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May 16, 2012
Today at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Liberty Counsel is representing Child Evangelism Fellowship of Minnesota (CEF), the sponsor of Good News Clubs (GNC), against Minneapolis Special School District No. 1, for unfairly denying equal access and opportunity to after-school programs. CEF has been an approved member of the Minnesota Public Schools Community Partners since 2000 and participated in the after-school program from 2005-2009. In 2009, a school employee determined to revoke CEF’s after-school program because the GNC included prayer and “proselytizing”...
May 15, 2012
Today Rena Lindevaldsen, Special Counsel for Liberty Counsel, told an appeals court that the secret, closed-door meetings held by New York State Senate Republicans with Governor Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg violated the Open Meetings Law. The entire argument hinged on whether the governor and mayor, who actively raised more than a million dollars to convince Republican Senators to vote in favor of the Marriage Equality Act, were guests of the Republican conference and, therefore, could meet in closed-door meetings to lobby and persuade Republican Senators to change their vote in favor of the same-sex marriage act...
May 11, 2012
Mother’s Day is one of the most celebrated holidays in the United States. With 82.5 million mothers nationwide, this Sunday will be the peak day of the year for restaurants and long distance calls. A federal holiday since 1914, Mother’s Day is second only to Christmas for gift-giving...
May 9, 2012
Washington, DC – Liberty Counsel applauds North Carolinians who ignored the voices of the elite media, Hollywood, and even the Obama Administration, and resoundingly voted to affirm marriage as one man and one woman...
May 3, 2012
Washington, DC – Today during the National Day of Prayer, we continue a long tradition of acknowledging the blessings of God, asking for His mercy and forgiveness, and pleading for God’s divine intervention and guidance...
May 1, 2012
Oklahoma City, OK – The Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down the ballot initiative on personhood yesterday as unconstitutional under the federal Constitution, before it was even placed before the voters. In its two-page opinion, the court held that the proposed personhood amendment violated the Fourteenth Amendment as interpreted in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Personhood Oklahoma, the sponsor of the initiative, was represented by Liberty Counsel...
May 1, 2012
Hutchinson, KS – The battle for our religious rights and moral values is now being fought in Hutchinson, Kansas. On May 15, the city council of the small town, just northwest of Wichita, will vote on whether to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the list of other protected classes, such as race, age, and disability. If passed, this new law will destroy the “free exercise of religion” in Hutchinson ...
May 1, 2012
Oklahoma City, OK – The Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down the ballot initiative on personhood yesterday as unconstitutional under the federal Constitution, before it was even placed before the voters. In its two-page opinion, the court held that the proposed personhood amendment violated the Fourteenth Amendment as interpreted in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Personhood Oklahoma, the sponsor of the initiative, was represented by Liberty Counsel...
April 27, 2012
Woonsocket, RI – Liberty Counsel stands ready to defend Woonsocket, Rhode Island, against threats from the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), which takes issue with the 91-year-old war memorial located on Woonsocket Fire Department property, simply because it contains a cross...
April 26, 2012
Winter Park, FL – A spectrum of leaders, organizations, and individuals came together last weekend to celebrate The Awakening 2012: Turning our Voices into Votes. Not the typical white male conservative gathering, the two-day event brought together perspectives from across racial, ethnic, gender, and generational lines. John Stemberger, Founder and President of the Florida Family Policy Council, said, “I have been to a lot of conferences, but The Awakening was perhaps the best and most powerful conference I have ever attended. It was deeply intellectual and yet deeply spiritual”...
April 24, 2012
Washington, DC – The United States Supreme Court will hear argument tomorrow on the Arizona immigration law signed by Gov. Jan Brewer in 2010. This law is widely considered to be one of the nation’s toughest anti-immigration statutes...
April 19, 2012
Jackson, MS – The State of Mississippi advanced the health of women and the lives of the unborn this week, when Governor Phil Bryant signed into law regulations requiring clinic abortionists to be an obstetrician-gynecologist with admitting privileges at a local hospital...
April 18, 2012
Oklahoma City, OK – The Oklahoma House of Representatives is expected to pass a bill declaring that human life begins at conception and extending the full protection of the law to all human beings from the moment of conception. The Senate passed an earlier version of the Personhood Act in February and has promised to approve the House version. Governor Mary Fallin is expected to sign it...
April 17, 2012
Vancleave, MS – Yesterday, the Jackson County School Board in Mississippi unanimously passed a student speech policy, which will allow the senior class to pick a student speaker to deliver a two-minute message before and after graduation. The contents of that speech may or may not include a prayer...
