What is happening to Christian refugees? Is U.S. policy not permitting Christians to seek refuge? Next on FOT

Why are persecuted Christians not able to gain refugee status in the United States? News reports indicate that since 2011 less than three percent of the 2,184 Syrian refugees allowed into the country were Christian.  And according to State Department figures, 97 percent of the refugees resettled in 2015 are Muslim.


Faith McDonnell

Where are the Christian refugees?

We’ll discuss this issue this week with Faith McDonnell of the Institute on Religion and Democracy. Faith writes and speaks on the subject of the persecuted church (here's a link to some of her writings) and is the author of the 2007 book Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope for NorthernUganda’s Children. She is a member of the Anglican Church of the Apostles and serves on the church’s international missions committee and as a board member for several human rights organizations.

Join Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll for an interesting

discussion with Faith on a subject that is important to all Christians today, as well as for our usual potpourri of news items of interest to people of faith. Faith On Trial is heard every Tuesday at 9 a.m. (Central) on Iowa Catholic Radio 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streams on IowaCathoilcRadio.com. Unless pre-empted by Dowling Catholic Basketball, the program will rebroadcast at 9 p.m.

Faith On Trial is supported by our loyal underwriters Attorney Rick McConville, Coppola, McConville, Coppola, Carroll, Hockenberg & Scalise PC 2100 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines, 515-453-1055; ConfluenceBrewing Company – off the Bike Trail just south of Grey’s Lake, 1235 Thomas Beck Road where there is live entertainment in the tap room every Thursday, and Rob denHartog, Wealth Management Advisor at Northwestern Mutual Life, NW corner of 128^th Street and Hickman Rd, 515-210-4472. 

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals hears Life Legal Defense Foundation's defense of pro-life speech!

Seeking injunction to protect sidewalk counselors from harassment

Katie Short

This afternoon, Life Legal Defense Foundation’s lead attorney, and frequent FOT guest Katie Short, appeared before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit seeking a preliminary injunction against the Chief of Police and other officers of the City of Jackson, Mississippi to protect the First Amendment rights of pro-life speakers.

The case involves members of Pro-Life Mississippi (PLM), who have had a presence on the public sidewalk of the state’s last abortion clinic for years. During much of that time, they have been harassed, intimidated, threatened, and even arrested by law enforcement officers. In December 2013, the police arrested Harriet Ashley, who was 80 years old at the time, shackling her and taking her downtown for booking. That’s when Life Legal said enough is enough and filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking justice for those wrongfully arrested and first amendment protection for those peacefully praying on the sidewalk outside Mississippi’s last abortion clinic. 

In 2008, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi entered a consent decree against the City of Jackson and its Chief of Police because of the Police Department’s pervasive policy of violating the pro-lifers’ free speech rights. The Court went so far as to order the City and the police department to attend training on the First Amendment and to learn how to protect the free speech rights of citizens. However, the discriminatory and unconstitutional enforcement of the law has not stopped.

Jackson law enforcement officers continue to impose arbitrary and bizarre rules on the sidewalk counselors, including a “no touch” rule that prohibits the group from resting their signs on the ground at any time, even for a moment, and a “no standing” rule that requires them to continually move about when they are near the gate of the abortion clinic. Members of the group have been arrested for violating these so-called rules, even though they are not codified in any state or local statutes. At the same time, the Jackson Police Department enforced no such regulations against pro-abortion protesters on the same sidewalk.

“The City is on a mission and, as evidenced by the 2008 consent decree, has been for many years. Their mission is to discourage First Amendment activity,” said Life Legal attorney Katie Short. “The City’s strategy has been to force pro-life speakers into a game of ‘Mother, May I?’ with the police and then drag the losers into court on frivolous charges. That game needs to end.”

The injunction would allow pro-life speakers to continue their lawful and peaceful presence on the sidewalk without the threat of unwarranted and unconstitutional police action directed against them.

