Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation next on FOT

Tuesday Lea Carawan, executive director of the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation (CPCF) will join Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll on Faith on Trial.

Alarmed by the concerted effort to remove God from every vestige of government and to silence the voice of millions, CPCF is at the center of a growing network of national, state

Lea Carawan

and local leaders who are working together to restore, upgrade and popularize America’s founding spirit and the principles related to faith and morality that shaped this Great Republic.  CPCF is mobilizing leaders and citizens who are committed to promoting prayer, preserving our Judeo-Christian heritage and protecting religious freedom for all.

In 2005, dozens of Members of Congress stood on the steps of our nation's Capitol and gave an historic call of prayer to America. They initiated an official "Call to Prayer" as a proclamation to all people of faith as to the need to follow the instruction of 2 Chronicles 7:14; to humble ourselves, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways that He may heal our land. Every week Members of Congress, regardless of party affiliation, meet in Room 219 in the US Capitol to pray for each other and for our nation.

Join Lea, Deacon Mike, and Gina Tuesday at 9 a.m. (CDT) on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming on IowaCatholicRadio.com.  The program will be re-broadcast at 9 p.m.

Tomorrow on FOT: Abortion coverage in the media

Dr. Brian Clowes

This week’s guest on FOT will be Brian Clowes, PhD.  He is director of education and research at Human Life International (HLI). A West Point graduate, Brian is a former A-Team leader for the Army Special Forces (“Green Berets”), and holds a PhD in Civil Engineering and Systems Science. Since 1995, he has been HLI’s director of research, and is the author of nine books, over 90 scholarly and popular articles, and has traveled to 50 countries on six continents as a pro-life speaker, educator and trainer.

Join Deacon Mike Manno, co-host Gina Noll, and Brian as they discuss how abortion and pro-choice violence is covered in the media. FOT is on Iowa Catholic Radio every Tuesday at 9 a.m. and rebroadcast at 9 p.m. (CDT) on 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming on IowaCatholicRadio.com.

“Dating Lesson” asks eighth grade girls: How far will you go? Second school shows graphic sex slide show at “sex-ed” class

Parents are fuming after eighth grade girls were asked to publically state how far they would go sexually on a date.  According to press reports, teachers in the Woodland park Middle School in San Marcos, California school had the girls stand under signs indicating their sexual activity.  The signs read “smiled at,” “hugged,” “kissed,” “above the waist,” “below the waist,” and “all the way.”

In a press statement the school defended the class as “opening lines of communication between parents and students about dating expectations.”

In the Pine Valley Middle School, in Pine Valley, California, students were subjected to a slide show on sexual positions and “conception myths.”  One slide showed a woman standing on a man with the message that being “on top” will not prevent pregnancy; another showed a man with bloody hands with the message, “A real man loves his woman every day of the month.”

One wonders where this generation of “educators” comes from. The moral of this story: Watch closely what is happening to your children in school.

False charges impede pro-life sidewalk counselor’s free speech rights

 The Chicago-based Thomas More Society filed a brief last week in the Michigan Court of Appeals, challenging a personal protective order requiring a pro-life sidewalk counselor to stay at least 500 feet away from a Detroit abortion clinic. Chris Coatney advocates the sanctity of life outside of the Summit Women’s Center, where he speaks with abortion-bound women and couples in an effort to save their babies. The order was entered after Denise Burrell, the manager of the inner city abortion clinic, claimed that Coatney’s speech was threatening and that she was afraid of him. This assertion was made despite video evidence showing Burrell and colleagues threatening and abusing Coatney. 

“This is a gross abuse of Michigan’s stalking law to suppress the free speech of a peaceful, persuasive sidewalk counseling veteran,” said Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Society. “Mr. Coatney presented video evidence proving that the claims against him are utterly false. We are confident that our appeal will free Coatney from this

Tom Brejch

gag order, so that he may continue his peaceful efforts to speak the message of life with vigor and eloquence to abortion-bound women.” 

Under the current personal protective order, Coatney is required to stay at least 500 feet away from the abortion clinic. This prohibits him from participating in sidewalk counseling or otherwise communicating with abortion clinic patrons, which is something he had done every day at the abortion clinic for several years. 

Contrary to the claims of the abortion facility manager, video evidence shows that Coatney has been harassed, even assaulted, by the clinic employees and their associates on multiple occasions:

• In July 2010, relatives of facility manager Burrell tore the pro-life signs off of Coatney’s van and ripped them up.

• Three months later, in October, as Coatney drove away from the Summit Women’s Center abortion facility after sidewalk counseling, Burrell got in her vehicle and followed him. He stopped at the gas station in an attempt to distance himself from Burrell who dogged him and did not stop until Coatney drove to a police station.

