About ADF

About ADF

About the Alliance Defense Fund

The Alliance Defense Fund is a servant organization that provides the resources that will keep the door open for the spread of the Gospel through the legal defense of religious freedom, the sanctity of life, marriage  and the family.

“The Alliance Defense Fund is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth
through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.”

Responding to the urgent need for a strong, coordinated legal defense of religious freedom, the leaders of more than 35 ministries – including the late Dr. Bill Bright, the late Larry Burkett, Dr. James Dobson, the late Dr. D. James Kennedy, and the late Marlin Maddoux – came together and launched ADF in 1994 to aggressively defend religious liberty by empowering our allies, recognizing that we can accomplish far more together than we can alone.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him,
he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5
 

A History of Success

ADF has been blessed to take part in defending some of the most significant, precedent-setting cases threatening your religious freedom over the past 17 years. By God’s grace, ADF has been successful in more than three out of every four of these cases litigated to conclusion.

1994

The Alliance Defense Fund is launched

On January 31, at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Washington, D.C., the Alliance Defense Fund is introduced to the nation.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc., the Supreme Court upholds residential picketing and creates a useful test for abortion clinic picketing.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, the Supreme Court stops discrimination and orders equal access for a Christian university student newspaper denied funding that was provided to other groups.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston, the Supreme Court unanimously establishes a national precedent in upholding the right of private organizations to freely associate or not associate with other groups.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Marriage & the Family

In American Library Association v. Reno, the Supreme Court denied review of this case, letting stand the labeling and record-keeping provisions of the Child Protection Act.

ADF awards over $1 million in grants in a single year

In only the third year of existence, ADF is blessed to award over $1 million in grants to help protect religious freedom across the country.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In United States v. Virginia Military Institute, the Supreme Court rejects the Clinton Justice Department's request to increase the test for "gender discrimination" to "strict scrutiny" - the highest level of review for discrimination, as used in race cases.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Alliance for Community Media v. FCC, the Supreme Court upholds the portion of the cable law that permits cable companies to refuse to televise pornographic shows.

ADF launches the ADF Legal Academy

The first ADF Legal Academy sessions are held - laying the foundation for a program that would grow to train more than 1,400 attorneys across America and internationally.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Life

In Washington v. Glucksberg and Vacco v. Quill, the Supreme Court unanimously rules that the U.S. Constitution does not provide a “right” to assisted suicide.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Life

In Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network, relying on precedent in the first ADF-backed victory at the Supreme Court, Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc., the Supreme Court struck down the 15-foot "floating bubble zone" wherein religious speech is prohibited by the state.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Life

In Mazurek v. Armstrong, the Supreme Court determines that Montana's "physician only" statute is constitutional, blocking the flood of abortions that would have followed had the court decided to strike down the law.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Life

In Lambert v. Wicklund, the Supreme Court vacated the lower court decision, thereby upholding Montana's parental notification law that has proven to effectively reduce abortions.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Agostini v. Felton, the Supreme Court ruled that it is constitutional for public school programs to provide remedial education to disadvantaged private school students who attend faith-based schools.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) v. Finley, the Supreme Court rules 8–1 that the tax-funded NEA can refuse to give taxpayer dollars to pornographic and anti-Christian art.

ADF awards over $3 million in grants in a single year

Just three years after awarding $1 million in grants, ADF triples its support of key cases threatening religious freedom.

ADF awards the ten-millionth grant dollar

ADF awards a total of $10 million in grants since the founding of the ministry.

ADF launches the Blackstone Legal Fellowship

The first Blackstone Legal Fellowship is held – laying the foundation for a program that would grow to train more than 900 of the best and brightest Christian law students in constitutional law.

United States Supreme CourtVictory for Marriage & the Family

In Troxel v. Granville, the Supreme Court affirms the rights of parents over the rights of the government in child rearing.

United States Supreme CourtVictory for Religious Freedom

In Mitchell v. Helms, the Supreme Court holds that government funding of educational materials and equipment for religious schools can be constitutional.

United States Supreme CourtVictory for Marriage & the Family

In Dale v. Boy Scouts of America, following the precedent established in the 1995 ADF-backed case of Hurley v. Irish–American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston, the Supreme Court decided that the Boy Scouts is a private organization and can exclude advocates of homosexual behavior from its leadership.

United States Supreme CourtVictory for Religious Freedom

In City of Erie v. Pap's A.M. dba "Kandyland", six Supreme Court justices reverse the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision, which had struck down the City of Erie's ordinance barring public nudity based on an erroneous view of the First Amendment.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Good News Club v. Milford Central Schools, the Supreme Court sides with ADF-funded allied lawyers and decides that middle schools do not violate the U.S. Constitution when they allow Bible clubs to meet after hours.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Adler v. Duval County School Board, the Supreme Court declines to review an appeal by the Duval County School Board of an ADF victory that upheld the right of students to speak about their faith and to pray at graduation ceremonies.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In City News & Novelty v. Waukesha, WI, the Supreme Court dismissed pornographers' petition for review in a case challenging Waukesha’s licensing ordinance which the city used to deny renewal of pornographers’ licenses.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, the Supreme Court upholds the Ohio school voucher program, allowing parents to remove their children from underperforming public schools and use government vouchers for private or religious schools.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books, the Supreme Court upholds the right of communities to regulate pornographic businesses.

