Thomas More Law Center
Encyclopedia
The Thomas More Law Center is a prominent conservative Christian, not-for-profit law center based in Ann Arbor, Michigan
, and is active throughout the United States. Its stated goals are defending the religious freedom of Christians, restoring "time honored values" and protecting the sanctity of human life. The Law Center also supports a strong national defense and an independent, sovereign United States of America. Its motto is "The Sword and the Shield for People of Faith." The Law Center characterizes itself as "Christianity's answer to the ACLU
".
The issues the Law Center pursues, mostly through litigation, are generally in line with modern American social conservatism
: opposing same-sex marriage
; opposing pornography
; supporting pro-life
positions and initiatives, and opposing the removal of the Ten Commandments
and other religious monuments from municipal and school buildings.
The Law Center says its lawyers maintain "the highest moral and ethical standards of our Christian faith and our legal profession." The center considers its work "ministry
" and states it was inspired by what it calls a "cultural war
being waged across America" against "Christians and their faith." A policy statement of the center states "The Thomas More Center seeks to transform the national culture by taking cases across the United States consistent with its mission. The Law Center currently is handling over 120 legal matters in 27 different states." Currently, the Law Center has cases in 41 to 44 of 50 states, and has a team of over 600 pro bono attorneys.
Though it is active in many controversial social issues and cases, the Law Center is most widely known for its instigation, litigation and loss of the Dover, Pennsylvania intelligent design
case, defending LtCol Jeffrey Chessani
against misconduct allegations during the November 2005 Haditha killings
, its strong anti-abortion position, and for its current federal lawsuit against the government regarding the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
.
Attorneys from the Law Center have appeared on numerous local and national television and radio programs including The O'Reilly Factor
, Hannity and Colmes, MSNBC
, EWTN, the Laura Ingraham
Show, The Radio Factor w/Bill O'Reilly, American Family Radio
, and Dennis Prager
.
, founder of Domino's Pizza
, and Richard Thompson, the former Oakland County, Michigan
, prosecutor known for his role in the prosecution of Jack Kevorkian
, and who now serves as the Law Center's President and Chief Counsel. Among those who have sat on the Law Center's advisory board are: Senator Rick Santorum
, former Senator and retired Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton
, former Major League Baseball
commissioner Bowie Kuhn
, noted Catholic academic Charles Rice
, former Fortune 500 CEO Mary Cunningham Agee
, and Ambassador Alan Keyes
. Santorum has played a crucial role in promoting intelligent design through his Santorum Amendment
; however, following the Center's defeat in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
case (see below), Santorum resigned from the Law Center's advisory board. Originally, the Law Center's funding came from Monaghan's Ave Maria Foundation, but is now primarily financed by contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations.
whose refusal to accept King Henry VIII's
claim as supreme head of the Church of England
ended his political career and led to his execution as a traitor to the King. St. Thomas More is patron saint
of lawyers in the Catholic Church.
, in which it sued Planned Parenthood to force it to inform women of a possible link between abortion
s and breast cancer
. Although PP and medical experts denied any such link, a Thomas More Law Center lawyer claimed that a "preponderance of medical evidence" did establish a link. The case was later dismissed by the judge, who said there was little likelihood the lawsuit would succeed. The Center was ordered to pay $77,835 in legal fees.
In September 2001, the Center publicly offered to provide legal assistance to "American citizens who believe they have been unconstitutionally denied the right to fly the American flag or express their faith in God", claiming that there had been numerous incidents of such denials in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
In July 2002, the Thomas More Law Center sued the Ann Arbor Public Schools, claiming the district violated a student's constitutional rights by "promoting homosexuality". It eventually won the case, with the judge ruling that the district had violated the student's rights when she wasn't allowed to express her Catholic views in a panel discussion about gays and religion. The case was dismissed on a technicality. The Center later filed a similar lawsuit against Michigan State University. In 2008, the Supreme Court of Michigan ruled in the Center's favor, 5-2.
In the same month it sued Contra Costa County's Byron Union School District for allegedly violating students' constitutional rights after a seventh-grade class used the workbook "Islam: a Simulation of Islamic History and Culture", in which pupils were encouraged to role-play situations from Islamic history from 610 to 1100 A.D. The Center also represented pro-life activists who had produced the controversial Nuremberg Files website displayed the names and locations of various doctors who perform abortions throughout the United States. The case eventually went to the United States Supreme Court, where the pro-life activists lost. The Law Center sued New York's school district in December 2002 for banning Nativity scene
s in public schools. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
rejected the lawsuit in a 2-1 decision.
In March 2003, the Law Center intervened in the controversy over the "Ten Commandments monument" erected in the Alabama Supreme Court
building by Judge Roy Moore
. It filed a brief in support of Moore, claiming that the "First Amendment
does not require the existence of an impenetrable wall between church and state." Alabama's Court of the Judiciary later removed Moore from his post as Chief Justice.
