to unmistakably Christian and Jewish buildings every school day. “Under their own criteria, those seem to be much more serious than what’s happening on the weekends,” said Mr. Lorence, a lawyer at the Alliance Defense Fund. “The school district is in the weird and strange and contradictory situation of: schools meeting in former church schools, O.K.; churches meeting in schools, not O.K. And I just don’t see a whole lot of difference there.”

Jordan Lorence on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss this: New York Churches To March For Equal Access Sunday April 22. | MP3 audio 5:28 mins

Jordan Lorence at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog (includes video): People of all faiths and supporters of religious liberty will march across the Brooklyn Bridge Sunday, April 22 in support of equal access for religious groups to meet in empty NYC school buildings.

ReligiousLawNetwork.com: In a one-sentence simplistic summary, the Bronx Household of Faith (Church) wants to rent space in the public schools for Sunday meetings, and the New York City Board of Education (Board) wants to keep it—and other churches—out. This dispute has produced over an inch-thick sheaf of judicial opinions over the last ten years, learnedly discussing the intricacies of the clauses of the First Amendment

Gothamist: The battle over religious groups using school property for services on the weekends has been raging since 1995—but really only in New York, since most other school districts don’t seem to mind the practice. “This is resurrection from the dead that is kind of amazing,” Jordan Lorence, senior counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund, the lawyer for the church that spearheaded the case, the Bronx Household of Faith, told the Times. “We are overjoyed; it gets it through the school year.”

AP: The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a two-page order Wednesday that declined the city’s request to block a lower court judge who stopped the city from enforcing its no-worship-in-schools policy. | The order

Baptist Press Updated: “The city can’t single out religious expression and treat it worse than the expression of everybody else,” said ADF senior counsel Jordan Lorence. “The court’s order allows churches and other religious groups to meet in empty school buildings on weekends just as non-religious groups do while the lawsuit proceeds. The city’s view of the First Amendment is wrong, and we intend to continue to demonstrate that in court.”

One News Now: Churches that have been helping communities for years can once again offer the hope that empty buildings can’t,” reports ADF attorney Jordan Lorence. “The city can’t single out religious expression and treat it worse than the expression of everybody else.”

World Magazine: But Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence, who has worked on New York-based equal access cases for almost 20 years, says the conflict stems from an unconstitutional view of the separation of church and state. “The Supreme Court has rejected this view,” Lorence said. “Accommodating private speech doesn’t violate the establishment clause. … New York City is the last holdout for an extreme view of the separation clause … that says religion is something that needs to be contained and driven” from the public square.

Examiner.com: The Christian Post reports senior counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund, Jordan Lorence, said, “The city can’t single out religious expression and treat it worse than the expression of everyone else.” Lorence further expressed New York City’s view of the First Amendment was incorrect.

The Video is posted below on YouTube and is also available at Truth in Action Ministries.

One News Now: A spokesman for the Alliance Defense Fund, Jordan Lorence, says ” churches that have been helping communities for years can once again offer the hope that empty buildings can’t.” Lorence says “the city can’t single out religious expression and treat it worse than the expression of everybody else. The court’s order allows churches and other religious groups to meet in empty school buildings on weekends just as non-religious groups do while the lawsuit proceeds. The city’s view of the First Amendment is wrong, and we intend to continue to demonstrate that in court.”

Reuters: “A law is not neutral if its object is to infringe upon or restrict practices because of their religious motivations,” U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan wrote in issuing Friday’s injunction against the city . . . For the church: Jordan Lorence, Benjamin Bull and Joseph Infranco of the Alliance Defense Fund.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys won a court order Friday that allows churches to continue meeting for worship services in New York City public schools while a lawsuit against the city continues.

ADF Attorney Dave Cortman on the Jody Hice Show. | MP3 audio 17:57 mins

The New American: Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund, which is defending the churches against the city ban, said that he was optimistic Judge Preska would counter the appeals court ruling by broadening her decision to apply to all churches impacted by the ban. “We expect Judge Preska to issue a preliminary injunction within the next week, and it should apply to all religious groups desiring to hold worship services in the NYC public schools,” he said.

Jordan Lorence at Speak Up Movement Church: We reported the good news that last Thursday, the federal district court in Manhattan issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop New York City’s Department of Education from enforcing its policy banning private worship services. However, things went a bit askew Friday evening.

EurWeb: As ADF senior counsel Jordan Lorence puts it, “Churches help communities; evicting churches hurts communities. Empty buildings offer nothing to communities that need hope.”

Bloomberg: Jordan Lorence, a lawyer with the Alliance Defense Fund in Washington who represents the Bronx Household of Faith, said in a phone interview the appeals court’s order didn’t deal with the merits of the case. “It’s somewhat disappointing but it’s not a major ruling,” Lorence said.

Religion Clause: Yesterday, the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order (full text) in the case, clarifying that the TRO applies only to evicting Bronx Household of Faith, and does not apply to protect other churches that are not parties to the litigation.

ADF Attorney Dave Cortman appeared on the Don Kroah Show on WAVA. | MP3 audio 8:41 mins

WSJ.com: “The court’s order is a message of hope for fundamental freedoms in New York City because it means that, for the time being, the city must welcome churches as it does other groups,” said Jordan Lorence, the senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal coalition representing the lead plaintiff in the case, the Bronx Household of Faith.

The New American: Looking past the 10-day temporary reprieve, the ADF’s Jordan Lorence said that the churches would continue to fight for their right to use the school space. “We’ll litigate this case as long as we have to,” he said, adding, “No other large school district in the country except for New York City has a policy like this.”

