See Pastors to challenge the IRS. Palin interviews and comments so far. Same-Sex Marriage updates.
Pulpit Freedom Sunday
Pulpit Freedom Sunday-"Pulpit Freedom Sunday is an event associated with the ADF Pulpit Initiative (www.telladf.org/church), a legal effort designed to secure the First Amendment rights of pastors in the pulpit. A document explaining what the Pulpit Initiative is and is not is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/WhatIsPI.pdf.
“ADF is not trying to get politics into the pulpit. Churches can decide for themselves that they either do or don’t want their pastors to speak about electoral candidates. The point of the Pulpit Initiative is very simple: the IRS should not be the one making the decision by threatening to revoke a church’s tax-exempt status. We need to get the government out of the pulpit,” said Stanley.
Stanley explained that, contrary to the misunderstandings of many, tax-exempt status is not a “gift” or “subsidy” bestowed by the government.
“Churches were completely free to preach about candidates from the day that the Constitution was ratified in 1788 until 1954. That’s when the unconstitutional rule known as the ‘Johnson Amendment’ was enacted,” explained Stanley. “Churches are exempt from taxation under the principle that there is no surer way to destroy religion than to begin taxing it. As the U.S. Supreme Court has noted, the power to tax involves the power to destroy. The real effect of the Johnson Amendment is that pastors are muzzled for fear of investigation by the IRS.”
After Sept. 28, ADF plans to provide via news release a list of pastors who participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday."
When do ministers cross the line?-"Barry Lynn:
There is no question, Erik, that when a person becomes a minister, rabbi, priest or other religious leader, he or she does not lose the capacity to participate in partisan political activities. However, any activity in support of or in opposition to candidates for public office must be done in a manner that doesn’t indicate or imply that the religious figure is bringing the weight of a religious institution behind him. It also means that that church leader cannot utilize the resources of the church to promote his personal partisan views . . .
Erik Stanley:
Barry, you’re willing to let a pastor be a pastor anywhere and everywhere during election season — except in his pulpit. By your standard, a pastor clad in clerical garb could stand before the church and proclaim, “I am speaking only for myself, and I oppose Sen. Joe Smith for president.” Yet the same pastor cannot walk into the pulpit, open the Bible, and preach a thorough, biblical sermon about how candidate Smith violated moral principles when he enacted legislation leading to a financial debacle on Wall Street. Remarkable.
That is where your fundamental misunderstanding comes into play. The Pulpit Initiative is designed to allow a pastor to be a pastor — free of government censorship or control and free of fear that if he somehow says something wrong, he will be derided in the media by your organization and even face a visit by the IRS . . ."
Erik Stanley, Barry Lynn on Alan Colmes’ Liberaland: The ADF Pulpit Initiative-"ADF attorney Erik Stanley and Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State appeared on Alan Colmes’ Liberaland, to discuss ADF’s Pulpit Initiative.
The mp3 file is here (4 meg) and it runs just over 18 minutes."
ADF Pulpit Initiative: Pastors should determine the content of sermons not government-"ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Georgene Rice Show (KDPQ 93.9 FM, 800 AM, Portland Oregon) to discuss ADF’s Pulpit Initiative.
This mp3 runs just under 20 minutes (4.6 meg download). The last few minutes of the recording was cut short due to a technical glitch."
Christianity Today: “Endorsing from the Pulpit”-"Christianity Today carries this report on ADF’s Pulpit Initiative that includes this quote from Pastor Gus Booth: “The voting booth is not some sort of sacred cow that you can’t talk about. You’re supposed to bring the gospel into every area of life.”
NPR: Pastors To Preach Politics From The Pulpit-"NPR carries this report on ADF’s Pulpit Initiative. It includes this:
Stanley says pastors are fed up. In the past four years, the IRS has stepped up its investigations of clergy. It sent letters to 47 churches, including some liberal ones — not just for explicit endorsements, but also for using code words like pro-choice or pro-life in relation to candidates.
“What’s been happening is that the government has been able to go into the pulpits of America, look over the pastor’s shoulder, and parse the content of their sermon. And that’s unconstitutional,” Stanley said. “No government official should entangle itself with religion in that way.” . . ."
LA Times: “Pastors plan to defy IRS ban on political speech-"The LA Times carries this article discussing ADF’s Pulpit Initiative:
“The bottom line is that churches and pastors have a right to speak freely from the pulpit,” said Dale Schowengerdt, a defense fund attorney working on the project. “They should not be intimidated into silence by unconstitutional IRS regulations or rules.”