April 13, 2012
Washington, DC – As students are donning caps and gowns, Liberty Counsel is launching the tenth annual “Friend or Foe” Graduation Prayer Campaign. The campaign serves to protect religious viewpoints at graduation. Liberty Counsel seeks to educate and, if necessary, litigate to ensure that prayer and religious viewpoints are not suppressed during graduation ceremonies...
April 16, 2012
Washington, DC – On Friday, April 20, the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) will encourage students to remain silent for an entire school day in solidarity with the radical lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) agenda...
April 12, 2012
Bellingham, MA – Today, fourth graders at Stall Brook Elementary School will be permitted to perform “God Bless the USA” at their public school assembly, because people in Bellingham, Massachusetts, and around the country stood for common sense and the children’s First Amendment rights...
April 10, 2012
Eureka, CA— Six Rivers Planned Parenthood of Eureka, California, has launched a campaign called the 40 Days of Prayer: Supporting Women Everywhere, which lists 40 different prayers for those committing abortions: the mothers, the escorts, the abortionists, and everyone involved except the unborn children...
April 9, 2012
Anchorage, AK – Voters in Anchorage, Alaska, overwhelmingly voted in favor of the natural family by rejecting Proposition 5, a measure that would have given special rights based on lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, and transsexual behavior. The measure was put on the ballot and supported by a consortium of LGBT groups, called “One Anchorage.” But Proposition 5 was defeated by a margin of 58 – 41. Proposition 5 would have added “sexual orientation” and even “gender identity,” whether real or perceived, to the city’s code...
April 6, 2012
Washington, DC – President Obama was publicly scolded this week for warning the Supreme Court against overturning ObamaCare. The President said that it would be “unprecedented” and “extraordinary” for the Supreme Court to rule that a law was unconstitutional...
April 3, 2012
Atlanta, GA - Hallmark Management Company has settled with Daniel and Sharon Dixon, after firing and evicting them from a property management position for having a piece of artwork hanging in their office that contained a Scripture reference. Liberty Counsel successfully represented the Dixons in the case of Dixon v. Hallmark Companies and will be awarded $76,250...
April 2, 2012
Washington, DC – The Department of Justice (DOJ) has dropped its appeal in Holder v. Pine against pro-life sidewalk counselor Mary “Susan” Pine, who is represented by Liberty Counsel. The DOJ has agreed to pay $120,000 for this improper lawsuit. The DOJ had unsuccessfully sought thousands of dollars in fines against Susan Pine, as well as a permanent injunction banning her from counseling women on the public sidewalk outside the Presidential Women’s Center (“PWC”) abortion clinic...
March 30, 2012
Montgomery, AL – Liberty Counsel filed an Amicus Curiae Brief in the Alabama Supreme Court in the case of Ankrom v. State of Alabama. The case involves the consolidation of two cases, which address the question of whether Alabama’s law against chemical endangerment of children can be applied to unborn children who are exposed to illegal drugs in utero. Courts of appeal in Alabama upheld convictions of mothers who were charged under the chemical endangerment law, when their children tested positive for illegal drugs at birth...
March 29, 2012
Washington, DC – Now that the three days of oral argument are finished, the next step for ObamaCare is the private conference of the Justices scheduled for Friday, during which they will discuss the case. Beginning with Chief Justice John Roberts and moving through the next most senior Justice to the most junior Justice, Kagan, each will give his/her vote on each aspect of the case. Once the majority is determined, the most senior Justice in the majority will assign the writing of the opinion. The writing will begin, with the written opinion expected in June...
March 28, 2012
Washington, DC – Today marks the final argument at the Supreme Court, during which the Court will focus on Medicaid expansion and states rights and severability. Under ObamaCare, some states will be required to expand Medicaid coverage as much as 50 percent. The economic impact will be crushing. The second issue will be whether the Court can sever the individual mandate from ObamaCare, while allowing the rest of the law to remain in effect...
Washington, DC – Today the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the second day of oral argument in Florida v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, which will focus on the individual mandate of ObamaCare...
Washington, DC – Today the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the first day of oral argument in Florida v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, which will determine if the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (better known as “ObamaCare”) is constitutional. The argument will begin by addressing whether the Anti-Injunction Act (AIA) applies to the case and, if so, whether AIA requires the parties to wait until 2014 or beyond before the merits of ObamaCare can be addressed...
Washington, DC – Today is the two-year anniversary of President Obama signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law (better known as “ObamaCare”) and, ironically, the 237th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s “Give me Liberty or give me Death” speech. In the time since ObamaCare was passed, we have seen devastating consequences financially and morally to our nation. Several lawsuits have been filed against this law, and on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing oral argument...