• Later, Coatney was physically assaulted by two clinic patrons. Upon exiting the clinic, they knocked him to the ground and grabbed both his cameras.  Coatney righted himself and did not fight back.  Inexplicably, this event was cited by the complainant and her lawyer as proof of why Burrell was so afraid of Coatney, namely, that he didn't even fight back when knocked down.

Patrick T. Gillen, Thomas More Society special counsel, explained, “The court entered a personal protective order in violation of the plain language of Michigan’s stalking law and with utter disregard for Mr. Coatney’s First Amendment rights.  We are confident that the Michigan Court of Appeals will reverse this egregious error and set an important precedent governing the application of Michigan law that will protect Mr. Coatney and other peaceful pro-life counselors.” 

Coatney, a Detroit postal worker, devotes his off-hours almost exclusively to his pro-life sidewalk counseling advocacy, in order to save babies and their mothers from abortion. He invests significant amounts of his own money to print signs and other pro-life literature.

Police chief retaliates against “Impeach Obama” Tea Party activist

In a bizarre turn of events, Gregory Luce found himself the target of harassing e-mails and phone calls as a result of retaliation by Campbell, Wisconsin Chief of Police Timothy Kelemen. Luce was targeted for retaliation after he spoke out against a city ordinance which prohibits citizens from displaying the American flag and wearing t-shirts that call for the impeachment of President Barack Obama on a pedestrian highway overpass managed by the town.

Luce is a devout Catholic and member of the Tea Party.  He opposes President Obama on several issues, including the President’s stance on abortion.

The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, MI, represents Mr. Luce in a federal lawsuit challenging the ordinance. The lawsuit named the town as well as the chief and a police officer as defendants.  However, on Friday, June 6, 2014, TMLC attorneys filed an amended complaint after an investigation by the Monroe County Sheriff’s investigators revealed that Chief Kelemen used his police department and home computers to sign Luce up for a series of unwanted solicitations including solicitations from homosexual oriented pornography and dating websites.  Luce is a married, heterosexual man.

TMLC attorney Erin Mersino, a frequent FOT guest, who is the principal attorney on the

TMLC Attorney Erin Mersino

case commented, “All citizens should be free to exercise their First Amendment rights without fear of retaliation—especially retaliation at the hands of individuals, such as the head of law enforcement, who hold so much power in our communities.”

After initially denying any involvement in the harassment of Luce, the chief ultimately admitted the harassment as an attempt to “get back at” Luce after detectives told him they had traced the unwanted solicitations to his IP addresses at the police department and his home. Detectives have referred their investigation to the Monroe County District Attorney for criminal prosecution under Wisconsin law.  On the civil front, TMLC amended its complaint to add counts of retaliation, invasion of privacy, and civil Identity Theft.

Chief Kelemen used Gregory Luce’s personal information, including home address, telephone number and e-mail address, to create profiles and accounts on numerous pornographic and dating websites featuring homosexual men, insurance companies, and the “Obamacare” website healthcare.gov. The accounts created by Kelemen resulted in Luce receiving approximately 15 phone calls in a single day regarding the profiles made using his information.

Planned Parenthood closes clinics in Red Oak and Creston, Iowa

Planned Parenthood facilities in two southwest Iowa towns are shutting down.  Thomas More Society-Omaha confirmed that a sign hanging on the door at the Red Oak abortion facility declares that the facility will be “consolidated” with another Iowa Planned Parenthood, effective June 18, 2014. The notice of these closings comes after months of prayer outside of these abortion clinics by dedicated pro-life advocates.

“The closing of two Planned Parenthood abortion facilities in Iowa is a great victory for life,” said Thomas More Society-Omaha attorney Martin Cannon. “Credit goes to the prayerful people of Red Oak and our listening God, but Thomas More Society also had the honor of assisting these men and women. By clarifying the existence of public property in front of the clinic, we were able to work with the police of Red Oak to ensure that the people’s First Amendment rights to assemble on public property were respected.”

The pro-life prayer vigil and sidewalk counseling efforts at the Red Oak facility were jeopardized during the Spring 2014 40 Days for Life campaign, when Planned Parenthood challenged the right of pro-life advocates to stand on the grass parkway.  The abortion provider tried to have the praying crowd arrested and charged with criminal trespassing, claiming that those praying were on private property.  

Initially, the police concurred with Planned Parenthood, but after intervention by Cannon and the Thomas More Society-Omaha, the Red Oak city administrator verified the public right of way. Legally equivalent to a public sidewalk, this is a “traditional public forum” in the eyes of the law and constitutes a place where people have a First Amendment right to assemble.  