Swedish homeschooling tragedy: Boy held five years and kept from parents: Next FOT

Michael Donnelly

Dominic Johansson’s parents have not seen their son since November of 2010; they are being kept away by Swedish authorities because they homeschooled Dominic, who is now 14. Dominic’s parents, Christer and Annie Johansson were in the process of moving to India, Annie’s homeland, and were already seated on their aircraft when police and social workers boarded and took custody of Dominic.

Authorities initially said they took the boy because the family had been homeschooling. Later they changed their story to say the parents had been neglecting Dominic. In any event the case has wound its way through the Swedish court system and now, after being rejected by the European Court of Human Rights, the family is making one last stand in hopes that the Swedish Supreme Court will hear their case.

Joining Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll this week will be Michael Donnelly, staff attorney and director of Global Outreach for the Home School Legal Defense Association, who is working with European and Swedish attorneys to get the case before the Supreme Court.

Also Tuesday we’ll have our monthly visit from our media critic and former Des Moines Register reporter Todd Erzen.

Join Deacon Mike and Gina Tuesday at 9 a.m. (central) – rebroadcast at 9 p.m. – on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM, and streaming on IowaCatholicRadio.com.  

Faith On Trial is supported by Attorney Rick McConville, Coppola, McConville, Coppola, Carroll, Hockenberg & Scalise PC 2100 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines, 515-453-1055; Confluence Brewing Company – off the Bike Trail just south of Grey’s Lake, 1235 Thomas Beck Road where there is live entertainment in the tap room every Thursday, and Rob denHartog, Wealth Management Advisor at Northwestern Mutual Life, NW corner of 128^th Street and Hickman Rd, 515-210-4472.

Life Legal Defense Fund’s defense of the Center of Medical Progress’ use of undercover videos of Planned Parenthood selling fetal body parts

Yesterday FOT hosted Alexandra Snyder, executive director of Life Legal Defense Foundation, and Life Legal’s activities on behalf of David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) and their undercover videos showing how Planned Parenthood was attempting to sell the body parts of aborted babies. Later in the day Life Legal released the following Thanksgiving message which further explains the legal situation in which David and CMP find themselves. So in case you missed the program, here is the statement from Life Legal:

Life Legal is grateful for the opportunity to represent David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress (CMP). Earlier this year, David released the first of a series of undercover videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s sale of baby body parts.

We wanted to give you an overview of what has happened on the legal front since then.

In July, shortly after the release of the first video, David was hit with two separate lawsuits. The first was filed by StemExpress, a procurer or broker of fetal body parts. The second suit was filed by the National Abortion Federation (NAF), of which Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers are members. The NAF lawsuit alleged thirteen separate counts of action and sought an injunction to keep David’s videos out of public view. NAF is represented by one of the largest law firms in the nation, employing some 1,000 attorneys.

In August, Life Legal filed an “anti-SLAPP” motion. A “SLAPP” or Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation is designed to chill speech by making it prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to defend a lawsuit. Life Legal argues that NAF’s suit is baseless and was only filed to silence David and prevent the public from knowing the truth about the trade in fetal body parts. NAF later amended its complaint, and Life Legal plans to respond with another anti-SLAPP motion.

In September the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals got involved by issuing a temporary stay on discovery, which was later lifted.  September also saw the first of many congressional hearings in conjunction with a formal investigation into the practices of Planned Parenthood. As part of the investigation, Congress issued a subpoena seeking CMP’s raw video footage, which NAF attempted to prevent CMP from complying with.

In October, a federal court ruled that CMP could send the videos to Congress.

The NAF lawsuit is currently in the discovery phase, which means that David and his lead attorney, Life Legal’s Katie Short, have spent long hours in depositions and preparing papers this month. Katie is preparing for another critical federal court hearing, which is scheduled for mid-December.

For background information on this very important case, please see Life Legal timeline page.

While this will be a long fight, we are doing everything we can to protect David’s First Amendment rights and to fight the allegations leveled against him. This is truly David versus the Goliaths of the abortion industry and we are so grateful for your help.