Washington DC – Liberty Counsel has agreed to represent Rev. Scott Lively, an evangelical pastor who was sued in a Massachusetts federal court by a foreign group called Sexual Minorities of Uganda (SMUG). The premise for this lawsuit is based upon the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). The ATS provides a cause of action for violations of international laws that are “specific, universal, and obligatory.” Courts have found torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity; summary execution, prolonged arbitrary detention, and forced disappearance to be actionable under the ATS. The lawsuit claims that beginning in 2002, Rev. Lively preached in Ugandan churches and shared his opinion on homosexuality and pornography. It further claims that as a result (albeit a convoluted one), some members of the so-called LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex) community faced discrimination, and one (SMUG Advocacy Director David Kato) was killed on January 26, 2011. The suit leaves out the fact that the suspected killer is a male prostitute with which Kato had sex and refused to pay...
March 20, 2012
Washington, DC – People are gathering in over 100 cities across the nation this Friday, March 23, to take a stand for their constitutional rights and freedoms. After President Obama stated last month that all religious institutions will be forced to include contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs in their insurance coverage under the new healthcare law, Americans have turned their outrage into one unified voice for freedom. The “Stand Up For Religious Freedom – Stop the HHS Mandate” rallies will serve as a time and place for people to protest against the recent contraceptives mandate and publicly voice their demand that the government protect their religious liberty...
March 6, 2012
Washington, DC – Liberty Counsel announced today a new partnership with the pro-life organization, Personhood USA. This partnership will enable both Liberty Counsel and Personhood USA to be more effective in advocating for the passage of personhood legislation and state initiatives for constitutional amendments in states across the country...
March 2, 2012
Washington, DC – An article entitled “After-birth abortion: Why should the baby live?” was recently published in the London-based Journal of Medical Ethics, advocating that if abortion is allowed, then society also has the right to kill a newborn child. This outrageous deduction by Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva takes abortion to its logical conclusion...
Seaside, OR – Liberty Counsel filed a federal lawsuit against the Public Library of Seaside, Oregon, for denying access for an educational meeting that included religious content. The library meeting area is offered free of charge for nonprofit groups. But, the library’s policy discriminates on the basis of religious content and viewpoint, stating, “Meeting rooms shall not be used for … religious services or proselytizing …”
February 16, 2012
West Palm Beach, FL – An attorney’s polemic crusade against Jews for Jesus took another blow this week, after the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Florida affirmed over $56,000 in sanctions won by Liberty Counsel against attorney Barry Silver of West Palm Beach. Mr. Silver sued Jews for Jesus over eight years ago on behalf of his client, Edith Rapp, who claimed that the organization defamed her by publishing a praise report about her. Since then, two separate judges dismissed four separate complaints filed by Mr. Silver, as Mr. Silver continually refused to obey court orders telling him to drop the polemic and hateful language in his complaints. Judge Edward Fine ultimately sanctioned Mr. Silver and ordered him to pay more than $56,000 for legal fees he needlessly caused Jews for Jesus to incur...
Washington DC – After students at Liberty University produced a video called “The Purity Bear,” which has now been viewed in 186 countries, the Day of Purity launched a second video that also encourages youth to consider saving sex for marriage. Today is the ninth annual celebration of Day of Purity, which is a call to remain sexually pure before marriage and loyal within marriage. Valentine’s Day has new meaning for the many who have replaced February 14 as a day to take a stand for purity. Anyone making this pledge can receive a free pledge card by signing up at www.DayofPurity.org...
Washington, DC – Liberty Counsel has two filed amicus briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court addressing both the Anti-Injunction Act and the Commerce Clause. Liberty Counsel represents Liberty University and two private individuals in the case of Liberty University v. Geithner. This case is being held at the Supreme Court pending the outcome in Florida v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, which originated in Florida and includes 26 states in addition to the National Federation of Independent Businesses...
Today, President Obama took the White House podium to say that all women, even if they are employed by a Catholic organization or charity, will have free access to contraceptives, in direct violation of the beliefs of the Catholic Church. Obama’s “new directive” only underscores the problem that he has the power to issue a directive, without any legislative oversight, that directly conflicts with freedom of religion and the right of conscience...
Sacramento, CA – Mathew Staver was appointed to the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) Board of Directors. The NHCLC is the nation’s largest Christian Hispanic organization and is also known as the Hispanic Evangelical Association. The NHCLC is unifying, serving, and representing the Hispanic born-again community through 34,200 member churches and 16 million constituents, by reconciling the vertical and horizontal of the Christian message through the “7 Directives,” which are Life, Healthy Families, The Great Commission, Stewardship, Youth, Education, and Justice...