Still, recognizing the confrontational nature of their strategy and wary of protests, the defense fund released the name of only one pastor ahead of Sunday — the Rev. Gus Booth of the Warroad Community Church in rural Minnesota, who already is the subject of a complaint filed with the IRS over a May sermon in which he urged congregants to oppose Obama and Democratic New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton because of their positions on abortion."
Rabbi Prays for Election of McCain-"David Bernstein has this post on the Volokh Conspiracy reporting on a Jewish Rabbi’s prayer for the election of John McCain. Bernstein thinks: “Invoking the Almighty for partisan purposes is, to say the least, unbecoming.”
Revenuers vs. religion?-"ADF Attorney Erik Stanley has this commentary discussing ADF’s Pulpit Initiative in the Washington Times. He writes:
Churches do not turn into political action committees simply because their pastors want to preach about what the Bible says on a political candidate’s positions. And that will be just as true when pastors participating in the Alliance Defense Fund’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday do that kind of preaching this Sunday . . .
AU assumes any tax exemption is a government subsidy. That would be true if the government owned all property and income, but in America, it doesn’t. Nonprofits are not tax exempt as some kind of compensation for their charitable work. They are exempt because they are outside the government’s appropriate tax base.
And churches are, specifically, all the more tax exempt. Tax exemption of churches is not a benefit but a right enjoyed by churches under the Constitution. Churches were tax exempt long before the IRS even existed . . ."
ADF Pulpit Initiative-This site is continually updated.
Part 4 - Tax laws and religious speech: what the Constitution says
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-lynn-stanley25-2008sep25,0,2620493.story 09/26/2008
Christianity Today: “Endorsing from the Pulpit”
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/septemberweb-only/139-41.0.html 09/25/2008
NPR: Pastors To Preach Politics From The Pulpit
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95003709 09/25/2008
LA Times: “Pastors plan to defy IRS ban on political speech”
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-pulpit25-2008sep25,0,7475907.story 09/25/2008
Revenuers vs. religion?
washingtontimes.com 09/25/2008
Pulpit Freedom Sunday
09/25/2008
When do ministers cross the line?
09/25/2008
Erik Stanley, Barry Lynn on Alan Colmes’ Liberaland: The ADF Pulpit Initiative
http://www.alliancealert.org/2008/20080925.mp3 09/25/2008
Journalist Clueless on Religious Freedom
http://www.dakotavoice.com/2008/09/journalist-clueless-on-religious.html 09/24/2008
Politics From Pulpit Will Deliver Challenge to IRS: Conservative Group Seeks Court Fight on Nonprofit Law
online.wsj.com 09/24/2008
Why don’t churches pay taxes?
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-lynn-stanley23-2008sep23,0,1047625.story 09/24/2008
Erik Stanley on KSRO Talk Radio: ADF’s Pulpit Initiative
09/23/2008
Erik Stanley on Talk from the Heart with Rich Buhler: ADF’s Pulpit Initiative
http://www.alliancealert.org/2008/20080923.mp3 09/23/2008
LA Times: Do tax laws gag the clergy?
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-lynn-finley22-2008sep22,0,4859027.story 09/23/2008
Tax exemption for churches: constitutional right or IRS gift?