This Thanksgiving, Life Legal thanks you, our friends and supporters! You make it possible for us to continue defending the defenders of life.

In defense of the Planned Parenthood undercover videos

The undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood officials attempting to “sell” the body 

Alexandra Snyder

parts of aborted children has evoked a reaction from the abortion industry’s “professional” association, the National Abortion Federation. It has filed suit in federal court in California against the video’s to block the release of the videos’ producers, the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) and its founder David Daleiden. Our friends at Life Legal Defense Foundation are the lead attorneys in the defense of CMP and Mr. Daleiden.

One of the center's latest videos can be seen below.

Tuesday, Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll will host Life Legal’s executive director, Alexandra Snyder, to discuss the legal implications in the case and what we should expect in the litigation.

Alexandra is a graduate of Trinity Law School and prior to her selection as Life Legal’s executive director has served as legislative counsel for Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif) where she handled pro-life, judiciary, and human rights matters. She currently serves as a consultant on law and policy matters to a number of anti-trafficking orginizations and was previously the executive director of a pregnancy resource center in Southern California.

Life Legal Defense foundation was established in 1989, and is a nonprofit organization composed of attorneys and other concerned citizens committed to giving helpless and innocent human beings of any age, and their advocates, a trained and committed voice in the courtrooms of our nation.

Join Deacon Mike and Gina this and every Tuesday at 9 a.m. on Iowa Catholic Radio 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming on IowaCatholicRadio.com. Faith On Trial is rebroadcast every Tuesday at 9 p.m.

Faith On Trial is supported by its underwriters: Attorney Rick McConville, Coppola, McConville, Coppola, Carroll, Hockenberg & Scalise PC 2100 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines, 515-453-1055  CSMC law.com; Confluence Brewing Company – off the Bike Trail just south of Grey’s Lake, 1235 Thomas Beck Road where there is entertainment in the tap room every Thursday; and Rob denHartog, Wealth Management Advisor at Northwestern Mutual Life, NW corner of 128^th Street and Hickman Rd, 515-210-4472.  

PJI asks federal court to block abortion speech mandate



Sacramento, CA—Attorneys with Pacific Justice Institute are asking a federal court to block implementation of a law that would force pro-life pregnancy clinics to point women toward abortion.

 Last month, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 775, which would require pro-life clinics to tell women about the availability of free or low-cost abortions.  PJI filed suit within 24 hours on behalf of three clinics across the state who believe in the sanctity of life and are morally opposed to abortion.  On Friday, PJI filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction asking the court to prevent the law from going into effect on January 1, 2016.

Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute and frequent FOT guest, commented, “It is imperative that we stop the government from forcing people of conscience to advocate messages to which they are morally and religiously opposed.  If the government can do this, none of our First Amendment freedoms are secure.”

The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.  Oral arguments are scheduled for December 18 at 10 a.m. before Judge Kimberly Mueller.   

What’s with Obama’s “war” against the Little Sisters of the Poor?

Tuesday on FOT Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll will take up what is perceived as a “war” by the Obama Administration against the Little Sisters of the Poor. The Little Sisters of the Poor are an international congregation of Roman Catholic women religious founded in 1839 by Saint Jeanne Jugan. Together they serve the elderly poor in over 30 countries around the world and work to offer the neediest elderly of every race and religion a home where they will be welcomed as Christ, cared for as family and accompanied with dignity until God calls them to himself.

Yet the Obama Administration is forcing them to provide abortion inducing drugs and contraceptives – against Church teaching – to their employees or face crippling fines that would force them out of business.  The Little Sisters have responded by taking the Obama Administration to court and recently the U. S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear their case.

Joining us Tuesday will be Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, a policy advisor for The Catholic Association, to discuss this and other religious liberty issues.  Dr. Christie writes and speaks in both Spanish and English about Catholicism, religious freedom, and the intersection of faith and science.  

Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie

The Catholic Association (TCA) is dedicated to being a faithful Catholic voice in the public square. TCA is responding to the call of the Catholic Church for members of the lay faithful to apply Catholic teaching, wisdom, and principles to the issues of the day.