Later in 2003, it sued the Ann Arbor Public School District in an attempt to stop the district from using public funds to pay for insurance benefits for same-sex partners of district employees. The case was dismissed in 2005.
The Thomas More Law Center also intervened in the Terri Schiavo case
in Florida
in October 2003, sending Governor Jeb Bush
a legal opinion stating that "Bush could legally intervene to order a criminal investigation into whether Terri Schiavo may have been abused at some point by her husband, Michael Schiavo, who has always denied such charges." The Florida legislature passed "Terri's Law," giving Bush the authority to intervene in Schiavo's case. The law was later struck down by Judge W. Douglas Baird, a Circuit Judge in the Florida Sixth Circuit, as unconstitutional.
In January 2004, the Law Center sued Washburn University
in Topeka, Kansas
for displaying a sculpture of a Catholic bishop with a grotesque facial expression wearing a phallus
on his head that is shaped like a bishop's mitre
and entitled "Holier than Thou." The case was thrown out the following month.
Also in 2004, the Center played a central role in crafting South Dakota
House Bill 1119, a bill which controversially banned all abortions in the state. Governor Mike Rounds
vetoed the bill, although a similar bill, the Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act
, was passed in 2006 and later repealed by popular referendum.
An article in an October 2006 article in the Agape Press said Law Center attorney Edward L. White III said "favoritism toward non-Christian religions in the United State is improper" and that "the courts, the schools, and even the military should stop favoring religions that don't represent the values and traditions of America." White expanded on this:
and was the commanding officer 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines during the time of the November 19, 2005, urban combat in Haditha, Iraq, where Marines in his battalion were accused of having killed 15 civilians while pursuing insurgents
. The Thomas More Law Center defended LtCol Chessani against the charge that he failed to investigate the killings, and all criminal charges against Chessani regarding this incident have been dismissed. He was also defended by the Center before an administrative Board of Inquiry wherein the Board found that there was no misconduct.
On June 17, 2008, Military Judge Colonel Steven Folsom dismissed all charges against Lt. Colonel Jeffrey Chessani on the grounds that General James Mattis
, who approved the filing of charges against Chessani, was improperly influenced by an investigator probing the incident. The ruling was without prejudice, which allows the prosecution to refile.
In 2008 an appeal filed on behalf of the Marine Corps claims that a judge abused his power when he dismissed dereliction of duty charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani in the 2005 slaying of two dozen Iraqi civilians. On March 17, 2009, a military appeals court upheld the dismissal of war crimes charges against Chessani.
LtCol Chessani’s commanding general, Major General Huck, reported up the chain of command, "I support our account and do not see the necessity for further investigation." General Huck was also allowed to retire without loss of rank and without going to a Board of Inquiry.
On August 28, 2009, the new general in charge of LtCol Chessani's case, Marine LtGen George Flynn, Commanding General of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, VA, decided that criminal charges were not warranted. Instead, he ordered LtCol Chessani to face an Navy administrative procedure, called a Board of Inquiry, which found no misconduct and recommended that he be allowed to retire without loss of rank.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, said, "The government's persecution of this loyal Marine officer continues because he refused to throw his men under the bus to appease some anti-war politicians and press, and the Iraqi government. Any punishment of LtCol Chessani handed down by a Board of Inquiry would be a miscarriage of justice because he did nothing wrong, and our lawyers will mount the same vigorous defense in this administrative proceeding as they did in the criminal."
The dismissed "misconduct" allegations against LtCol Chessani were for failing to properly report and investigate the November 19, 2005, incident. However, evidence shows that LtCol Chessani immediately reported the deaths of the 15 civilian Iraqis to his superiors. And not one of his superiors hearing of the civilian deaths— including top generals— considered it unusual. Not one ordered a further investigation. Instead, they commended him for a job well done. In fact, LtCol Chessani's immediate superior told him that no investigation was needed because it was a bona fide combat action, which was consistent with the orders in effect at the time: no investigation of civilian deaths related to combat action. That order was changed in April 2006, well after the Haditha incident.
.
Prior to taking on this particular case, a New York Times article revealed that the lawyers of the Thomas More Law Center traveled the country shopping for a school board willing to withstand a lawsuit as a test case for the teaching of intelligent design
in public schools, forcing the first test case for intelligent design in the courts. In a May 2000 visit to Charleston, West Virginia
, Robert Muise, one of the lawyers, tried to persuade the school board to buy and use Of Pandas and People
as a textbook for its science classes. Muise warned the board in Charleston that it would undoubtedly be sued if the district taught intelligent design, but that the Thomas More Law Center would provide legal defense at no cost: "We'll be your shields against such attacks," he told the school board, referencing the Center's motto. Muise told the board they could defend teaching intelligent design as a matter of academic freedom.