09/22/2008
Religious leaders learn to stay on IRS’ good side
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/church-religious-irs-2162352-leaders-drake 09/19/2008
Politics and the Pulpit: Group Declares ‘Freedom Sunday’
ncregister.com 09/19/2008
USA Today: ADF attorney says Pulpit Initiative is about church sovereignty not endorsement of candidates
blogs.usatoday.com 09/18/2008
WorldNetDaily Questions President’s team about ADF Pulpit Initiative
worldnetdaily.com 09/17/2008
ADF Pulpit Initiative: Pastors should determine the content of sermons not government
http://www.alliancealert.org/2008/20080917.mp3 09/17/2008
The politics of Jesus
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=75368 09/16/2008
Values Voter Summit: Alan Sears
http://www.dakotavoice.com/2008/09/values-voter-summit-alan-sears.html 09/15/2008
Richard John Neuhaus: A New Order of Religious Freedom
http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=1168 09/12/2008
Misguided Montgomery Advertiser Editorial claims that the Pulpit Initiative distorts reality
09/11/2008
NPR: The Tax Man Cometh … To Church?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/newsandviews/2008/09/the_tax_man_cometh_to_church.html?ft=1 09/10/2008
Rick Garnett: Politics and Preachers
mirrorofjustice.blogs.com 09/10/2008
Sunday, September 28: A Historic Day For Religious Freedom In America
http://www.idahoexaminer.com/features/10038/sunday-september-28-a-historic-day-for-religious-freedom-in-america 09/10/2008
Lampstand Project Launches for South Dakota Pro-Life Measure
http://www.dakotavoice.com/2008/09/lampstand-project-launches-for-south.html 09/10/2008
Ohio ministers challenge political pulpit plan
ap.google.com 09/09/2008
Catholic bishops criticize Biden’s abortion remarks for confusing faith, science, and the nature of law
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13737 09/09/2008
Erik Stanley: IRS Rules Don’t Trump the Constitution
townhall.com 09/08/2008
Challenge set for pulpit endorsement ban
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/09/08/Challenge_set_for_pulpit_endorsement_ban/UPI-15781220853750/ 09/08/2008
Washington Post: Ban on Political Endorsements by Pastors Targeted
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/07/AR2008090702460_pf.html 09/08/2008
Ohio pastor to preach on the importance of church-state separation
blog.au.org 09/05/2008
Pastors’ Web Electioneering Attracts U.S. Reviews of Tax Exemptions
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/nyregion/03irs.html?ex=1378180800&en=a2d83ee4bd1064cc&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink 09/04/2008
Americans U. for Sep. of Church State monitors sermons online for reporting to IRS
blog.au.org 09/04/2008
NYT: “Pastors’ Web Electioneering Attracts U.S. Reviews of Tax Exemptions”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/nyregion/03irs.html?ex=1378180800&en=a2d83ee4bd1064cc&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink 09/03/2008
Does the Constitutional Norm of Separation of Church and State Justify the Denial of Tax Exemption to Churches that Engage in Partisan Political Speech
papers.ssrn.com 09/02/2008
Erik Stanley on Wallbuilders: Pastors need not fear the IRS
09/02/2008
IRS Steps Up Efforts to Monitor Churches Involved in Politics
philanthropy.com 08/26/2008
Tennessee: “Pastor denies pulpit politics”
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080806/NEWS06/808060447/1006/NEWS01 08/06/2008
Erik Stanley on Jerry Johnson Live with Penna Dexter: Gus Booth and ADF’s Pulpit Initiative
07/22/2008
Jay Sekulow: Should Religious Leaders Be Able to Endorse Political Candidates?
http://www.aclj.org/News/Read.aspx?ID=3014 06/26/2008
Mike Johnson on the Zeb Bell Show: ADF’s pulpit initiative
06/25/2008
ADF advises officials in OH, WI regarding constitutionality of invocations
06/24/2008
Is it electioneering if a pastor preaches that a politician is working on the side of Satan?
http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/06/electioneering_with_satans_nam.html 06/24/2008
Pastors Challenge Law, Endorse Candidates From Pulpit
abcnews.go.com 06/20/2008
The Jewish Daily Forward: “Religious Right Gears Up To Push Political Choices From the Pulpit”
http://www.forward.com/articles/13622/ 06/20/2008
IRS Should Investigate Minnesota Church For Electioneering, Says Americans United
http://www.au.org/site/News2?abbr=pr&page=NewsArticle&id=9879 06/11/2008
Charles Haynes: Pastors, politics and the wink-wink rule
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/commentary.aspx?id=20144 06/09/2008
Erik Stanley on Crosswalk Radio: ADF’s Pulpit Initiative
06/03/2008
Jill Stanek: Revolt of the pastors
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=65446 05/28/2008
Praying for a Tax Break: Churches, Political Speech and the Loss of Section 501(C)(3) Tax Exempt Status
ssrn.com 05/27/2008
Erik Stanley on the Frank Pastore Show: The ADF Pulpit Initiative
05/23/2008
IRS rules Obama church appearance not improper
news.lp.findlaw.com 05/22/2008
An Historical and Constitutional Analysis of Why Section 501(C)(3) Does not Apply to Churches
05/21/2008
Erik Stanley on Point of View Radio: The right of pastors to speak on moral issues
05/20/2008
Erik Stanley with Heidi Harris on KDWN: IRS restrictions on pastors from the pulpit
05/19/2008
IRS rejects AU complaint, finds Calif. church didn’t violate tax code
05/19/2008
“Churches risk tax-exempt status when dabbling in politics”
http://www.kfor.com/Global/story.asp?S=8336152&nav=menu99_6 05/19/2008
Wiley Drake on IRS probe: “We win.”