TCA engages on issues that are compelling based on the Teaching of the Church and defends our Catholic values wherever needed. Right now TCA is working fulltime to protect our God-given right – protected by the U.S. Constitution – to practice our faith free of government coercion and control. We are striving towards a society in which the common good and the dignity of every human person is upheld.

Dr. Christie’s writing has appeared in USA TODAY, CNN.com, National Review, FoxNews.com, US News and World Report, and The New York Times, among others.  She has appeared on CNN, Telemundo, Fox News, C-SPAN,and EWTN.

In 2014 she traveled to Rome to cover the Synod on the Family, commenting on its progress for many publications and shows.  She was a featured speaker at the National March for Life in D.C., in January 2015, where she spoke about prenatal diagnosis.

Dr. Christie grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico, coming to the United States at the age of eleven.  She is a graduate of Columbia University and the University of Miami School of Medicine and practices Radiology in the Miami area, where she lives with her husband and five children.

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

Faith On Trial is sponsored by Attorney Rick McConville, Coppola, McConville, Coppola, Carroll, Hockenberg & Scalise PC 2100 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines, 5-1-453-1055; Confluence Brewing Company – off the Bike Trail just south of Grey’s Lake, 1235 Thomas Beck Road where there is entertainment in the tap room every Thursday; and Rob denHartog, Wealth Management Advisor at Northwestern Mutual Life, NW corner of 128^th Street and Hickman Rd, 515-210-4472.

ADF: HHS out of bounds to attempt redefinition of ‘sex’ in federal law

ADF files official comment on HHS misinterpretation of Title IX

 

WASHINGTON – Alliance Defending Freedom filed an official comment this week with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding its proposed rule that reinterprets a federal ban on sex discrimination in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 as a broader ban on “gender identity” discrimination in health programs. As the ADF comment explains, both Title IX itself and court precedent make clear that the law has nothing to do with gender identity, and only Congress has the authority to change it.

“No government agency can unilaterally redefine the meaning of a federal law to serve its own political ends,” said ADF Legal Counsel Jonathan Scruggs. “Once again, the administration is overreaching what it is legally and constitutionally allowed to do. HHS has no authority to reinterpret a clear, congressionally enacted law in a way that violates that law’s text, purpose, structure, legislative history, and 40-plus year history of judicial interpretation.”

Proposed rule 45 CFR 92 seeks to implement a section of Obamacare that incorporates the anti-discrimination language from other federal statutes, including Title IX. Although Title IX says, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance,” the proposed rule assumes a ban on gender-identity discrimination in that Title IX language.

“But Title IX never mentions gender identity, much less defines ‘sex’ to include gender identity…,” the ADF comment explains. “HHS cannot justifiably reinterpret sex to mean gender identity in the health care context based on the faulty interpretations from other agencies. So at most, HHS cites four cases to justify its misinterpretation, but these cases either do not interpret Title IX at all or do not support HHS’s interpretation or do not consider the enormous weight of contrary precedents. Even more telling, HHS never analyzes Title IX’s text, purpose, structure, or legislative history, each of which confirms that sex in Title IX means sex, not gender identity.”

The comment goes on to explain that Congress, not an agency of “unelected administrators,” has the power to make law:

“HHS provides no bases for changing Title IX’s long-standing and well-accepted meaning, especially when that change will violate people’s constitutional right to privacy and to religious freedom. The proposed rule, therefore, will lead to unnecessary lawsuits…and will waste taxpayer dollars in the process. This comment…proposes that HHS follow a better course for its proposed rule – actually follow what Title IX says.”

Can a state athletic association ban prayers at a Catholic high school’s football game? One state is trying to do that; next on FOT

The North Dakota High School Activities Association has

banned a Catholic high school from public prayers before its playoff game. Shanley High School has led a prayer at its school football stadium before each of its regular season games, but it is prohibited Association policy from leading a prayer before the playoff game, as Association representatives have claimed that such a prayer would violate the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution.

