Penley v. Westbrook
LLI represented Pastor Westbrook in this case involving church discipline. A member of the church had a relationship with another man and desired to divorce her husband without a biblical reason. The church member refused to repent of her sin. The church, through its church disciplinary process according to the Book of Matthew, sent a letter to the congregation informing them of the former member’s lack of repentance and the unacceptability of such lack of repentance. Penley sued the church, the elders and the pastor. LLI presented oral arguments on behalf of Pastor Westbrook before the Texas Supreme Court. The Court ruled 9-0 and reversed the court below, protecting pastors and churches statewide.
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John Doe v Tangipahoa Parish School Board
The ACLU sued to ban all school districts from offering prayers at school board meetings. LLI served as co-counsel for the district, defending the right of prayer at all school board meetings. Oral arguments were presented before the Fifth Circuit Crt. of Appeals in May 2007.
CLICK HERE to read Liberty Legal’s Tangipahoa Parish School Board brief.
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James Green and ACLU of Oklahoma v. Board of Cty. Comm. of the Cty. of Haskell
The ACLU sued to have the Ten Commandments and Mayflower Compact monument removed from the Haskell County courthouse lawn, claiming a violation of the ‘Establishment Clause.’ The monuments were erected at the request of a resident of Haskell County, who wanted to honor the historical and legal traditions represented by the monument. The county has a longstanding policy and practice of permitting citizens of Haskell County to display monuments on the county courthouse lawn. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma decided in favor of Haskell County. That decision is on appeal at the Tenth Circuit of Court of Appeals in Denver. LLI filed an amicus brief on behalf of The American Legion in this Ten Commandments monument case.
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Morse v. Frederick
LLI filed an amicus brief to the U. S. Supreme Court in this case regarding a student’s rights to free speech at school. The goal of the brief was to prevent the courts from setting a dangerous precedent that could lead to extreme censorship in schools. The brief proposed the Supreme Court could adopt an exception only for speech advocating drug use rather than have broad, new discretion to censor all speech it felt did not further the ‘educational mission’ of a school. In a 5-4 decision, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of the school on the grounds that illegal drug speech at school-related functions is not protected speech, stating this case involved circumstances not present in other free speech cases. The opinion upholds the freedom of students, including their religious freedom, from a dangerous new censorship.
CLICK HERE to read Liberty Legal’s amicus brief on Morse v Frederick.
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Medellin v. Dretke
This international law case had the potential of rewriting how U.S. courts are required to apply international law, including international law that may touch upon purely domestic concerns such as marriage, abortion, and religious freedom. LLI filed an amicus curiae brief to the U. S. Supreme Court asking the Court to affirm that U. S. courts do not apply international law to override domestic law. The Supreme Court refused to take the case, which preserved the principle that domestic law overrides international law in U.S. courts.
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Harper v. Poway Unified School District - In a public school, students were allowed a special day to celebrate homosexuality. A Christian student wearing a T-shirt with an opposing view mentioning God, was banned from wearing the shirt. The lower court ruled that the student's speech was not protected because it offended the "identity" of another person. LLI filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court. The court vacated the 9th Cir. Court of Appeals ruling on a technicality and the case is back in the district courts for rehearing.
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Full Gospel Powerhouse Church of God in Christ v. City of Wichita Falls, et al.
LLI represented an African-American church that bought a church building that subsequently burned down. The tax appraisal district denied them a tax exemption because they could no longer meet on the property for services. There are other churches, however, that have open land that is still treated as exempt. This case is about whether government officials can treat one church different than another church simply because the officials do not like that particular church. The case was settled and the church was granted a tax exemption and all back taxes were erased.
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Gonzales v. Carhart
LLI filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of late-term abortion survivors, Gianna Jessen and Zachary Klopfenstein; and the Center for Moral Clarity. LLI’s brief urged the court to uphold a ban on partial-birth abortion, which was signed into law by President Bush in 2003, and the law has been challenged by abortionists ever since. The brief detailed the beautiful life that now exists for Gianna and Zachary, the horror of the partial-birth abortion procedure, and the complete disregard for human life that abortionists exhibit. Zachary and his mother were in attendance at the argument before the U.S. Supreme Court and talked to the national press afterwards. The Supreme Court upheld the ban by a vote of 5-4.
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SWAT v. Plano ISD
A Christian student group was banned from using the school district website solely because it was a religious group. LLI filed suit after Plano ISD refused to change their position. After a federal court judge found that this action was a violation of the Constitution and issued a judgment against PISD, the school district agreed to settle the case and allowed SWAT access to PISD’s website and to all the privileges of other student groups.
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Senior Citizens v. Balch Springs
Senior Citizens were ordered by the City of Balch Springs to stop praying over their meals, singing Gospel songs, or having one of their members deliver a religious message in their Senior Citizens Center. The seniors had engaged in such activity for 20 years. After the city refused to reverse its policy, LLI filed suit in Federal District Court in Dallas on behalf of the senior citizens for violations of their Free Speech, Free Exercise, and other Constitutional rights. LLI won a federal judgment restoring the seniors' religious freedoms and ordering the city to pay them damages and attorneys' fees.