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/drake-church-irs-2045593-endorsement-radio?orderby=TimeStampDescending&showRecommendedOnly=0&oncommentsPage=2#slComments 05/19/2008
‘Intimidation’ of pastors at issue
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=114442 05/13/2008
ADF Launches Initiative to Retake Religious Freedom
http://www.dakotavoice.com/2008/05/adf-launches-initiatiave-to-retake.html 05/12/2008
ADF announces new initiative to reclaim pastors’ First Amendment rights
05/09/2008
Wall Street Journal: Pastors May Defy IRS Gag Rule
online.wsj.com 05/09/2008
“Pastors encouraged to violate IRS ban on partisan politics”
05/09/2008
AU: “Pulpit Plot: ADF Schemes To Test Tax-Law Limits On Church Partisanship”
blog.au.org 05/09/2008
Other Religious Freedoms Issues
Virginia: State police chaplains resign over prayer restrictions-"The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports: “At least five members of the Virginia State Police chaplains program have resigned after being told they must abstain from praying in the name of Jesus or Christ during department-sanctioned events involving the public.”
Nurse Suing Fort Worth Catholic Charities over Condom Prohibition-"The Catholic Charities of the diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, is being sued by the former director of its HIV/AIDS program because the organization refuses to make condom use a part of its prevention programs.
Barbara Beaty, a registered nurse, oversaw the Lady Hogan Project which offers medical assistance to people who are infected with HIV and AIDS. She says she was "improperly fired" when she refused to cooperate with a change of policy that disallows staff from encouraging condom use for AIDS prevention.....But many in the international effort against AIDS in the developing world have pointed to the push for condom use as a major contributor to the spread of the disease. The most successful AIDS prevention program in the developing world, that of Uganda, was derailed by the insistence of international advisors on the promotion of condoms.
In a lengthy op-ed in the Washington Post earlier this month, Sam L. Ruteikara, an official in the Ugandan government AIDS prevention programs, demanded that the western advisors, who control the aid funding, stop sabotaging their successful abstinence based programs in favor of condoms.
"We understand that casual sex is dear to you," he wrote, "but staying alive is dear to us. Listen to African wisdom, and we will show you how to prevent AIDS."
Catholic medical agencies hold that encouraging condom use merely confirms people in their risky sexual behavior without being an effective means of prevention. Condoms can break, and the porous latex allows the tiny virus particles to pass through the barrier, making their use a form of viral Russian Roulette."
Mandatory Abortion Referral Issue Resonates in Australia, U.S-"Hart has written to state lawmakers, urging them to reject the bill. It passed Victoria’s lower house on Sept. 11 – by a 49-32 vote – and is due to be voted on by the upper house on Oct. 7.....“Catholic hospitals will not perform abortions and will not provide referrals for the purpose of abortion,” he stressed. If the provision is passed, it will place pro-life staff in a position of breaking the law if they act in accordance with their moral convictions. “This bill poses a real threat to the continued existence of Catholic hospitals. Under these circumstances, it is difficult to foresee how Catholic hospitals could continue to operate maternity or emergency departments in this state in their current form.”...Backing Hart’s stance, Catholic Health Australia, which represents 75 Catholic hospitals around the country, issued a statement this week declaring that the hospitals “do not and will not offer abortions.”...In the U.S., Thursday marks the end of a period for public comment on a new HHS regulation which clarifies that federal law protects the rights of institutions and individuals not to participate in procedures they object to on religious or moral grounds. Noncompliance could lead to the withholding of federal funds...The rule prompted strong criticism from reproductive rights groups, which say it could seriously undermine women’s access to reproductive health services, including abortion or birth control. They urged supporters to let the administration know their objections. On Thursday, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) said the proposed new rule “could limit women’s access to appropriate, complete, and accurate reproductive health information and services and seriously jeopardize the doctor-patient relationship.” Last November, ACOG issued an “ethics opinion” entitled The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine. “Although respect for conscience is important, conscientious refusals should be limited if they constitute an imposition of religious or moral beliefs on patients, negatively affect a patient’s health, are based on scientific misinformation, or create or reinforce racial or socioeconomic inequalities,” it said....The Catholic Medical Association has called on ACOG to rescind the opinion, saying it constituted a “denial of conscience rights and religious freedom.”-Excellent article on this issue with revealing this clash of rights which should be resolved with the right to life trumping both for without the right to life their are no other rights so the right to life is more fundamental which then would favor those who have conscientious objections for that is the very reason why they conscientiously object.
