ADF attorneys ask Kansas Gaming Commission to delay casino decision- 7.11.08
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund sent a letter Thursday to the head of the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, asking them to delay a final decision on approving a new casino in Mulvane. ADF attorneys are asking the commission to wait until all concerned citizens are no longer denied the right to express their opinions on the casino’s impact.
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ADF-allied attorneys set to back Florida fair funding referendum- 7.10.08
A Florida court granted a motion to intervene Thursday that was filed by Alliance Defense Fund allied attorneys on behalf of five religious charities in Florida. The goal of the intervention is to allow Florida charities to have a say in whether to end public funding discrimination against religious individuals and groups.
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ADF offers to help U.S. Navy stand up against ACLU - 6.30.08
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund sent a letter to the U.S. Naval Academy Friday, offering free legal representation in the event the American Civil Liberties Union makes good on its threat to sue the academy if it does not abandon its tradition of offering prayer before meals.
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No meetings for Christians at Ohio civic center - 6.25.08
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a federal lawsuit against Union Township Tuesday on behalf of Citizens for Community Values for denying the Christian educational group access to a public meeting room. The township repeatedly failed to provide CCV with any policy or documentation to justify its denial, only stating that the religious content of CCV’s “Politics and the Pulpit” event might violate the so-called “separation of church of state.”
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ADF advises officials in Ohio, Wisconsin regarding constitutionality of invocations - 6.24.08
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys sent letters to public officials in two states Friday, advising leaders of both bodies regarding the constitutionality of allowing public meetings to open with prayer. Both the Greenfield City Council and the Wisconsin State Assembly have received legal threats from anti-religious organizations.
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Hope and the Future - 6.24.08
Fourteen years ago, 35 ministry leaders joined together with much hope that their dream of the Alliance Defense Fund was part of God’s plan for this country. When I look at how far we’ve come – I am humbled.
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NYDOT agrees to delay confiscation of trailer displaying Gospel message - 6.12.08
A gospel message displayed on private business property in Gouverneur will remain until a decision is reached in a lawsuit filed by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys. New York Department of Transportation officials agreed to delay their plan to force Daniel Burritt to remove the tractor trailer bearing the message until 30 days after a decision is reached in the case.
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Mayor reneges on settlement, Ill. church’s renovation project in limbo - 6.6.08
After an Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney secured a settlement agreement with the city of Carlinville over a church’s renovation of a former Wal-Mart building, Mayor Robert Schwab vetoed the agreement Thursday. He was a part of the negotiating team that originally approved the settlement with the court, prior to his veto of the city council’s decision.
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Ohio public library policy banning Christian meetings challenged - 6.6.08
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys and allied attorneys filed suit Wednesday against the Clermont County Public Library for not allowing a seminar because it involved biblical references. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of an Ohio couple and the Institute for Principled Policy after the library denied their request to access a library meeting room to conduct a biblically based financial planning seminar.
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City of Yuma: Churches just don’t fit - 5.29.08
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund and the Center for Arizona Policy asked a federal court Wednesday to require the City of Yuma to stop discriminating against a Yuma church. In July 2007, the city rejected the church’s application for a permit to use its property in the Old Town District for church services; however, the city has approved such permits for nonreligious groups that assemble in the district.
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One Complaint Puts Prayer at Risk in West Virginia Town - 5.27.08
The founder of Charles Town, West Virginia, originally named his estate, “Happy Retreat,” according to the city’s history. Sounds like an understandable description of the community nestled near the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Now, however, one “unhappy” resident is making some extraordinary demands of the city’s leaders.
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Court allows Catholic elementary school construction despite zoning officials’ roadblock - 5.23.08
A Georgia court granted a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the city of Suwanee Friday, allowing construction of a Catholic elementary school to begin. After the City of Suwanee prevented Notre Dame Academy from building on property already zoned for its use, Alliance Defense Fund allied attorneys filed a lawsuit on the academy’s behalf.
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S.C. General Assembly passes bill on prayer before public meetings - 5.22.08
The South Carolina General Assembly unanimously passed a bill Wednesday that provides guidelines to public bodies within the state regarding their right to open a meeting with prayer. The bill, which adopts a version of the Alliance Defense Fund’s model invocation policy, now awaits a signature from Gov. Mark Sanford to become law. Sanford has already indicated his intention to sign it.
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ADF attorneys defend citizen silenced at city council meeting - 5.22.08
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed suit in federal court Wednesday on behalf of a Mulvane citizen who was silenced by the mayor when she tried to express her concerns at a public meeting about the opening of a casino.