Thomas Olp

Here to discuss this case with us Tuesday will be Attorney Thomas Olp with the Thomas More Society.

“The Constitution doesn’t require the State of North Dakota to police pre-game prayers at Christian and Catholic high schools,” said Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Special Counsel. “People of faith don’t give up their freedoms of speech and religion just because they are engaged in state-sponsored sporting events. We urge the Activities Association to allow member schools with faith traditions to express their faith during post-season games, just as they do during the regular season.”

Join Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll Tuesday at 9 a.m. (Central) on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming on IowaCatholicRadio.com for a discussion of this and other issues of interest to Christians who are trying to practice their faith. The program will be re-broadcast at 9 p.m.

Faith On Trial if sponsored by Attorney Rick McConville, Coppola, McConville, Coppola, Carroll, Hockenberg & Scalise PC 2100 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines, 515-453-1055;Confluence Brewing Company, off the Bike Trail just south of Grey’s Lake, 1235 Thomas Beck Road, Des Moines; and Rob denHartog, Wealth Management Advisor at Northwestern Mutual Life, NW corner of 128^th Street and Hickman Rd, 515-210-4472.  

Faith On Trial is heard every Tuesday at 9 & 9.

Little Sisters will get their day before the U. S. Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Moments ago, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up the case of the Little Sisters of the Poor, a group of Catholic nuns facing tens of millions of dollars in IRS fines because they cannot, according to their faith, include contraceptives in their employee health plan. This is the second time the Sisters have been forced to ask the Supreme Court for protection against the government’s HHS Mandate. The Court’s decision will finally resolve the crucial question of whether governmental agencies can, wholly without legislative oversight, needlessly force religious ministries to violate their faith. The Supreme Court has consolidated their case with Becket client Houston Baptist and East Texas Baptist Universities, Priests for Life, South Nazarene University, Geneva College, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and Zubik.

“The Becket Fund is grateful that the Supreme Court has decided to weigh in on this important case,” said Mark Rienzi, Senior Counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. “The Little Sisters spend their lives taking care of the elderly poor—that is work our government should applaud, not punish. The Little Sisters should not have to fight their own government to get an exemption it has already given to thousands of other employers, including Exxon, Pepsi Cola Bottling Company, and Boeing. Nor should the government be allowed to say that the Sisters aren’t ‘religious enough’ to merit the exemption that churches and other religious ministries have received.”

The Little Sisters, who care for more than 13,000 of the elderly poor  in the U.S., had no choice but to appeal to the Supreme Court due to the government’s refusal to exempt them from the HHS mandate, which is currently in its 9th unacceptable iteration. The mandate forces the Little Sisters to authorize the government to use the Sister’s employee healthcare plan to provide contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs – a violation of their faith –  or pay massive fines, which would threaten their religious mission. The Supreme Court entered a temporary order protecting the nuns in January, 2014, but the government has continued litigating, asking lower courts to remove that protection.

“As Little Sisters of the Poor, we offer the neediest elderly of every race and religion a home where they are welcomed as Christ.  We perform this loving ministry because of our faith and cannot possibly choose between our care for the elderly poor and our faith, and we shouldn’t have to,” said Sr. Loraine Marie Maguire, Mother Provincial of the Little Sisters of the Poor. “All we ask is that our rights not be taken away.  The government exempts large corporations, small businesses, and other religious ministries from what they are imposing on us – we just want to keep serving the elderly poor as we have always done for 175 years. We look forward to the Supreme Court hearing our case, and pray for God’s protection of our ministry.”

 

Toronto bans music festival over Christian songs: This week on FOT

Rev. David Lynn

This week on FOT we’re going north of the border again to visit with the Rev. David Lynn about his efforts to stop the bulling of Christians and the City of Toronto’s decision to ban a music festival from the city square over Christian songs.

Rev. Lynn became a Christian at the age of 16; in high school he formed prayer groups and bible studies only to be told they weren’t allowed.  He was later given a meeting room but restricted from sharing his beliefs while other students were allowed to share their beliefs on anything else as long as it wasn't Christianity.