Eliminating Classroom Bias at Penn State-"The Chronicle of Higher Education reports (subscription required) today that a former ADF Center for Academic Freedom client, A.J. Fluehr, successfully used an academic bias complaint system at Pennsylvania State University to expose an incident of classroom censorship. The system, used at both Penn State and Temple University, allows students to file a complaint against a professor or teaching assistant if they believe biased lessons have been presented in the classroom. Pennsylvania is one of the first states to implement such a system.Fluehr’s use of the student-complaint procedures at Penn State involved one experience during which a communications graduate instructor attempted to censor a speech Fluehr intended to deliver to fulfill a course assignment. The instructor said the speech would have offended students.CAF Blog readers may recall that Fluehr filed suit against Penn State in 2006, challenging several university policies that restricted his right to free speech. Fluehr settled the suit when Penn State agreed to remove and revise the illegal policies."
ADF attorney available to media after hearinginvolving free speech at Mt. Rushmore-"On Aug. 9, 2007, Michael Boardley and a few other individuals peacefully handed out gospel tracts near the front entrance of Mt. Rushmore without incident or comment from park officials. The next day, they were approached by a park ranger who told them that they must have a speech permit or cease passing out the tracts. Boardley made multiple requests for a permit through the phone number the Park Service provided, but no permit ever arrived (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4297). Park officials granted his request only after he filed suit.
“The Park Service should know that its requirement of a permit, as well as its denial of Mr. Boardley’s request for one, was clearly unconstitutional,” said Hacker. “It’s our hope that this lawsuit will restore free speech and religious freedom not just for Mr. Boardley, but for others visiting national parks and monuments as well.”
A fact sheet is available on the lawsuit, Boardley v. United States Department of the Interior, at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/BoardleyFactSheet.pdf."
Obama and his non diverse Faith Based Initiative
Washington Post’s Senseless Editorial on Religious Hiring-"Casey Mattox has this post on the CLS Blog:
In the Washington Post’s editorial today, titled “Faith-Based Obama,” (behind subscription), the Post finds that Obama’s recent speech on the faith-based initiative and his plan to retain it while stripping religious organizations of their right to hire those who agree with their beliefs is a “sensible balance.”-See Obama's Divisive Faith Based Initiative/Update on NM Photography case/www.BoycottMcDonalds.com/Arizona Marriage Amendment and McCain and African Wisdom vs NEA and UN/Obama supports a divisive faith based initiative.
Faith-based Teams Rebuilding New Orleans-"Jindal says the volunteers are still coming. Students on spring break. High schoolers coming down to help out with what Jindal calls incredible needs.
"We're basically building a lot of our school systems, our health systems," she said. "There are so many things we had problems with before the storms, and the storms highlighted a lot of those problems. So, now we have a real opportunity. Not that we wished for the storms, but now that they happened we got this opportunity. to truly develop a new system.
"A lot of people are just coming to see how they can help to rebuild, not only a school system and a health system, but a faith system -- to help from a grassroots level. You see churches being rebuilt, you see homes, and just an incredible, incredible community effort that's going on from the grassroots level," Jindal said."
First Amendment Case Victory
Below are 3 Court victories but see Values Video courtesy of CatholicVote.com. Another 1st Amendment case victory and more cases. Palin vs Gibson., Matt Damon vs Sarah Palin. Teen Challenge wins $1 million against city and county and other cases and victory (3 more victories), ExxonMobil CEO Defends High Profits and 11 Recent Religious Freedom victories (8 court victories and 3 settled out of court), one more at Protests from Sea to Shining Values Voter Sea! and one more at California Marriage Amendment Qualifies for November Ballot. So if you add that up that is 20 First Amendment Victories in 4 months and most of those in just the last 2 months.
This is nothing new to those who are signed up to ADF's daily email but to those only getting news from Big Media you need to sign up. Go to: http://www.alliancealert.org/ to sign up for feeds or emails. This group has beaten the ACLU in almost 80 percent of cases they have had up against the ACLU. This group's funding is but a fraction of the funding the ACLU gets. This tells you how out of touch the ACLU is with the First Amendment and religious freedoms. This also, proves the anti-christian bias of the ACLU.