Many in the area believe that the Planned Parenthood sites fell victim to the unrelenting presence of those peacefully offering life-saving alternatives to abortion.  Regardless, the fact is that the Red Oak abortion facility and its sister clinic in Creston, 40 miles down the same highway, are closing.

Virginia Community College System consents to court order in student’s legal challenge to unconstitutional speech codes

The Virginia Community College System consented to a court order that prohibits it from enforcing unconstitutional speech policies and zones challenged by Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing a student. The policy changes affect all 23 of the system’s schools.

Under the new policy, students are no longer required to be part of a student organization before they can speak in the open areas of campus. Also, student free speech will no longer be limited to “free speech zones” designated by college officials, and students will no longer be required to register with their college four days in advance of engaging in free speech.

“Colleges should support--not censor--student speech. We commend the Virginia Community College System for revising its speech policy to align with what a marketplace of ideas should be,” said Litigation Staff Counsel Travis Barham. “The revised policies respect the rights of all students, regardless of their religious or political beliefs, to speak freely in the outdoor areas of campus, and students no longer have to jump through unconstitutional hoops to exercise the freedoms that the First Amendment protects.”

Last September, Thomas Nelson Community College prohibited Christian Parks from expressing his Christian beliefs in a large courtyard of the college. An officer from the college’s police department told him he must stop preaching because the content of his speech might offend someone. School officials then told Parks that his speech violated the Student Code of Conduct and VCCS policies.

“The decision of one student to take a stand has brought about greater freedom for students on 23 college campuses in Virginia,” added Senior Legal Counsel David Hacker. “We hope this case motivates others to take similar stands so that they and all Americans will be able to continue to benefit from the constitutional freedoms we have inherited and enjoy every day.”

AFLC appeals decision to discipline police captain for refusing to attend an Islamic proselytizing event; lead attorney to join us Tuesday on FOT

While courts often make erroneous decisions, particularly in controversial, politically-

Robert Muise

incorrect cases involving First Amendment freedoms, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit’s recent decision in the case of Captain Paul Fields, the Tulsa police officer who was summarily punished for objecting on religious grounds to an order mandating attendance at an Islamic proselytizing event to be held at a local mosque, was particularly egregious.

Friday, American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) filed a petition for rehearing and request for full court review in this case. 

On May 22, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that the City of Tulsa and two of its senior police officials did not violate the constitutional rights of Captain Paul Fields, a Tulsa Police officer who was summarily punished for objecting to an order mandating attendance at an Islamic proselytizing event held at a local mosque based on his religious beliefs.

Robert Muise, Co-Founder and Senior Counsel of the AFLC and lead counsel for Captain Fields in the case, will join us next Tuesday on Faith On Trial on Iowa Catholic Radio.  He is also representing Fr. Frank Pavone and Priests For Life in their challenge to the Obama Administration’s HHS Mandate that requires employers to provide contraceptives and abortion inducing drugs to its employees.

Join Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll as they discuss these and other legal issues of interest to people of faith Tuesday at 9 a.m. (CDT) on Iowa Catholic Radio 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming on IowaCatholicRadio.com.  The program will be re-broadcast Tuesday evening at 9.

Tuesday on FOT: Roadblocks pro-life pregnancy centers face

Tom Glessner

On Faith On Trial this week we are going to discuss some of the legal and societal roadblocks that are placed in front of pro-life pregnancy centers.

Our guest will be Thomas A. Glessner, the founder and president of the National Institute of Family andLife Advocates (NIFLA), a public interest law firm founded in 1993 which is committed to legal counsel and training for pregnancy resource centers. NIFLA represents more than 1,300 pregnancy resource centers across the nation including InnerVisions HealthCare in West Des Moines. 

As the CEO of NIFLA, Tom has developed and implemented legal guidelines for pregnancy resource centers to enable them to convert their operations into licensed medical clinics and provide for abortion-minded clients’ medical services such as ultrasound. NIFLA provides life-affirming pregnancy resource centers with legal counsel, education, and training to enable them to avoid legal pitfalls in their operations. 

Tom is listed in Who’s Who in American Law and is a member of the bar associations for the United States Supreme Court, the State of Virginia and the State of Washington. As such, he has filed several “friend of the court” briefs in cases of major significance to the prolife movement in the United States Supreme Court. 

Join Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll Tuesday morning at 9 (CDT) or for the re-broadcast at 9 p.m. on Iowa Catholic Radio 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming on-line at IowaCatholicRadio.com.

Arizona county forcing closure of church that helps homeless

Church must raise $68K for tax bill it doesn’t owe to stay alive;
State Supreme Court refuses to hear church's case!