In the summer of 2004, the Dover, Pennsylvania, school board, after receiving legal advice from the Discovery Institute
, accepted the center's offer of advice and possible representation, as they worked to change their science curriculum. On November 19, 2004, the board issued a press release stating that, starting in January 2005, each biology class would be read a statement indicating the alleged uncertainties about some aspects of Darwinian evolution, and directing the students to Of Pandas and People
, of which a large number had been donated to the school by a member of the school board who purchased them using money he had given to his father, Donald Bonsell, and said they were donations solicited from his church. A month later, on December 14, 2004, the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State
filed suit on behalf of eleven Dover parents, claiming that the statement was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment
.
The Law Center defended the school district in the trial, which lasted from September 26 through November 4.
The case was decided on December 20, 2005. Judge John E. Jones III
delivered a 139 page decision in favor of the plaintiffs, ruling that Intelligent Design is not science but essentially religious in nature, and consequently inappropriate for a biology class. Members of the board that had originally enacted the policy were not re-elected, preventing an appeal.
and two Catholic citizens after the city passed an official resolution condemning the Catholic Church's teaching which opposed adoptions by homosexual couples. The Law Center alleges that the resolution, adopted March 21, 2006, referred to the Vatican as a "foreign country" meddling in the affairs of the city and proclaimed the Church’s moral teaching and beliefs on homosexuality as "insulting to all San Franciscans", "hateful", "insulting and callous", "defamatory", "absolutely unacceptable", "insensitive", and "ignorant". The resolution made reference to the Inquisition; and it urged the Archbishop of San Francisco and Catholic Charities of San Francisco to defy Church directives.
The basis of the Law Center's claim was that the Establishment Clause of the Constitution does not permit government hostility toward religion. The lower court dismissed the case. The Law Center then appealed the ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals A three-judge panel affirmed the lower court decision. The Law Center's request for an en banc rehearing of the appeal by the entire panel of the Ninth Circuit Court was granted, with the panel affirming the prior ruling. The Center has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.
The Law Center filed a federal lawsuit against a Southern California
school district on behalf of math teacher Brad Johnson who was ordered to remove several banners from his classroom because school officials claimed the banners promoted an impermissible "Judeo-Christian
" viewpoint. The banners, which the teacher had been displaying for the past 25 years without a single complaint, contained slogans such as "In God We Trust", "One Nation Under God", and the preamble to the Declaration of Independence
. The school district filed a motion to dismiss and in a lengthy opinion the federal judge denied the motion, ruling in the Law Center's favor. Upon the completion of discovery, the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The court granted summary judgment for the plaintiff. On September 13, 2011, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the summary judgment and ruled that the school district did not violate Johnson’s free speech rights. The unanimous decision of the federal appeals court relied on U.S. Supreme Court rulings that said governments can limit the free speech rights of public employees in the workplace.
The Law Center filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, challenging a portion of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 that appropriated $40 billion in taxpayer money to fund the federal government’s majority ownership interest in AIG. The lawsuit claimed that the federal government, through its ownership of AIG, engages in Sharia-based Islamic religious activities. The Law Center claimed the use of taxpayer dollars to fund Shariah-based Islamic religious activities violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. While federal Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff a the request by the Department of Justice
to dismiss the lawsuit in 2009, he reached a summary judgment in January, 2011, noting that the religious involvement did not achieve the "excessive entanglement" required under a precedential ruling. The plaintiff announced intent to appeal.
and the Department of Homeland Security after their publication of a nine-page intelligence assessment of "right-wing extremism". The case is currently pending in Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
. The Law Center is challenging its constitutionality in the Federal District Court (Eastern District of Michigan). The purpose of the lawsuit is to permanently enjoin enforcement of the new health care legislation. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Law Center itself, and four individuals from the Southeastern Michigan area. None of the individuals have private health care insurance. Named as defendants in the lawsuit are: President Barack Obama
, Kathleen Sebelius
, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services; Eric H. Holder, Jr., U.S. Attorney General; and Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the US Department of Treasury. All the defendants were sued in their official capacity. On October 7, 2010, U.S. District Court Judge George Caram Steeh dismissed two out of six of their claims, upholding these provisions under Congress's interstate commerce clause powers. The others remain pending.
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
, and is active throughout the United States. Its stated goals are defending the religious freedom of Christians, restoring "time honored values" and protecting the sanctity of human life. The Law Center also supports a strong national defense and an independent, sovereign United States of America. Its motto is "The Sword and the Shield for People of Faith." The Law Center characterizes itself as "Christianity's answer to the ACLU
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
".
The issues the Law Center pursues, mostly through litigation, are generally in line with modern American social conservatism
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
: opposing same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
; opposing pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
; supporting pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
positions and initiatives, and opposing the removal of the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
and other religious monuments from municipal and school buildings.
The Law Center says its lawyers maintain "the highest moral and ethical standards of our Christian faith and our legal profession." The center considers its work "ministry
Christian ministry
In Christianity, ministry is an activity carried out by Christians to express or spread their faith. 2003's Encyclopedia of Christianity defines it as "carrying forth Christ's mission in the world", indicating that it is "conferred on each Christian in baptism." It is performed by all Christians...