And lastly, where is Big Media? Oh yah I forgot this would not favor their political leanings or I guess religious freedoms are not that big of an issue with them.
3 more court victories
Historic Virginia School Forced to Stop Discriminating Against "Good News Clubs"-"After a federal court ruled in favor of Child Evangelism Fellowship of Virginia (CEF), against the Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools, the district was forced to end its discrimination against the organization's Good News Clubs. The court ruled that the school board engaged in unconstitutional discrimination by charging CEF a fee for holding after-school Good News Clubs at area schools, while granting free use to Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and other organizations. Liberty Counsel represents CEF. The opinion pointed out a problem with the school board's policy that "empowers its superintendent to decide which organizations are allowed to have fee waivers without setting forth any concrete standards." The court also cited an appeals court ruling in a case Liberty Counsel won on behalf of another CEF group in South Carolina. In a settlement approved by the federal court this week, the district will rewrite its policy and pay more than $20,000 in damages."
Federal court: City treated church with ‘outright hostility’-"A church in a San Diego suburb has asked a federal judge to extend its operating permits to 10 years after it won a land-use lawsuit in which the court accused city officials of “outright hostility” toward the congregation....In May, U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Huff chided the city of San Diego and two planning groups for their attempts to thwart Grace’s application for a 10-year conditional use permit for a vacant warehouse on Via Frontera. Because churches are considered a non-complying use for most zoning designations, congregations across the nation must seek CUPs that allow them to assemble within a community.
“Grace Church experienced outright hostility to its application, decision-making that is seemingly arbitrary or pre-textual, and ignorance regarding the requirements of controlling federal law regarding the application of land-use laws to religious institutions,” Huff wrote in her opinion....“Frequently during the mandatory CUP process established by defendants, Grace Church experienced hostility to its application and was admonished not to return in five years for an extension,” the judge wrote....John Eastman, dean at Chapman University School of Law and co- counsel for the case, successfully argued that the city’s stand violated the eight-year-old Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. That law prohibits municipalities from creating burdensome zoning restrictions against houses of worship. Prior to the law, cities would often use zoning codes to block churches from prime properties because, as nonprofits, they do not pay property tax or generate revenue from sales tax.
“Churches shouldn’t be unfairly burdened by a city’s zoning restrictions simply to be able to exercise their religion,” said Eastman, an affiliate attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, which accepted the case pro bono. “The court held that San Diego officials violated federal law by denying this church a permit that would enable it to operate in its building for the full 10 years of its lease. San Diegans should be particularly concerned about the court’s finding that city officials exhibited ‘hostility’ toward religion.”
Lauterbach said the protracted process caused a significant drain of the church’s resources since they paid rent on the empty warehouse for 18 months before they were finally allowed to move in last November.
“This is part of the challenge of building a church in San Diego,” Lauterbach said. “If we lost (the case), it would have had significant impact to the church.”
10th Circuit: CLS, ADF attorneys secure victory in Colo. student funding case-"“Religious discrimination has no place under the First Amendment, and the court rightly struck down this discriminatory law,” added ADF Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb.
Colorado Christian University, a four-year, Christian liberal arts university, applied to participate in Colorado’s state-funded student financial aid programs in September 2003. The Colorado Commission on Higher Education denied the application in November 2004 on the sole ground that the school was “pervasively sectarian.”...The 10th Circuit’s ruling reversing the district court decision means that students desiring to attend Colorado Christian University no longer have to forfeit student aid.
“Obviously, we’re delighted with the good outcome for CCU and its students,” said Eric Hall, a partner with Rothberger, Johnson & Lyons in Colorado Springs. “In addition, we are pleased with the court’s strong and well-reasoned opinion, which reaffirms many long-standing religious liberty principles. This decision is likely to be cited often by other courts when religious liberty issues like these are at stake.”
A copy of the 10th Circuit’s opinion in Colorado Christian University v. Weaver is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/CCUopinion.pdf. Also representing CCU in the case was Denver attorney Thomas N. Scheffel.
The ADF Center for Academic Freedom defends religious freedom at America’s public universities (http://www.centerforacademicfreedom.org/). ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. The CLS Center for Law & Religious Freedom is a team of Christian attorneys allied with ADF to defend religious liberty and human life."