One News Now: As ADF senior counsel Jordan Lorence puts it, “Churches help communities; evicting churches hurts communities. Empty buildings offer nothing to communities that need hope.” Lorence says “the court’s order is a message of hope for fundamental freedoms in New York City because it means that, for the time being, the city must welcome churches as it does other groups.”

Baptist Press: The Alliance Defense Fund sought the order earlier this month to stop the evictions. “Churches help communities; evicting churches hurts communities. Empty buildings offer nothing to communities that need hope,” said ADF senior counsel Jordan Lorence, who argued before the court. “The court’s order is a message of hope for fundamental freedoms in New York City because it means that, for the time being, the city must welcome churches as it does other groups. ADF will continue to fight this battle relentlessly until the city no longer unconstitutionally prohibits activity for purely religious reasons.”

ADF Update: Watch this important message from ADF President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears about this amazing development in the 17-year battle for equal access—not only in New York City, but for churches across the nation.

DNAInfo.com: “The court’s order is a message of hope for fundamental freedoms in New York City because it means that, for the time being, the city must welcome churches as it does other groups,” said Jordan Lorence, an attorney for the defense fund who argued before the court on Tuesday, in a statement. “ADF will continue to fight this battle relentlessly until the city no longer unconstitutionally prohibits activity for purely religious reasons.”

CBS New York: The Alliance Defense Fund says it sought the order earlier this month to stop the evictions based on violations of the First Amendment that had not been ruled on previously in the case.

NYTimes.com: The court’s order is a message of hope for fundamental freedoms in New York City,” Jordan Lorence, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, which argued for the church, said in a statement, “because it means that, for the time being, the city must welcome churches as it does other groups.”

CBN.com: “The court’s order is a message of hope for fundamental freedoms in New York City because it means that, for the time being, the city must welcome churches as it does other groups,” he added. “ADF will continue to fight this battle relentlessly until the city no longer unconstitutionally prohibits activity for purely religious reasons.”

Human Events: “The huge flaw in Mayor Bloomberg’s reasoning is that this is clearly private religious speech,” Jordan Lorence told HUMAN EVENTS. “Government accommodation of private religious speech is not government endorsement of that speech. When the Pope holds Mass in Central Park, it does not mean NYC endorses Catholicism. NYC does not show neutrality toward religion by treating religion worse than other community groups.”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys have won a court order that allows churches to continue meeting for worship services in New York City public schools for the time being.

OneNewsNow.com: As New York lawmakers consider the bill that would reverse the city’s decision, the Alliance Defense Fund has requested a temporary federal injunction to buy time until the bill can be considered.

Gay City News: Jordan Lorence, the combative ADF senior counsel who lost the Bronx case — and is active in the group’s other anti-gay litigation around the country — insisted that of the top 50 school districts in the country, only New York bars worship services in schools. “Nothing in the Constitution prohibits it,” he testified. “Can’t explain why the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.” . . .

Christian Post: “I think there is a good likelihood that the Judge is going to issue an injunction,” Jordan Lorence, the lead counsel for ADF, told The Christian Post over the phone. “We don’t know for sure but we were optimistic by how things went and we may see churches be able to meet in the public schools from Feb. 13 and onward.”

Norwood News: But lawyers with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed a lawsuit earlier this month that seeks an injunction against the ban, which the ADF, religious leaders and some Bronx elected officials are calling discriminatory and unconstitutional.

OneNewsNow.com: ADF senior counsel Jordan Lorance says it is a multi-front approach to reverse the policy (listen to audio report). “The legislature could repeal it, the mayor could repeal it, or a court could enjoin it,” he explains. “They could stop the court case tomorrow if they change the policy.”

Baptist Press: New York’s ban on churches meeting in public schools, which went into effect Feb. 12, is about “far more than meeting space,” according to a Southern Baptist pastor in the area who believes broader religious freedom is at stake.

Norwood News: he injunction was filed by the Alliance Defense Fund, which has legally backed Bronx Household’s efforts to use school space since it first challenged the DOE’s policy in 1994. “Churches and other religious groups should be able to meet in public buildings on the same terms as other community groups,” said ADF lawyer Jordan Lorence in a statement. “A government can’t solve the supposed problem of appearing as though it is endorsing religion by treating churches worse than everybody else. The city’s policy prohibits activity for religious reasons, and that is both unconstitutional and at odds with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in a different case.”

Yahoo! News (includes video): Having essentially exhausted their efforts in the courts (although Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund has filed for a new injunction against the policy and may appear in federal court on Tuesday), churches and activists are working with city and state lawmakers to try and overturn the ban. Last Monday, the New York State Senate passed a bill that would rectify the situation.

OneNewsNow.com: Lorance says Speaker Sheldon Silver’s worry that a reversal would open the schools to everyone, even the Ku Klux Klan, is a weak argument. “But I think that that kind of phantom fear is not the reason to deny religious liberty of [more than] 60 actual churches that are meeting in the schools,” says the attorney. “Freedom of speech means that you allow people who you don’t agree with to have their say.”

NY Daily News: Alliance Defense Fund lawyer Jordan Lorence, who represents the Bronx Household of Faith, called on Silver and the Assembly to act immediately, branding the decision to delay “misinformed.” “There is absolutely no reason for the Assembly to wait,” Lorence said. “We’re saying that the policy is unconstitutional and the Legislature is absolutely free to change the policy.”

FRC Washington Update: With the Alliance Defense Fund’s (ADF) help, they may get their wish. Tomorrow, ADF’s Jordan Lorence will be reopening the case against the city’s Department of Education by filing a preliminary injunction that would let churches continue worshiping in classrooms. “This is not over,” he told the Wall Street Journal.

Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence will be available for media interviews immediately following a hearing Tuesday on whether a federal court should issue an order to stop the eviction of worship services from New York City’s public schools.