La Paz County is forcing a small church in Quartzsite City that helps the homeless to close its doors by June 15 unless it pays $68,000 in back-taxes and penalties that both state law and the Arizona Department of Revenue say the church doesn’t owe.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent Church of the Isaiah 58 Project of Arizona in a lawsuit over the taxes, but because state courts have been unwilling to defer payment of the back-taxes until litigation has completed, the congregation is now facing foreclosure because it operates on a shoestring budget of only $50,000 per year. Supporters of the church have contributed money to help it pay the illegal tax bill so that it can stay open and continue its lawsuit, but it still needs about $30,000 to avoid foreclosure due to a tax lein on its property.

“Churches shouldn’t live in fear of being punished by the government when they’ve not done anything wrong, but that’s precisely what is happening to this church. If La Paz County officials have their way, this church will lose everything,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “The county assessor illegally levied these taxes against the church even though the Arizona Department of Revenue provided a letter stating that the church should owe no taxes. We join community leaders and the homeless whom the church serve in hoping that the church will obtain the amount it needs to continue operating and to continue its legal fight against this injustice.”

Under state law, the church qualified for an exemption from property taxes and filed the appropriate paperwork with the La Paz County property assessor. The assessor sat on the church’s paperwork for three years before granting a tax exemption and then only granted it for the years 2009 and later, leaving the church with back-taxes for 2007-2008 that it should not owe.

A September 2013 decision from the Arizona Court of Appeals in Church of the Isaiah 58 Project of Arizona v. La Paz County upheld an earlier Tax Court ruling that said the church should have paid the tax bill before challenging it as illegal. ADF attorneys have argued, however, that state law does not require the church to do so when it is challenging an illegally assessed tax so high that the congregation can’t pay the bill and ask for a refund later.

The Arizona Supreme Court recently declined to hear an appeal, leaving the church with no choice but to raise enough money to pay the illegal tax bill so it can stay open, continue its lawsuit, and then seek a refund of the bill if it prevails.

Houston City Council approves LGBT ordinance

Wednesday, the Houston City Council and lesbian Mayor Annise Parker, by a vote of 11-6, approved the controversial LGBT ordinance that has dogged the Council for weeks. The Council was forced to delay action on the issue due to a flood of opposition amongst a diverse group of citizens and local leaders and fear over the impact of enforcement on public safety and the local economy. During public testimony before the final vote, leading local African American pastors walked out of the council chambers after homosexual advocates were given priority placement for testimony at the beginning of the meeting, while the Mayor and some council members voted to keep the pastors further down on the list.

Mayor Parker has conceded that the ordinance would apply to men who seek to use

women’s bathrooms. The city attorney has also admitted that the ordinance can be used to prosecute photographers and private business owners who choose not to participate in same sex ceremonies, when doing such causes them to violate their conscience and/or religious beliefs. With this vote, the Houston City Council has said that homosexual conduct trumps religious liberty and free speech.

“Today the Houston City Council voted to have homosexual conduct trump religious liberty and free speech with this ordinance,” said Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values Action. “This ill-advised power grab by Mayor Parker will be used a weapon to attack people of Christian faith, and that’s a shame.”

Supporters of Texas Values Action sent over 110,000 e-mail messages in opposition to the ordinance have already been sent to the Council members in a matter of weeks, more than the 98,000 votes Mayor Parker received in her re-election in 2013.

Breitbart reports that there is now a movement to recall Mayor Parker.

Bogus trespass charges dismissed against pro-lifer in Sioux City

Thomas More Society-Omaha defends sidewalk counselor

vs. Planned Parenthood complaint

Attorneys from the Thomas More Society have successfully defended pro-life sidewalk counselor Peggy McGinty against spurious trespass charges brought by the Sioux City Planned Parenthood. Ms. McGinty has been providing peaceful, pro-life sidewalk counseling outside Planned Parenthood’s Sioux City, Iowa facility for 14 years, but in December of 2013, Planned Parenthood persuaded city authorities to bring criminal trespass charges against her after she drove into its parking lot and quickly turned around. Thomas More Society attorneys won a dismissal of her case last week, on May 22^nd, without trial, when Planned Parenthood’s witness failed to appear.

“We are always ready and honored to provide pro-lifers with timely, strong, and reliable legal defense,” said Martin Cannon, attorney for Thomas More Society-Omaha. “When slammed with false criminal charges, Ms. McGinty and other peaceful pro-lifers need not be left defenseless against such intimidating tactics on the part of Planned Parenthood, which takes delight in threatening pro-lifers with fines and jail time and urges authorities, as in this case, to bring false charges which it then fails to back up.”

