Fenn Little and Jonathan Crumly (Atlanta, Georgia) are filing a lawsuit against the Northside Women’s Clinic, an abortion clinic, for its failure to adhere to Georgia’s Parental Notification Law. They represent a teenage girl and her parents; the girl was coerced into an abortion at age 16 by her boyfriend’s mother. Northside Women’s Clinic is also facing criminal charges. Read more...
Joseph Rodowicz (Okeechobee, Florida) successfully argued that a stroke victim should keep her feeding tube. The victim’s husband wanted the life-saving device removed even though his wife makes it clear to friends, family, and Rodowicz that she does not want to die. Read more...
Kristen Waggoner (Seattle, Washington) represents a pharmacy owner and two pharmacists embroiled in legal battles over their right of conscience in choosing not to sell the so-called "morning after" abortion pill. Waggoner recently argued the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Read more...
These are the stories of just four of the 1,195 ADF-allied attorneys fighting
right now for
your religious liberties and for the protection of the defenseless. Our 30th National Litigation Academy wrapped up in June, adding strength to our front lines. One of those impassioned new graduates inspired by cases like those outlined above is Tracy, who is from Texas. "
I am so enthusiastic about what I have seen and what I have heard," he said at the event’s closing banquet. "
Every word that was spoken [during NLA training] was spoken by people who love the Lord and who seek to do His will."
We need many more attorneys like Fenn, Jonathan, Joseph, Kristen, JoAurea, and Tracy. Our goal: 4,000 more! That may seem lofty, but
imagine the impact we could have on our country and on our world if we had more than 5,000 trained Christian attorneys committed to preserving our religious freedom, defending life, and preserving the traditional family.
The premise of our unique NLA training is simple: Attorneys who share our values are trained to defend religious liberty, the sanctity of human life, marriage, and the family. In return for this intensive training, these men and women make a faith commitment to provide 450 hours of dedicated, pro-bono legal services to the Body of Christ (over a three year period). Realizing that it would take more than 11 weeks of full-time work to accumulate 450 hours, this is an amazing contribution in return for several days of very specialized training.
The Alliance Defense Fund introduced its unique leadership training program for attorneys, the National Litigation Academy (NLA), in 1997. Through the program, we are able to specially train attorneys in every corner of the country in how to combat attacks on religious liberty, the sanctity of human life, marriage, and the family. This greatly increases our ability to stand up to the ACLU and its allies, which were experiencing little opposition as they worked to suppress
Our First Liberty – religious freedom – because, for many years, cases like the ones outlined above were lost without even a fight…simply because there was no one to stand for religious freedom. Christian attorneys often lacked the resources or the training necessary to take on such cases, and there was certainly no organized effort that could meet every attack in the courtroom. But today, the NLA is transforming defeat into victory.
In 11 years, ADF has trained 1,195 allied attorneys, who have provided 460,000 hours of dedicated service to Christians across America (the equivalent of more than $80 million in donated legal fees). But the success is not found merely in the numbers. Success is found in the lives of everyday people whose rights were protected and freedoms restored.
- Christians are allowed equal access to a public park in New York to share the Gospel…
- A husband wins the right to keep his wife on life support despite the hospital’s insistence doing so violates its "ethical standard"…
- A college student is vindicated after refusing to do an assignment condoning homosexual adoption…
The National Litigation Academy has been overwhelmingly successful because it has made a difference for religious freedom in your life. When a victory is won for a college student in Missouri, it supports the rights of college students across the country. And when a grieving husband in Alaska wins the right to keep his wife alive, we are protecting the rights of another generation to come. But our work is not finished.
We have so many enthusiastic NLA graduates like JoAurea, Carl, and Tracy ready –
and excited! – to step into battle. "
I’m at a time in my life," Tracy says with a smile, "
when the Lord has blessed me with the ability now to ‘slack off’ from trying civil lawsuits and I’m ready to find some of these pro bono things!"
There are more enthusiastic attorneys out there who need this crucial training in order to be equipped for battle. And this is where
you can help.
The ACLU and its allies are well trained and extremely well financed; to win, we must match and surpass their effort. This requires a substantial commitment to train and support Christian attorneys, and we have an opportunity to do that, together.
Thankfully, good friends of ADF have committed a significant amount of resources – up to $567,000 – to this cause. To inspire you to join them in this crucial investment, they are giving it in the form of a matching grant. That means they will match you dollar for dollar. Your $25 donation will become $50. A $100 donation becomes $200…right on up to more than a half-million dollars.
This is an exciting opportunity to join us as we work toward restoring the America our Founding Fathers envisioned: Where the sanctity of life is upheld from conception to death, marriage and the family are protected from legal attack, and religious freedom is recognized as this nation’s cornerstone. Take the step toward that dream with us today.
We need to take advantage of the entire $567,000 matching grant offer! Please give what you can today.
