Alliance Defense Fund

The New Jersey Supreme Court issued an order Monday rejecting a recently filed motion in a long-ago-resolved lawsuit that attempted to force New Jersey legislature to redefine marriage. Lambda Legal attorneys represented a small group of activists who were dissatisfied with civil unions implemented by the Legislature in 2007, and recently argued that they were not content with anything short of forcing a redefinition of marriage on all New Jersey residents. However, this latest order won’t likely be the end of this legal attack on marriage in the Garden State.

The Alliance Defense Fund is urging government bodies in South Carolina and Florida to continue their constitutionally protected practice of praying before public meetings, despite recent threats from atheist organizations. Within the past week alone, ADF, in cooperation with area lawyers who are part of the nearly 1,800 attorneys in the ADF alliance, sent letters to four local governments offering to defend valid invocation policies free of charge.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys have reached a settlement with the San Jose/Evergreen Community College District in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a biology professor. Professor June Sheldon was fired after objectively answering a student’s in-class question simply because a different student claimed to be “offended” by her answer, even though it comported with the official class curriculum and a district policy on academic freedom.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed suit against Augusta State University Wednesday on behalf of a counseling student told that her Christian beliefs are unethical and incompatible with the prevailing views of the counseling profession. The student, Jennifer Keeton, has been told to stop sharing her beliefs with others and that she must change her beliefs in order to graduate from the counseling program.

Alliance Defense Fund and Stand4MarriageDC attorneys are considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in a narrow 5–4 ruling, upheld the decision of the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics to block residents from voting on the legal definition of marriage, despite a requirement by the D.C. Charter that they be allowed to do so. The charter, which serves as a constitution for the district, guarantees citizens the right to initiate and vote on any legislation except for “laws appropriating funds.”

The Alliance Defense Fund sent a letter to U.S. Supreme Court officials Thursday that urges them to stop their police officers from prohibiting people from quietly praying outside the court building. Christian teacher Maureen Rigo, her students, and a few adults were told by a court police officer that they must stop praying there because it was against the law.

Attorneys allied with the Alliance Defense Fund secured a stay order from a federal court Monday that halts legal proceedings against pharmacists on trial for their conscience. The court issued the stay after the state pharmacy board agreed to propose revisions to its rules to allow what the pharmacists have sought from the beginning: to be allowed to refer patients seeking drugs that risk taking human life to other pharmacies. For three years, the Washington State Department of Health has been attempting to force pharmacists to sell such drugs against their conscience.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys sent a letter Monday to University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign officials on behalf of a popular, highly regarded professor who was fired for explaining the position of the Roman Catholic Church on human sexual behavior to members of his Introduction to Catholicism class.

A federal judge granted summary judgment Thursday to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in a decision against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which declares the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. Judge Joseph L. Tauro of the Massachusetts District Court issued a ruling denying a USDHHS motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought on by the state, proclaiming that the federal DOMA, which defines marriage as one man and one woman, violates the 5th and 10th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief Friday in support of the federal government’s appeal of a federal judge’s ruling declaring the observance of the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional. Millions of Americans and thousands of local leaders have traditionally prayed for the nation and its leaders during the annual event, which was codified by Congress in 1952.

Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed House Bill 444 Tuesday, which would have given all of “the same rights, benefits and responsibilities” of married couples to same-sex couples. Lingle stated that such an important issue impacting all families across the Islands should be decided by voters, not by elected officials or in the courts.

Alliance Defense Fund allied attorneys in North Carolina are uniting in their objections to a proposed policy revision which would add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the list of “non-discrimination” ethics rules for attorneys. In a June 22 letter to the North Carolina State Bar, Bryce D. Neier, one of nearly 1,700 attorneys in the ADF alliance, noted that attorneys could be forced to compromise their religious beliefs in order to avoid professional sanctions.

An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney filed an appeal Tuesday on behalf of a South Dakota church challenging a decision issued by the Pennington County Board of Commissioners. The board voted last month to refuse to lift more than $17,000 in property taxes on land owned by the church even though the law exempts the church from such taxes.

The Alliance Defense Fund has received the support of three significant organizations in its defense of a criminology professor whose opinion columns were determined by a judge to be unprotected by the First Amendment simply because he made reference to them in a promotion application.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court Wednesday unanimously refused to tear down a state constitutional amendment adopted by voters that affirms marriage as the union of one man and one woman and prohibits the state from manufacturing other legal relationships that masquerade as marriage. Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a friend-of-the-court brief last year on behalf of the Wisconsin Family Council in defense of the amendment, which a lower court upheld as constitutional.

A federal court Friday rebuffed the attempt of an activist group to silence a Christian man who wanted to distribute Bibles in a public park where the group was holding a “Pride Festival.” The group filed suit against the city of Minneapolis, asking the court to compel the city to deny the man his free speech rights, but the court refused. Instead, the court granted a motion filed by attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund to intervene in the lawsuit to defend his rights protected by the First Amendment.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 Monday to uphold an unusual university policy that forces student groups to allow outsiders who disagree with their beliefs to become leaders and voting members. The court confined its opinion to the unique policy and did not address whether nondiscrimination policies in general, which are typical on public university campuses, may require this. The court concluded that public universities may override a religious student group’s right to determine its leadership only if it denies that right to all student groups.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a lawsuit Thursday against the city of Stayton on behalf of a man who was approached by police officers and told he could not display his pro-life signs on a street corner.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit Friday that contends that the Obama administration’s embryonic stem cell research policy is in violation of federal law. The law, known as the “Dickey/Wicker Amendment,” prohibits federal funds from being used to destroy human embryos for research purposes.