San Francisco, CA – In Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the court issued a narrow 2-1 ruling, finding that Prop 8 cannot limit the name “marriage” to opposite-sex couples. The court did reach the broader question of whether there is a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage. The ruling is very narrow and limited only to California. In this respect, the ruling has to be a disappointment to same-sex marriage advocates...
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced a bill called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012 that will expand the nearly nonexistent exemption for religious employers in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as ObamaCare. As it now stands, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is forcing religious employers to pay for contraceptives, sterilization services, and abortion-inducing drugs for their employees...
Shawano, WI – Today the American College of Pediatricians sent a letter to the Shawano School District Superintendent, Todd Carlson, cautioning him to not react adversely to 15-year-old student Brandon Wegner based on political pressure. Superintendent Carlson called Brandon ignorant for his views on homosexual adoption presented in an op-ed, point-counter-point article for a student-run newspaper. Brandon, the author of the censored article, was punished and bullied for expressing his support of natural, mother-father adoption. The American College for Pediatricians sent a letter to the superintendent, advising him to “consider all the evidence.” It also included three articles concerning homosexual adoption and bullying...
Orlando, FL – Liberty Counsel has had an incredible response for its “Florida Awake! Presidential Candidate Forum with Q&A” happening tomorrow, January 28, 2012, from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. Tickets were snapped up days ago, and we are working on overflow seating...
Lynchburg, VA – A short video promoting sexual purity hit a quarter of a million views today. People from more than 175 different countries and regions have watched the student-produced video that was designed to spark interest and start conversations promoting sexual purity. The number of views reached over a quarter of a million in just the past 10 days. It is the goal of the Day of Purity to equip teens, youth, parents, friends, and individuals with the facts to encourage sexual purity until, and loyalty within, marriage...
January 23, 2012
Shawano, WI – Liberty Counsel is representing the Wegner family after school officials at Shawano High School censored and punished Brandon Wegner, a 15-year-old, for writing an op-ed article explaining the Biblical view of homosexuality and supporting natural mother-father adoption. Liberty Counsel sent a letter to the school demanding it apologize for its unconstitutional and irrational censorship and humiliation of Brandon...
Shawano, WI – School officials at Shawano High School needlessly censored and apologized for a 15-year-old’s op-ed article supporting natural mother-father adoption. It was a part of an editorial page which presented both viewpoints, each articulated by students. After the school newspaper was published in the local town paper, a homosexual in the community complained to the school. School officials took immediate action and censored the article supporting natural adoption...
West Palm Beach, FL – A federal judge has ended Attorney General Eric Holder’s two-year political prosecution of pro-life educator Mary Susan Pine. Holder accused Pine of obstructing the entrance to an abortion clinic, in violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (“FACE”). Holder sought thousands of dollars in fines against Pine, as well as a permanent injunction banning her from counseling women on the public sidewalk outside the Presidential Women’s Center (“PWC”) abortion clinic, where she has faithfully ministered for over 20 years. Liberty Counsel successfully defended Pine...
Washington DC - The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided that under the First Amendment churches are entitled to a “ministerial exception” and thus dismissed a wrongful termination suit against the church. In Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church v. EEOC, the Court recognizes that the ministerial exception applies beyond the head of a religious congregation to others, such as the teacher in this case, who are viewed as ministers or those carrying the message of the Church...
Washington, DC – Liberty Counsel is launching preparations for the annual Day of Purity on Valentine’s Day and encouraging people across the world to prepare for its celebration on February 14. It is the goal of the Day of Purity to equip teens, parents, friends, and individuals with the facts to encourage sexual purity until, and loyalty within, marriage. One example is teen virgins can expect to earn an average income that is 16 percent higher than sexually active teens from identical socioeconomic backgrounds. This will mean an increased average salary of $370,000 over their lifetime...
Orlando, FL – Between his campaign against President Gerald Ford in 1975-76 and his race against Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan delivered more than 1,000 radio broadcasts, running about three minutes each, writing nearly all of them himself. In one broadcast during the Christmas season, Mr. Reagan told a story about Christmas in the Ukraine before and after Communism...
West Palm Beach, FL – Mary Susan Pine, a Liberty Counsel client and sidewalk counselor, is a picture of courage and moral strength. For the last twenty years, she has spent virtually every Saturday in front of an abortion clinic, most recently the Presidential Women’s Center (“PWC”) in West Palm Beach. Susan counsels women who are considering abortion and provides help, resources, and support for women who choose life...