Working for the largest media company in Canada, he was told that he couldn't post positive words of scripture at his cubicle even though flyers for the LGBT community were posted and postings of Jesus were forbidden.  He wasn't allowed to say Merry Christmas, but was forced to say Happy Holidays. 

Later as he began to share his faith on public sidewalks, but was told to keep his faith to himself and was bullied by Toronto Police. Once, when he was was sharing his faith at the publicly funded Toronto Pride Day Parade, July 1, 2012 he and his team were physically assaulted by members of the LGBT community and the Toronto Police forced him to leave and barred him from sharing his faith.  

 And so he decided to embark on a quest to bring awareness of Christian rights and create a platform so that Christians and their opinions would be accepted in the public square without discrimination. Thus he launched Christian Positive Space and Stop Bullying Christians Now as responses to the growing inequality towards Christians.   

In addition to Rev. Lynn, we will also have our monthly visit by our media critic, Todd Erzen. Join Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll Tuesday – and every Tuesday – at 9 a.m. (Central) on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM; and streaming online at IowaCatholicRadio.com.

Faith On Trial is brought to you by our sponsors Attorney Rick McConville, Coppola, McConville, Coppola, Carroll, Hockenberg & Scalise PC 2100 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines, 515-453-1055; Confluence Brewing Company, off the Bike Trail just south of Grey’s Lake, 1235 Thomas Beck Road, Des Moines, Iowa (where there is entertainment in the tap room every Thursday); and Financial Planner Rob denHartog, wealth management advisor at Northwestern Mutual Life, NW corner of 128^th Street and Hickman Road, 515-310-4472.

Should Justice Anthony Kennedy be IMPEACHED?

Read the linked article and let us know if a Supreme Court Justice who has so little respect for religious and conscience rights of Americans should be allowed to remain on the court:  

Justice Kennedy: Christians with convictions resigned

under Hitler and they should today too

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, October 29, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy told a Harvard Law School audience that government employees with religious convictions about marriage should resign. (Read article here).

Justice Anthony Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court

What happened at the Synod on the Family?

 

This week on FOT we’ll have a special report on the Synod on the Family from Lisa Bourne who just returned from Rome where she covered the synod for LifeSiteNews.com. Lisa is shown here in the Vatican Press Room.

After Lisa we’ll have our movie reviewer Stephanie Crowley on the movie “Woodland” – a story about a high school football team’s dedication to unity in a school filled with racism and hate.

Faith On Trial is sponsored by Attorney Rick McConville; Confluence Brewing Company, and Financial Planner Rob denHartog. It airs every Tuesday at 9 a.m. (Central) on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streams on IowaCatholicRadio.com.

Cake artist asks Colorado Supreme Court to affirm his freedom of expression

Jack Phillips

DENVER – A Lakewood, Colorado, cake artist who declined to use his artistic talents to create a wedding cake celebrating a same-sex ceremony asked the state’s highest court Friday to take his case and rule that the government cannot force him to communicate a message with which he fundamentally disagrees.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys and allied attorneys filed the petition after the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled in August to affirm a Colorado Civil Rights Commission decision from May 2014. That decision ordered Jack Phillips and his staff at Masterpiece Cakeshop to create cakes for same-sex celebrations. The decision also ordered Phillips to comply with Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act by re-educating his staff and filing quarterly “compliance” reports for two years.

“The freedom to live and work consistently with one’s faith is at the heart of what it means to be an American,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “Jack simply exercised the long-cherished American freedom to decline to use his artistic talents to promote a message with which he disagrees. We are asking the Colorado Supreme Court to ensure that government understands that its duty is to protect the people’s freedom to follow their beliefs personally and professionally, not force them to violate those beliefs as the price of earning a living.”

According to a March 13 Marist poll, 65 percent of Americans oppose penalizing wedding vendors who choose not to provide services for same-sex ceremonies on religious grounds.