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Colston v. Crowley I.S.D.
LLI represented a citizen who was banned from handing out religious literature on a public sidewalk in front of a public high school. The school district rejected the demands of LLI, and LLI filed a lawsuit to restore Ms. Colston’s constitutional rights. The school district agreed to allow Ms. Colston to hand out religious literature on the public sidewalk, and paid LLI’s attorneys fees as part of the settlement.
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Staley v. Harris County, Texas
Kay Staley, a member of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and former employee of the ACLU, filed suit against Harris County (Houston) to have a Bible removed from a portion of a monument dedicated to a prominent and charitable citizen, William S. Mosher. The monument was donated and erected by the Star of Hope mission, a Christian outreach organization that assists the homeless and jobless in the Houston area. The district court ordered the Bible be removed from the monument, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case en banc. LLI filed a brief on behalf of the Mosher family to reverse this ruling and prepared the County for the argument. The en banc court rendered the case moot after the Mosher monument was removed due to renovation on the county grounds. Subsequently, the Court of Appeals rejected Ms. Staley’s request to declare the Mosher monument unconstitutional.
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Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of New England
LLI filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on the behalf of a father whose daughter was forced to have an abortion without the father's knowledge. LLI requested the reversal of the lower federal appellate court decision, which struck down a state law in New Hampshire that required at least one parent to be notified before an abortion can be performed on a minor child. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision upholding the constitutionality of the parental notification law.
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Planned Parenthood v. Sanchez
Texas passed a law denying state funds to organizations that perform elective abortions. Planned Parenthood sued the state demanding the money or else they would have to stop performing elective abortions. LLI worked with the A.G.'s Office and filed an amicus brief in support of the state law. The Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the law, affirming the State's ability to cut Planned Parenthood's budget by $13 million.
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Kliebenstein v. Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church
LLI represented the Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church in its petition to the Supreme Court of the United States. In that case, a church parishioner was suing her church for referring to her divisive actions as acting within "the Spirit of Satan." LLI argued that the Iowa court's decision to allow such a suit violated the First Amendment rights of the church to speak about behavior from a biblical perspective.
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Planned Parenthood v. Alaska
Alaska passed the Parental Consent Act requiring minors to obtain consent from their parents before having an abortion. The lower court ruled that such a requirement was unconstitutional. The state appealed the ruling to the Alaska Supreme Court. LLI filed a brief supporting the State's appeal arguing that Alaska's Parental Consent Act is the least restrictive way to ensure parental involvement in all medical decisions of their children.
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American Library Association v. U.S.
The ACLU and ALA sued the federal government to declare the filtering of child pornography was unconstitutional. LLI filed a brief, at the request of the Department of Justice and the Solicitor General's Office, with the U.S. Supreme Court representing cities, mayors and county commissioners across the country who wanted to retain the right to filter the Internet access they provide in their libraries. LLI also coordinated all of the amicus curiae briefs filed in support of the Solicitor General and the law. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 to reverse the Court below and upheld the right to filter.
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Texas Ethics Commission v. Rister
LLI represented Ms. Rister, the County Clerk of Williamson County, who was prosecuted by the Texas Ethics Commission for posting a sign that reads "We Support Our Troops and Our President" in her offices. LLI defended Ms. Rister and argued that the sign was not a campaign sign but rather a patriotic sign deserving of protection under the First Amendment. The Texas Ethics Commission ruled in favor of Ms. Rister and LLI.
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Van Orden v. Perry
An atheist filed suit against the state of Texas to have the Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the state Capitol removed. LLI assisted the Texas Attorney General's office in preparing for oral arguments, helped organize the practice moot court sessions, and coordinated the filing of amicus curiae briefs. LLI filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in this important case before the United States Supreme Court, arguing that our Constitution has never supported censoring the religious history and heritage of our country. The Fraternal Order of Eagles donated the monument to the State of Texas more than forty years ago as a symbol to battle against juvenile delinquency. The U. S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Ten Commandments, protecting thousands of monuments donated by the Eagles on state capitol grounds and in public parks across the nation.
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City of Waco/Planned Parenthood
The City of Waco and Planned Parenthood formed a coalition to incorporate the Planned Parenthood library as a branch of the Waco-McLennan Public Library System. LLI filed suit on behalf of three women and their children who were denied admission to the Planned Parenthood branch of the public library because they had expressed pro-life views. After the First Amendment suit was filed, Planned Parenthood completely severed their relationship with the Waco Public Library and paid damages to settle the case.
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American Jewish Congress v. Bost, et al.