Orlando, FL – Another Macy’s employee has contacted Liberty Counsel and shared about repeated issues with men using the women’s fitting rooms. This individual asked to remain anonymous out of fear of losing her job. The employee said she constantly has to ask men to leave the women’s fitting rooms. In addition, she has been asked numerous times by mothers who have daughters in the fitting rooms to please ask the men to leave the women’s dressing rooms...
December 12, 2011
Washington, DC – You might be a communist if…You ban poinsettias from a government school; You rename a Christmas tree a “holiday” tree in a state building…or You threaten your neighbors with unexpected consequences if they want to put up Christmas lights. North Korea has claimed that South Korea’s plan to place three Christmas light displays in the shape of large trees is “a mean attempt for psychological warfare.” Their official site states, “The enemy warmongers ... should be aware that they should be held responsible entirely for any unexpected consequences that may be caused by their scheme,” according to the Associated French Press...
Orlando, FL – Join Mat Staver and Natalie Johnson on America’s News HQ: Fox News Channel on Sunday, Dec. 11, between noon and 1:00 p.m., to discuss Macy’s policy that allows men to use the women’s fitting rooms...
San Antonio, TX – A young woman was fired from a Macy’s department store for refusing to violate her religious beliefs by permitting a young man dressed as a woman from entering the women’s dressing room. Natalie Johnson claims she saw the young man walk out of the women’s fitting room and politely told him that he could not go back in because it was for women only. The cross-dressing young man claimed that he is a “female.” Johnson said that he was wearing make-up and girl’s clothing, but clearly he was a male. The cross-dresser was accompanied by five other individuals. The group argued with expletives that Macy’s is LGBT-friendly, to which Johnson replied that Macy’s is also non-discriminatory toward religion, and that it would go against her religious beliefs to lie that he was a woman or compromise with homosexuality. The group then demanded to speak with a manager...
West Greenwich, RI – A Christian business owner has informed the Rhode Island Governor that he may take back the Christmas tree he donated to the State House for the annual Christmas tree lighting celebration. Gov. Lincoln Chafee proclaimed it must be referred to as a “holiday” tree. For the past five years, John Leyden, the owner of Big John Leyden Christmas Trees, has donated a Christmas tree to the State House Rotunda for the annual event. But this year, Chafee says it cannot be called a “Christmas tree,” claiming this counters Rhode Island's founding as a haven for religious tolerance, where government and religion were kept separate...
Livingston County, NY – Judge Robert Wiggins dealt a major setback to New York Governor Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg in the lawsuit brought by Liberty Counsel against the same-sex marriage law (“Act”). In response to the flagrant violations of the New York state constitutional and legal procedures, Liberty Counsel filed suit in the New York Supreme Court against the Act, which was signed into law on June 24, 2011, by Gov. Cuomo. The state asked the court to dismiss the case, but yesterday afternoon, Judge Wiggins sided with Liberty Counsel on the Open Meetings complaint, ruling that the case may proceed to trial. Liberty Counsel represents New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms and several other plaintiffs...
Orlando, FL – Just one day after coming under a firestorm for selling “holiday” gifts and providing “holiday” shipping for gifts to arrive by December 25th, Walgreens has worked to regain their “nice” status on Liberty Counsel’s “Naughty or Nice List” which catalogs more than 50 national retailers which either censor (“naughty”) or recognize (“nice”) Christmas...
Orlando, FL – Two competing drug store chains have switched sides on Liberty Counsel’s “Naughty and Nice List.” For the first time since 2007 CVS Pharmacy has embraced Christmas with a “Christmas Central” portion of its website that is dedicated to Christmas gifts, shipping and savings. On the other hand, Walgreens has moved from the “Nice” side to the “Naughty” side because it refuses to recognize Christmas. Walgreens names other traditional days such as Thanksgiving and Black Friday, but then suddenly uses only “Holiday” to describe the biggest reason for shopping all year...
Charleston, SC – Liberty Counsel sent a letter to a cancer treatment center, demanding it extend its reversal of a decision to ban Santa Claus to now also allow Nativity scenes and other religious Christmas symbols. The Hollings Cancer Center, a state-funded institution in South Carolina, decided to ban all Christmas displays from its facilities. Two days later, they reversed the decision and let Santa Claus sneak in, but for now baby Jesus is still out in the cold...
Washington, DC – Today the U. S. Supreme Court announced it will hear all arguments involving the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly known as "ObamaCare"). Liberty Counsel represents Liberty University and two private individuals who object to government-mandated health insurance