" and states it was inspired by what it calls a "cultural war
Culture war
The culture war in American usage is a metaphor used to claim that political conflict is based on sets of conflicting cultural values. The term frequently implies a conflict between those values considered traditionalist or conservative and those considered progressive or liberal...
being waged across America" against "Christians and their faith." A policy statement of the center states "The Thomas More Center seeks to transform the national culture by taking cases across the United States consistent with its mission. The Law Center currently is handling over 120 legal matters in 27 different states." Currently, the Law Center has cases in 41 to 44 of 50 states, and has a team of over 600 pro bono attorneys.
Though it is active in many controversial social issues and cases, the Law Center is most widely known for its instigation, litigation and loss of the Dover, Pennsylvania intelligent design
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, et al. was the first direct challenge brought in the United States federal courts testing a public school district policy that required the teaching of intelligent design...
case, defending LtCol Jeffrey Chessani
Jeffrey Chessani
Jeffrey R. Chessani is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, and was the commanding officer 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines during the November 2005 urban combat in Haditha, Iraq. In that event, known as the Haditha killings, marines in his battalion were accused of having...
against misconduct allegations during the November 2005 Haditha killings
Haditha killings
The Haditha killings refers to the incident where 24 Iraqi men, women and children were killed by a group of United States Marines on November 19, 2005 in Haditha, a city in the western Iraqi province of Al Anbar. At least 15 of those killed were civilians...
, its strong anti-abortion position, and for its current federal lawsuit against the government regarding the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law is the principal health care reform legislation of the 111th United States Congress...
.
Attorneys from the Law Center have appeared on numerous local and national television and radio programs including The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
, Hannity and Colmes, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, EWTN, the Laura Ingraham
Laura Ingraham
Laura Anne Ingraham is an American radio host, author, and conservative political commentator. Her nationally syndicated talk show, The Laura Ingraham Show, airs throughout the United States on Talk Radio Network...
Show, The Radio Factor w/Bill O'Reilly, American Family Radio
American Family Radio
American Family Radio is a network of more than 180 radio stations broadcasting Christian-oriented programming to over 40 states.-Overview:AFR was launched by Rev...
, and Dennis Prager
Dennis Prager
Dennis Prager is an American syndicated radio talk show host, syndicated columnist, author, and public speaker. He is noted for his conservative political and social views emanating from conservative Judeo-Christian values. He holds that there is an "American Trinity" of essential principles,...
.
Founding and history
The Center was founded in 1999 by Tom MonaghanTom Monaghan
Thomas Stephen "Tom" Monaghan is an entrepreneur and Catholic philanthropist and activist who founded Domino's Pizza in 1960. He owned the Detroit Tigers from 1983-1992....
, founder of Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza, Inc. is an international pizza delivery corporation headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America. Founded in 1960, Domino's is the second-largest pizza chain in the United States and has over 9,000 corporate and franchised stores in 60 countries and all 50 U.S....
, and Richard Thompson, the former Oakland County, Michigan
Oakland County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the 2010 Census, there were 1,202,362 people, 471,115 households, and 315,175 families residing in the county. The population density as of the 2000 census was 1,369 people per square mile . There were 492,006 housing units at an average density of 564 per square mile...
, prosecutor known for his role in the prosecution of Jack Kevorkian
Jack Kevorkian
Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian , commonly known as "Dr. Death", was an American pathologist, euthanasia activist, painter, composer and instrumentalist. He is best known for publicly championing a terminal patient's right to die via physician-assisted suicide; he said he assisted at least 130 patients to...
, and who now serves as the Law Center's President and Chief Counsel. Among those who have sat on the Law Center's advisory board are: Senator Rick Santorum
Rick Santorum
Richard John "Rick" Santorum is a lawyer and a former United States Senator from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Santorum was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference -making him the third-ranking Senate Republican from 2001 until his leave in 2007. Santorum is considered both a social...
, former Senator and retired Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton
Jeremiah Denton
Jeremiah Andrew Denton Jr. is a retired United States Navy rear admiral, naval aviator and a former Republican U.S. senator, for the state of Alabama...
, former Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
commissioner Bowie Kuhn
Bowie Kuhn
Bowie Kent Kuhn was an American lawyer and sports administrator who served as the fifth Commissioner of Major League Baseball from February 4, , to September 30,...
, noted Catholic academic Charles Rice
Charles Owen Rice
Monsignor Charles Owen Rice was a Roman Catholic priest and an American labor activist.He was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA to Irish immigrants...
, former Fortune 500 CEO Mary Cunningham Agee
Mary Cunningham Agee
Mary Cunningham Agee is an American business executive and author.Powerplay: What Really Happened at Bendix, Mary Cunningham Agee, Simon Schuster, 1984 She served in the top management of two Fortune 100 companies in the 1980s, one of the first women to do so, and was twice voted one of the “25...