"Separation of church and state" groups sued the State of Texas in federal district court in Austin for its charitable choice program in which it allowed churches and business groups to work together to move people off the welfare roles into paying jobs. LLI represented all 17 businesses and churches at the center of the suit, which had an 80% success rate in moving those who entered their program from welfare to work. The suit was an attempt to strike down, nationwide, charitable choice attempts to allow faith based groups to participate equally in welfare and other reforms. After victories in the Federal District Court and Federal Court of Appeals, LLI attorneys won a complete victory.
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The American Legion (ACLU v. McCreary County)
LLI filed an amicus curiae brief at the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of The American Legion to ensure that veterans' memorials that display religious imagery are not removed from the public square and that such memorials deserve protection. LLI helped organize the practice moot court sessions for the oral arguments, and coordinated the filing of amicus briefs supporting the display of the Ten Commandments. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the particular Ten Commandments display in question was unconstitutional, but the Court's decision paved the way for local communities to display the Ten Commandments, as long as certain guidelines were followed.
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Roberts v. Texas Tech University
The University speech code denied all students the right to free speech except in a small gazebo area in one spot on the campus. Likewise, students could not speak in a way that caused shame or humiliation to another student. Outside that area, they had to request permission for what they would say and submit the request 6 days in advance. LLI filed suit in Federal District Court in Lubbock on behalf of a student against the speech code and won. The state of Texas was ordered to pay LLI attorney fees.
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Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal
LLI filed an amicus curiae brief at the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that international law cannot be used as justification for limiting the religious freedom of American citizens. The Department of Justice was so concerned about our argument, that it specifically addressed LLI's brief in its reply and could not dispute LLI's argument. The Court issued an unanimous decision in favor of religious freedom, and actually adopted in its opinion, the legal analysis provided by LLI in its brief.
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Grace Community Church v. City of McKinney
The City of McKinney had an ordinance that prohibited a church from meeting in a home in a residential neighborhood. Grace Community Church was told by the City of McKinney that the church could no longer meet in the home. LLI filed a lawsuit on behalf of the church, alleging a violation of the church's right to meet in the pastor's home under federal law. The City settled the lawsuit by changing its ordinances and paid damages to the church and attorneys' fees.
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Templo La Fe v. City of Balch Springs
The Balch Spring’s city council prevented Temple La Fe from building a church on its own land. The city's experts on the Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to approve the building, but four city council members decided to override their own experts. LLI filed a lawsuit on behalf of the church and the Department of Justice investigated the city. The city agreed to allow the church to proceed with its plan to build and settled the lawsuit by paying damages to the church and attorneys’ fees.
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Falun Gong
At the request of The Department of Justice, LLI assisted in the investigation of religious discrimination concerning Falun Gong members who were refused hotel accommodations because of their religious beliefs.
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Lawrence v. State of Texas
Homosexual advocacy groups challenged the Texas sodomy law in the Supreme Court of the United States, asking the Court to rule that the law was unconstitutional. The lawsuit's real attempt was to make all marriage laws restricting marriage to being between a man and a woman unconstitutional. LLI assisted the State of Texas in its preparation for the case. LLI also filed a brief representing 70 Texas legislators calling for the Supreme Court to uphold the sodomy law as part of the state laws protecting marriage. The Court ruled that the Constitution protected the "right" to homosexual relationships and the sexual activity in which they engage.
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Good News Club v. Milford Central School
The Good News Club was denied access to school facilities because school policy and New York state law allowed use of the facilities by all groups except groups who engaged in "religious worship or instruction." LLI filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court decision, ruled such discrimination against religious speech was unconstitutional and based its ruling, in part, on an argument made only by LLI attorneys.
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Doe v. Santa Fe (TX) I.S.D.
A federal district court ordered students be arrested who used the name of Jesus, or any deity, in their graduation prayers. On appeal, the panel ruled (1) the government must control the content of students' graduation prayers to ensure there is no mention of Jesus or a deity, and (2) all student prayers over the loudspeakers before football games were banned. LLI as co-counsel represented the school district before the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled against the school's policy of student-initiated prayer.
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Students v. Conroe I.S.D.
Students handing out flyers to their friends to invite them to a church event were ordered to stop by school officials and told it was a violation of "separation of church and state.' The students (and youth pastor at a local church) were further instructed they could never hand out religious materials while they were at school. After LLI attorneys informed the district of the religious rights of the students, the district reversed its position.
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Institute for Teaching God's Word Seminary v. Texas Higher Ed. Coordinating Board
A seminary was fined by the state of Texas $18,000 for using the word "seminary" and issuing degrees in the Bible without state approval. LLI filed suit in Federal Court contending the state attempts to control the religious training of seminaries violated freedom of religion and speech under the U.S. and Texas Constitutions. The Court ruled against the seminary and issued an order prohibiting the seminary from issuing any degrees in the Bible, under threat of contempt of court.
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Boy Scouts of America v. Dale
A homosexual scout leader sued the Boy Scouts for not allowing homosexual activists to be Scout leaders over young boys. LLI filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing for the rights of all private organizations (including religious ones) to define their own moral standards for their leaders without governmental intrusion. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Boy Scouts 5-4.
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