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Ramsey County, Minn., threatens tax-exempt status of nearly 800 churches - 5.21.08
Ramsey County officials are demanding that nearly 800 churches and related organizations submit forms and information or else risk loss of tax-exempt status, despite Minnesota law that exempts churches from such requirements. An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney succeeded in obtaining an order from the Minnesota Tax Court that prevents the county from collecting property tax from one church through the end of legal proceedings, but the case continues in court. The county’s actions unlawfully place the tax-exempt status of hundreds of churches in jeopardy.
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ADF & FPCWV: W.V. town does not need to abandon invocations - 5.20.08
The Family Policy Council of West Virginia mailed a model prayer policy designed by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys to Charles Town officials Friday in the wake of a recent complaint over the city council’s tradition of starting its meetings with an invocation. Numerous communities across the nation have adopted the model policy.
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Judge halts discriminatory actions at Deer Valley Unified School District- 5.12.08
A federal judge Friday ordered the Deer Valley Unified School District to end its prohibition on a Christian student club’s PA announcements. The district is required to allow the meeting announcements as it does for other student clubs while a student’s civil rights lawsuit, filed by attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, moves forward in court.
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ADF announces new initiative to reclaim pastors’ First Amendment rights- 5.9.08
The Alliance Defense Fund announced a new initiative Friday that will challenge the tactics of groups that use the Internal Revenue Service to intimidate churches and pastors into silence on important issues of the day.
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ADF: Shippensburg University’s speech codes violate students’ free speech rights- 5.7.08
Attorneys and allied attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom filed suit against Shippensburg University Wednesday for its continued violations of student free speech rights. The university reinstituted unconstitutional policies it was supposed to revise or drop as part of a 2004 legal settlement.
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ADF attorney available to media after hearing in Wis. religious drawing lawsuit - 4.30.08
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys will be available for media interviews following a hearing Thursday in A.P. v. Tomah Area School District. ADF attorneys are asking the court to suspend an unconstitutional policy prohibiting religious art while a federal lawsuit moves forward.
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ADF ready to defend observance of National Day of Prayer - 4.30.08
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys sent an informational letter last week to nearly 1,200 of the nation’s largest cities, advising them of their constitutional right to recognize and participate in the 2008 National Day of Prayer Thursday. ADF attorneys will also be available to defend, free of charge, any municipality that is threatened with legal action for observing the event.
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Texas town hinders church ministry from helping parolees - 4.28.08
An ADF-allied attorney filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday after a new Bellmead ordinance forced a church to stop operating a ministry for parolees. The House Where Jesus Shines, Inc., sponsored by the Church of the Open Door, is suing the city of Bellmead for intentionally changing the zoning on the ministry’s newly purchased property to preclude it from opening its doors, even though it is in an industrial zone.
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Chicago cannot stop church lawsuit for lien over bake sales - 4.25.08
A court Thursday blocked the city of Chicago’s attempt to stop a lawsuit filed by an ADF-allied attorney representing Beth-El All Nations Church. The city, which has sought in the past to obtain the church’s property for redevelopment, placed a lien on the property without notifying the church, alleging the congregation engaged in unspecified “resale activity” without collecting and paying sales tax. The church says it has not engaged in any such activity other than exempt charitable bake sales.
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School says transportation OK for student clubs...unless they’re Christian - 4.24.08
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit and a request for a temporary restraining order against Calcasieu Parish Public Schools Thursday. School officials prohibited students of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes club from using school buses to attend an event even though the school does not prohibit other clubs from using the buses.
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ADF files motion to halt policy in “JOHN 3:16” drawing case - 4.16.08
ADF attorneys filed a motion Tuesday asking a federal court to immediately suspend a Wisconsin school district’s unconstitutional prohibition against religious expression while a student’s lawsuit moves forward. A teacher’s grading policy in the Tomah Area School District bars depictions of “blood, violence, sexual connotations, [or] religious beliefs” in student artwork.
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Demonic artwork okay. Scripture and cross – no way! - 4.15.08
Another Christian student has seen his religious freedom "erased"…this time for a drawing that depicted a Bible verse and cross.
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Court refuses to dismiss professor’s discrimination suit against UNC-Wilmington- 4.4.08
The University of North Carolina-Wilmington must face a lawsuit brought against it by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys on behalf of Mike Adams, a criminology professor at the school who also writes nationally syndicated columns. A federal court denied most of UNCW’s motion to dismiss on Monday, holding that Adams raised legitimate arguments regarding the possibility that the school refused to grant him full professorship status because of his religious beliefs and conservative political viewpoint.
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