ADF awards its one thousandth grant

In less than 10 years since its founding, ADF is blessed to award its 1,000th grant to help fund cases that defend religious freedom in America.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Marriage and the Family

In United States v. American Library Association, the Supreme Court rules that Congress's mandate that publicly funded libraries provide internet filtering devices in order to protect children is constitutional.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Scheidler v. National Organization for Women (NOW), the Supreme Court rules that peaceful pro-life activists are not in violation of the federal laws intended to stop organized crime.

California Supreme Court Victory for Marriage and the Family

In Lewis v. Alfaro, the California Supreme Court unanimously rules that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom acted illegally when he directed the city and county clerk to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

United State Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In City of Littleton (CO) v. Z.J. Gifts, the Supreme Court unanimously rules that communities can defend themselves against the spread of sexually oriented businesses and the resulting social consequences.

ADF awards the 25-millionth grant dollar

ADF awards a total of $25 million in grants since the founding of the ministry

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Van Orden v. Perry, the Supreme Court upholds a Ten Commandments display on the grounds of the Texas Capitol complex, ruling that the Texas display did not violate the Establishment Clause.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In National Organization for Women (NOW) v. Scheidler (this case was originally decided by the Supreme Court in 2003), the Supreme Court once again issues a favorable decision, ruling unanimously that peaceful pro-life activists are not in violation of the federal laws intended to stop organized crime.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, the Supreme Court rules unanimously that the Solomon Act is constitutional, and Congress may require law schools - even those who have a non-discrimination clause that is counter to the military's view on open homosexual behavior - to provide equal access to military recruiters without violating the school's freedoms of speech and association.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal, the Supreme Court unanimously decides, under the Religious Freedom Resotration Act, that when the practice of a sincerely held religious belief conflicts with federal regulations, the federal government must show the regulation is the least restrictive means to advance a compelling government interest before the religious practice can be limited. The decision provides a legal framework that could pave the way for returning to the Constitution’s original intent with regard to religious liberties cases.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Life

In Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, the Supreme Court unanimously vacates a lower court ruling striking down New Hampshire's "Parental Notification Prior to Abortion Act" and returns the case to lower courts for reconsideration.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Sanchex-Llamas v. Oregon, and Bustillo v. Johnson, the Supreme Court upholds the sovereignty of U.S. law over the decisions of foreign courts when ruling that a treaty does not give foreign defendants special status in U.S. Courts. This is an important victory in the legal battle to curb the use of international law to supersede the U.S. Constitution.

Blackstone Legal Fellowship

ADF trains 100 Blackstone Fellows in a single session - bringing the total number of Christian law students to 605.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Hein v. Freedom from Religion Foundation, the Supreme Court rules that an atheist organization lacks taxpayer standing to challenge the funding of a White House conference that informed both faith-based and secular organizations about federal funding for programs that help the poor.

ADF Legal Academy

ADF Legal Academy-trained attorneys provide more than $14 million in pro-bono/dedicated legal service for the year.

ADF launches the Pulpit Initiative

ADF launches a strategic project in an effort to restore the constitutional right of pastors to speak freely in sermons on biblical principles.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Marriage & the Family

ADF wins a total of five cases protecting marriage and the family within the month of May. Three of these victories uphold constitutional marriage amendments in the states of Michigan, Oregon, and Wisconsin; one affirms parental rights in Maryland; and one protects citizens in Michigan from exposure to sexually oriented businesses.

ADF Legal Academy

ADF Legal Academy-trained attorneys surpass $100 million in reported pro-bono/dedicated legal service to the Body of Christ since the program launched in 1997.

ADF launches the University Project

ADF launches a strategic project to restore religious freedom to our public college and university campuses across America.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Marriage & the Family

In FCC v. Fox News, the Supreme Court finds that the FCC's regulation of vulgarity during public broadcasts was intended to protect children from indecent language, and that the FCC has the right to impose a fine on broadcasters when a live broadcast includes a "fleeting expletive" during prime time.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, the Supreme Court rules that a Ten Commandments monument is government speech and that the city of Pleasant Grove cannot be forced to accept a donated monument from a new age religious group that sued the city for unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.

ADF launches the Church Project

ADF launches a strategic project to defend the rights of churches and pastors so they can freely speak, act, and minister in accordance with biblical principles, without fear of government censorship, punishment, unlawful regulation, or loss of tax exemption.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court rules that election law cannot be manipulated to silence speech on religious freedom, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.

United States Supreme Court Victory for Religious Freedom

In Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the ACLU’s clients – so-called “offended” taxpayers – did not have any legal “standing” to challenge a state tuition tax credit program that allows parents to make the best educational choice for their children – including Christian schools – through private school tuition organizations.

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The Work of ADF

ADF is dedicated to preserving and reclaiming religious freedom. Unlike any other organization in America, this is being accomplished through strategic coordination with other like-minded organizations; training Christian attorneys and the future leaders of America; funding key, precedent-setting cases across America; and, when necessary, direct litigation through our in-house team of Christ-centered attorneys.

 

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