In July 2012, Charlie Craig and David Mullins asked Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, to make a wedding cake to celebrate their same-sex ceremony. In an exchange lasting about 30 seconds, Phillips politely declined, explaining that he would gladly make them any other type of baked item they wanted but that he could not make a cake promoting a same-sex ceremony because of his faith.

Craig and Mullins, now represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, immediately left the shop and later filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which eventually ruled against Phillips. The same-sex couple was easily able to obtain their desired rainbow-themed cake from another nearby baker.

In contrast to the ruling against Phillips, the commission found in March that three Denver bakeries were not guilty of creed discrimination when they declined to create a cake for a Christian customer who sought a cake that reflected his religious opposition to same-sex marriage.

Contrary to the assertions of the commission and the state appeals court, Phillips did not engage in any type of discrimination based on the sexual orientation of the customer, the petition filed with the Colorado Supreme Court in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Craig explains.

“Phillips…honors God through his creative work by declining to use his artistic talents to design and create cakes that violate his religious beliefs…,” the petition states. “This includes cakes with offensive written messages and cakes celebrating events or ideas that violate his beliefs, including cakes celebrating Halloween, anti-American or anti-family themes, atheism, racism, or indecency…. He also will not create cakes with hateful, vulgar, or profane messages, or sell any products containing alcohol…. Consistent with this longtime practice, Phillips also will not create cakes celebrating any marriage that is contrary to biblical teaching….”

“By equating an artist’s conscience-driven, message-based objection to creating expressive items that offend his beliefs with person-based discrimination based on sexual orientation…,” the petition continues, “the [appeals] court places CADA in direct conflict with the fundamental rights to free speech and free exercise of religion, and wrongly subordinates these rights to public accommodations law.”

“Every artist must be free to create work that expresses what he or she believes and not be forced to express contrary views,” added lead counsel Nicolle Martin, one of more than 2,600 private attorneys allied with ADF. “Forcing people to promote ideas against their will is not an American concept. It undermines our constitutionally protected freedom of expression and our right to live free.”

Thomas More & ADF to school district: Obama Administration wrong to force school district to open girls’ locker rooms

Thomas More Society and Alliance Defending Freedom

send letter with legal precedent to School Board 

Attorneys from the Thomas More Society and Alliance Defending Freedom have sent a letter to the School Board and Superintendent Daniel Cates of School District 211, articulating the rights of students and parents to privacy in sex-specific showers and changing areas and the rights of the school district to maintain policies keeping opposite sex students, including transgender students, out of those areas. The Obama administration’s Office of Civil Rights has demanded that the school district reverse the policy. 

“A school should not force students to share a shower and changing room with students of the opposite sex,” said Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Special Counsel. “If a high school student who is biologically male is allowed to use the female showers and changing room, this would jeopardize the privacy of all the young women using their designated locker room. Instead, the privacy rights of all children must be guaranteed and protected, and separate accommodations provided as necessary.” 

The letter sent to the School Board by Thomas More Society and Alliance Defending Freedom provides legal backing for the school to enact policies respecting the privacy of all students, specifically that: 

(1)  no federal law requires public schools to open sex-specific restrooms, showers, and changing areas to opposite-sex students

(2)  providing such access violates the fundamental rights of the vast majority of students and parents, and

(3)  schools have broad discretion to regulate the use of school restrooms, showers, and changing areas. 

Furthermore, the letter states that a school’s granting students access to opposite-sex changing areas could subject the school to tort liability for violating students’ and parents’ rights: “Allowing students to use opposite-sex restrooms and locker rooms would seriously endanger students’ privacy and safety, undermine parental authority, violate religious students’ free exercise rights, and severely impair an environment conducive to learning. These dangers are so clear-cut that a school district allowing such activity would clearly expose itself to tort liability. Consequently, school districts should reject polices that force students to share restrooms and locker rooms with members of the opposite sex.” 

The Thomas More Society urges School District 211 to ensure privacy of all children in its school system. 

Read the letter from Thomas More Society and Alliance Defending Freedom here.