, and Ambassador Alan Keyes
Alan Keyes
Alan Lee Keyes is an American conservative political activist, author, former diplomat, and perennial candidate for public office. A doctoral graduate of Harvard University, Keyes began his diplomatic career in the U.S...
. Santorum has played a crucial role in promoting intelligent design through his Santorum Amendment
Santorum Amendment
The Santorum Amendment was an amendment to the 2001 education funding bill which became known as the No Child Left Behind Act, proposed by former Republican United States Senator Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania, which promotes the teaching of intelligent design while questioning the academic...
; however, following the Center's defeat in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, et al. was the first direct challenge brought in the United States federal courts testing a public school district policy that required the teaching of intelligent design...
case (see below), Santorum resigned from the Law Center's advisory board. Originally, the Law Center's funding came from Monaghan's Ave Maria Foundation, but is now primarily financed by contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations.
Name
The Law Center is named after St. Thomas More, the 16th century Lord ChancellorLord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
whose refusal to accept King Henry VIII's
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
claim as supreme head of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
ended his political career and led to his execution as a traitor to the King. St. Thomas More is patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of lawyers in the Catholic Church.
1999 - 2005
In August 2001, the Center filed a lawsuit against the San Diego chapter of Planned ParenthoodPlanned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened to Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA is a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. The...
, in which it sued Planned Parenthood to force it to inform women of a possible link between abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
s and breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
. Although PP and medical experts denied any such link, a Thomas More Law Center lawyer claimed that a "preponderance of medical evidence" did establish a link. The case was later dismissed by the judge, who said there was little likelihood the lawsuit would succeed. The Center was ordered to pay $77,835 in legal fees.
In September 2001, the Center publicly offered to provide legal assistance to "American citizens who believe they have been unconstitutionally denied the right to fly the American flag or express their faith in God", claiming that there had been numerous incidents of such denials in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
In July 2002, the Thomas More Law Center sued the Ann Arbor Public Schools, claiming the district violated a student's constitutional rights by "promoting homosexuality". It eventually won the case, with the judge ruling that the district had violated the student's rights when she wasn't allowed to express her Catholic views in a panel discussion about gays and religion. The case was dismissed on a technicality. The Center later filed a similar lawsuit against Michigan State University. In 2008, the Supreme Court of Michigan ruled in the Center's favor, 5-2.
In the same month it sued Contra Costa County's Byron Union School District for allegedly violating students' constitutional rights after a seventh-grade class used the workbook "Islam: a Simulation of Islamic History and Culture", in which pupils were encouraged to role-play situations from Islamic history from 610 to 1100 A.D. The Center also represented pro-life activists who had produced the controversial Nuremberg Files website displayed the names and locations of various doctors who perform abortions throughout the United States. The case eventually went to the United States Supreme Court, where the pro-life activists lost. The Law Center sued New York's school district in December 2002 for banning Nativity scene
Nativity scene
A nativity scene, manger scene, krippe, crèche, or crib, is a depiction of the birth of Jesus as described in the gospels of Matthew and Luke...
s in public schools. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals...
rejected the lawsuit in a 2-1 decision.
In March 2003, the Law Center intervened in the controversy over the "Ten Commandments monument" erected in the Alabama Supreme Court
Alabama Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of an elected Chief Justice and eight elected Associate Justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six year terms. The Governor of Alabama may fill vacancies when they occur...
building by Judge Roy Moore
Roy Moore
Roy Stewart Moore is an American jurist and Republican politician noted for his refusal, as the elected Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama, to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the state courthouse despite orders to do so from a federal judge...
. It filed a brief in support of Moore, claiming that the "First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
does not require the existence of an impenetrable wall between church and state." Alabama's Court of the Judiciary later removed Moore from his post as Chief Justice.
Later in 2003, it sued the Ann Arbor Public School District in an attempt to stop the district from using public funds to pay for insurance benefits for same-sex partners of district employees. The case was dismissed in 2005.
The Thomas More Law Center also intervened in the Terri Schiavo case
Terri Schiavo case
The Terri Schiavo case was a legal battle in the United States between the legal guardians and the parents of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo that lasted from 1998 to 2005...
in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in October 2003, sending Governor Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; the younger brother of former President George W...
a legal opinion stating that "Bush could legally intervene to order a criminal investigation into whether Terri Schiavo may have been abused at some point by her husband, Michael Schiavo, who has always denied such charges." The Florida legislature passed "Terri's Law," giving Bush the authority to intervene in Schiavo's case. The law was later struck down by Judge W. Douglas Baird, a Circuit Judge in the Florida Sixth Circuit, as unconstitutional.