For over a decade, Peggy McGinty has been a regular pro-life sidewalk counselor in Sioux City, where she also works with Mary's Choice, a crisis pregnancy center that shares a property line with the abortion facility. Planned Parenthood has tried to frustrate the pro-lifers by erecting a very tall, opaque fence around its property, to prevent sidewalk counselors from seeing or communicating with abortion-bound women who enter the lot.

Mary's Choice, however, countered this tactic by building an elevated platform on its own side of the fence so that counselors could offer assistance to women heading for the abortion facility.

On a very cold morning last December 6, Ms. McGinty was ill and couldn’t be there for her counseling. But as she puts it, “I don’t want the babies to die alone.” She drove to the clinic to find out if it was open before she called sidewalk counselors to take her place. Because of the tall fence, Ms. McGinty couldn't see whether there were any cars in Planned Parenthood’s parking lot, and the gate to the elevated platform on the Mary's Choice side was frozen to the ground.

Peggy drove into the Planned Parenthood lot to see if there were cars there. There were no “No Trespassing” signs posted.  However, as she entered the parking lot to quickly turn around, the Planned Parenthood security guard zoomed out in his car from behind the building, blocking her exit. She signaled to him to roll down his window, but he refused, calling police instead and lying to them that she was a repeat offender. Then Peggy was arrested and charged with criminal trespass.

On May 22^nd, Ms. McGinty, Thomas More attorney Martin Cannon, and local pro-life attorney Zachary Hindman appeared in court, prepared for trial. Planned Parenthood’s security guard, who had blocked Ms. McGinty and called the police, had been directed to appear in court for the trial. But he never showed up, and the case was dismissed.  Sioux City’s prosecutor is wiser now and will likely scrutinize the abortionists’ complaints more carefully before bringing new criminal charges against pro-lifers.

Professor Clay Christensen on Religious Freedom

Clay Christensen is the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School.

Religious freedoms in the military; next on FOT

Travis Weber

As a follow-up to our Memorial Day weekend, Tuesday’s FOT guest is Travis S. Weber, the Director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council, where he focuses on all manner of legal and policy issues pertaining to religious freedom, especially those of our military service members.

Travis is an attorney holding a J.D. from Regent University School of Law and an LL.M in international law from Georgetown University Law Center. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and served in the navy piloting E-6 aircraft.  Before joining FRC he served as a private attorney litigating federal civil rights cases and military-related legal issues.

Join Deacon Mike Manno and co-host Gina Noll as they visit with Travis and discuss other legal and societal issues involving people of faith. All on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming on IowaCatholicRadio.com, beginning at 9 a.m. (CDT) and re-broadcast at 9 p.m. 

Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, and Cornerstone University win in federal court against HHS mandate

A federal court issued an order this week that halts enforcement of the Obama administration’s HHS mandate against two Christian colleges: Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa and Cornerstone University in Michigan.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent the colleges in a lawsuit challenging the Obama Administration’s mandate that forces employers, regardless of their religious or moral convictions and under threat of heavy penalties, to provide insurance coverage for pills and procedures that many Christians oppose. The two colleges object to the government’s conclusion that they are not sufficiently religious to qualify for the extremely narrow religious exemption from the mandate.

“Christian colleges should remain free to operate according to their defining beliefs,” said ADF Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor. “Under this mandate, religious employers have no real choice: they must either comply and abandon their religious freedom, or resist and be taxed for their faith. If the government can force Christian colleges to act contrary to their deeply-held religious convictions, then the government can do just about anything. The court was right to block enforcement of this unconstitutional mandate.”

The lawsuit, Dordt College v. Sebelius, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, Western Division, argues that the mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as well as the First and Fifth amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

“With full knowledge that many religious organizations hold the same or similar beliefs, the Defendants issued regulations that…trample on the freedom of the Schools and millions of other American organizations and individuals to abide by their religious convictions and comply with moral imperatives they believe are decreed by God Himself,” the lawsuit states, adding that the mandate “illegally and unconstitutionally coerces the Schools to violate” those imperatives “under threat of heavy fines and penalties.”

The lawsuit also points out that “the government has provided thousands of exemptions…for various groups, such as large corporations, but refuses to exempt most religious groups from this unprecedented Mandate. Moreover, the Mandate does not apply to countless ‘grandfathered’ employer group health plans, through which millions of American women receive health insurance coverage, belying any contention that the Mandate advances some compelling government interest.”

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys and allied attorneys are also litigating 19 other lawsuits against the mandate. The lawsuits represent a large cross-section of Protestants and Catholics who object to the mandate.