In January 2004, the Law Center sued Washburn University
Washburn University
Washburn University is a co-educational, public institution of higher learning in Topeka, Kansas, USA. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,400 undergraduate students and...
in Topeka, Kansas
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
for displaying a sculpture of a Catholic bishop with a grotesque facial expression wearing a phallus
Phallus
A phallus is an erect penis, a penis-shaped object such as a dildo, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. Any object that symbolically resembles a penis may also be referred to as a phallus; however, such objects are more often referred to as being phallic...
on his head that is shaped like a bishop's mitre
Mitre
The mitre , also spelled miter, is a type of headwear now known as the traditional, ceremonial head-dress of bishops and certain abbots in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in the Anglican Communion, some Lutheran churches, and also bishops and certain other clergy in the Eastern Orthodox...
and entitled "Holier than Thou." The case was thrown out the following month.
Also in 2004, the Center played a central role in crafting South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
House Bill 1119, a bill which controversially banned all abortions in the state. Governor Mike Rounds
Mike Rounds
Marion Michael "Mike" Rounds is an American politician. Rounds served as the 31st Governor of South Dakota. Rounds was first inaugurated on January 7, 2003, having been elected on November 5, 2002, and was re-elected on November 7, 2006...
vetoed the bill, although a similar bill, the Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act
Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act
The Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act was a state law passed by the South Dakota State Legislature in early 2006. It emerged as an effort to overturn Roe v. Wade via enacting a ban on abortion in the state of South Dakota...
, was passed in 2006 and later repealed by popular referendum.
An article in an October 2006 article in the Agape Press said Law Center attorney Edward L. White III said "favoritism toward non-Christian religions in the United State is improper" and that "the courts, the schools, and even the military should stop favoring religions that don't represent the values and traditions of America." White expanded on this:
LtCol Jeffrey Chessani
Jeffrey R. Chessani is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine CorpsUnited States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
and was the commanding officer 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines during the time of the November 19, 2005, urban combat in Haditha, Iraq, where Marines in his battalion were accused of having killed 15 civilians while pursuing insurgents
Haditha killings
The Haditha killings refers to the incident where 24 Iraqi men, women and children were killed by a group of United States Marines on November 19, 2005 in Haditha, a city in the western Iraqi province of Al Anbar. At least 15 of those killed were civilians...
. The Thomas More Law Center defended LtCol Chessani against the charge that he failed to investigate the killings, and all criminal charges against Chessani regarding this incident have been dismissed. He was also defended by the Center before an administrative Board of Inquiry wherein the Board found that there was no misconduct.
On June 17, 2008, Military Judge Colonel Steven Folsom dismissed all charges against Lt. Colonel Jeffrey Chessani on the grounds that General James Mattis
James Mattis
James N. Mattis is a United States Marine Corps general and the current commander of United States Central Command. Having replaced David Petraeus on August 11, 2010, he previously commanded United States Joint Forces Command from November 9, 2007 to August 2010 and served concurrently as NATO's...
, who approved the filing of charges against Chessani, was improperly influenced by an investigator probing the incident. The ruling was without prejudice, which allows the prosecution to refile.
In 2008 an appeal filed on behalf of the Marine Corps claims that a judge abused his power when he dismissed dereliction of duty charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani in the 2005 slaying of two dozen Iraqi civilians. On March 17, 2009, a military appeals court upheld the dismissal of war crimes charges against Chessani.
LtCol Chessani’s commanding general, Major General Huck, reported up the chain of command, "I support our account and do not see the necessity for further investigation." General Huck was also allowed to retire without loss of rank and without going to a Board of Inquiry.
On August 28, 2009, the new general in charge of LtCol Chessani's case, Marine LtGen George Flynn, Commanding General of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, VA, decided that criminal charges were not warranted. Instead, he ordered LtCol Chessani to face an Navy administrative procedure, called a Board of Inquiry, which found no misconduct and recommended that he be allowed to retire without loss of rank.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, said, "The government's persecution of this loyal Marine officer continues because he refused to throw his men under the bus to appease some anti-war politicians and press, and the Iraqi government. Any punishment of LtCol Chessani handed down by a Board of Inquiry would be a miscarriage of justice because he did nothing wrong, and our lawyers will mount the same vigorous defense in this administrative proceeding as they did in the criminal."
The dismissed "misconduct" allegations against LtCol Chessani were for failing to properly report and investigate the November 19, 2005, incident. However, evidence shows that LtCol Chessani immediately reported the deaths of the 15 civilian Iraqis to his superiors. And not one of his superiors hearing of the civilian deaths— including top generals— considered it unusual. Not one ordered a further investigation. Instead, they commended him for a job well done. In fact, LtCol Chessani's immediate superior told him that no investigation was needed because it was a bona fide combat action, which was consistent with the orders in effect at the time: no investigation of civilian deaths related to combat action. That order was changed in April 2006, well after the Haditha incident.
Intelligent design
The Thomas More Law Center gained attention as the law firm for the defendants in one of the country's first intelligent design cases, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School DistrictKitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, et al. was the first direct challenge brought in the United States federal courts testing a public school district policy that required the teaching of intelligent design...
.
Prior to taking on this particular case, a New York Times article revealed that the lawyers of the Thomas More Law Center traveled the country shopping for a school board willing to withstand a lawsuit as a test case for the teaching of intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
in public schools, forcing the first test case for intelligent design in the courts. In a May 2000 visit to Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
, Robert Muise, one of the lawyers, tried to persuade the school board to buy and use Of Pandas and People
Of Pandas and People
Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins is a controversial 1989 school-level textbook written by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon and published by the Texas-based Foundation for Thought and Ethics...
as a textbook for its science classes. Muise warned the board in Charleston that it would undoubtedly be sued if the district taught intelligent design, but that the Thomas More Law Center would provide legal defense at no cost: "We'll be your shields against such attacks," he told the school board, referencing the Center's motto. Muise told the board they could defend teaching intelligent design as a matter of academic freedom.
In the summer of 2004, the Dover, Pennsylvania, school board, after receiving legal advice from the Discovery Institute
Discovery Institute
The Discovery Institute is a non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design...
, accepted the center's offer of advice and possible representation, as they worked to change their science curriculum. On November 19, 2004, the board issued a press release stating that, starting in January 2005, each biology class would be read a statement indicating the alleged uncertainties about some aspects of Darwinian evolution, and directing the students to Of Pandas and People
Of Pandas and People
Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins is a controversial 1989 school-level textbook written by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon and published by the Texas-based Foundation for Thought and Ethics...
, of which a large number had been donated to the school by a member of the school board who purchased them using money he had given to his father, Donald Bonsell, and said they were donations solicited from his church. A month later, on December 14, 2004, the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a group that advocates separation of church and state, a legal doctrine interpreted by AU as being enshrined in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.-Mission:The guiding principle of Americans...
filed suit on behalf of eleven Dover parents, claiming that the statement was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
.
The Law Center defended the school district in the trial, which lasted from September 26 through November 4.
The case was decided on December 20, 2005. Judge John E. Jones III
John E. Jones III
John Edward Jones III is an American lawyer and jurist from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A Republican, Jones was appointed by President George W. Bush as federal judge on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in February 2002 and was unanimously confirmed by...
delivered a 139 page decision in favor of the plaintiffs, ruling that Intelligent Design is not science but essentially religious in nature, and consequently inappropriate for a biology class. Members of the board that had originally enacted the policy were not re-elected, preventing an appeal.
Other notable cases
- Pledge of AllegiancePledge of AllegianceThe Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an expression of loyalty to the federal flag and the republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Christian Socialist Francis Bellamy in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942...
- The Law Center has filed several amicus briefs in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court on behalf of itself, the Catholic LeagueCatholic League (U.S.)The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, often shortened to the Catholic League, is an American Catholic anti-defamation and civil rights organization...
and others challenging rulings which have held that recitation of the Pledge by public school children violated the Establishment Clause because it contained the phrase "Under God." The law center has also offered free legal services to several schools denied the right to permit students to recite the Pledge of AllegiancePledge of AllegianceThe Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an expression of loyalty to the federal flag and the republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Christian Socialist Francis Bellamy in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942...
. - Los Angeles County Seal - The Law Center's West Coast office filed an unsuccessful federal lawsuit against Los Angeles County officials for their decision to remove a small cross from the county seal after they were threatened with lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties UnionAmerican Civil Liberties UnionThe American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
. The Law Center also provided legal supervision to a ballot initiative to keep the cross on the seal, which didn't generate enough signatures for placement on the ballot. - Mount Soledad crossMount Soledad cross controversyThe Mount Soledad cross is a -tall cross that was erected in 1954 on top of Mount Soledad in La Jolla, California....
- The Law Center's West Coast office attempted to intervene on behalf of the Citizens for the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial, to prevent the city of San Diego from removing a 20 ft cross from the existing Mt. Soledad war memorial. The intervention was denied, but the Law Center subsequently appealed to the United States Supreme CourtSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, asking for a stay in destruction of the memorial, which was granted by Justice Anthony KennedyAnthony KennedyAnthony McLeod Kennedy is an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, having been appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. Since the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor, Kennedy has often been the swing vote on many of the Court's politically charged 5–4 decisions...
. - American Family Association v. Michigan State University - The Thomas More Law Center has sued Michigan State UniversityMichigan State UniversityMichigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
over their policy of providing health care benefits to same-sex domestic partners employed by the university, potentially in violation of Michigan’s recently enacted Defense of Marriage Act. This is the second such lawsuit the TMLC has filed, the first being against Ann Arbor Public Schools (that case was dismissed due to lack of standing by the plaintiffs). - Planned Parenthood v. American Coalition of Life Activists - The Thomas More Law Center defended the American Coalition of Life Activists, twelve activists, and an affiliated organization on the grounds of the First Amendment Right to free speech. The ACLA had created Old West "Wanted" style posters of various abortion doctors, listing their names and addresses online. The posters were described as "a hit list for terrorists" by Gloria FeldtGloria FeldtGloria Feldt at Temple, Texas, is a well-known author, commentator, and feminist leader.Feldt is a frequent public speaker, lecturing at universities, civic and professional organizations, and national and international conferences on women, feminism, politics, leadership, media, and health...
, then president of Planned ParenthoodPlanned ParenthoodPlanned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened to Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA is a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. The...
. This assertion was furthered by the fact that three of doctors on list were murdered and several wounded, after which the murdered doctors' names on the list were crossed out and the wounded doctors' names set in gray text. The defense lost the case at the lower court, a ruling which was overturned on appeal, but then restored by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sitting en banc. - Charter Amendment One (Gainesville, Florida)Charter Amendment One (Gainesville, Florida)Charter Amendment One was a citizen led referendum defeated in Gainesville, Florida's city election on March 24, 2009. Titled the "Amendment to the City Charter Prohibiting the City from Providing Certain Civil Rights", the measure would remove the legal protections not explicitly covered under the...
— The City Council of Gainesville, FloridaGainesville, FloridaGainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, voted to enact protection for sexual preference and gender identity in January 2008. The Thomas More Law Center wrote an amendment to repeal the protection that went to popular vote on March 24, 2009, losing with 42% of the vote in favor of repeal and 58% against repeal. - Michael SavageMichael Savage (commentator)Michael Savage is a conservative American radio host, author, and political commentator. He is the host of The Savage Nation, a nationally syndicated talk show that airs throughout the United States on Talk Radio Network...
— American radio broadcaster Michael Savage was banned from entry into the United Kingdom as he is "considered to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour by seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence". by the United Kingdom's Home Secretary. Savage and his lawyers from Thomas More Law Center are arguing this is a violation of several international treaties concerning political and civil rights.
Catholic League et al. v. City of San Francisco
The Law Center filed a federal lawsuit against the City of San Francisco on behalf of the Catholic LeagueCatholic League (U.S.)
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, often shortened to the Catholic League, is an American Catholic anti-defamation and civil rights organization...
and two Catholic citizens after the city passed an official resolution condemning the Catholic Church's teaching which opposed adoptions by homosexual couples. The Law Center alleges that the resolution, adopted March 21, 2006, referred to the Vatican as a "foreign country" meddling in the affairs of the city and proclaimed the Church’s moral teaching and beliefs on homosexuality as "insulting to all San Franciscans", "hateful", "insulting and callous", "defamatory", "absolutely unacceptable", "insensitive", and "ignorant". The resolution made reference to the Inquisition; and it urged the Archbishop of San Francisco and Catholic Charities of San Francisco to defy Church directives.
The basis of the Law Center's claim was that the Establishment Clause of the Constitution does not permit government hostility toward religion. The lower court dismissed the case. The Law Center then appealed the ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals A three-judge panel affirmed the lower court decision. The Law Center's request for an en banc rehearing of the appeal by the entire panel of the Ninth Circuit Court was granted, with the panel affirming the prior ruling. The Center has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.
Johnson v. Poway Unified School District
The Law Center filed a federal lawsuit against a Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
school district on behalf of math teacher Brad Johnson who was ordered to remove several banners from his classroom because school officials claimed the banners promoted an impermissible "Judeo-Christian
Judeo-Christian
Judeo-Christian is a term used in the United States since the 1940s to refer to standards of ethics said to be held in common by Judaism and Christianity, for example the Ten Commandments...
" viewpoint. The banners, which the teacher had been displaying for the past 25 years without a single complaint, contained slogans such as "In God We Trust", "One Nation Under God", and the preamble to the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
. The school district filed a motion to dismiss and in a lengthy opinion the federal judge denied the motion, ruling in the Law Center's favor. Upon the completion of discovery, the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The court granted summary judgment for the plaintiff. On September 13, 2011, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the summary judgment and ruled that the school district did not violate Johnson’s free speech rights. The unanimous decision of the federal appeals court relied on U.S. Supreme Court rulings that said governments can limit the free speech rights of public employees in the workplace.
Kevin Murray v. U.S. Treasury Sec. Timothy Geithner, et al.
The Law Center filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, challenging a portion of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 that appropriated $40 billion in taxpayer money to fund the federal government’s majority ownership interest in AIG. The lawsuit claimed that the federal government, through its ownership of AIG, engages in Sharia-based Islamic religious activities. The Law Center claimed the use of taxpayer dollars to fund Shariah-based Islamic religious activities violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. While federal Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff a the request by the Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
to dismiss the lawsuit in 2009, he reached a summary judgment in January, 2011, noting that the religious involvement did not achieve the "excessive entanglement" required under a precedential ruling. The plaintiff announced intent to appeal.
Center for Bioethical Reform, et al. v. U.S. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, et al.
The Law Center filed a federal lawsuit against Janet NapolitanoJanet Napolitano
Janet Napolitano is the third and current United States Secretary of Homeland Security, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She is the fourth person to hold the position, which was created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the 21st...
and the Department of Homeland Security after their publication of a nine-page intelligence assessment of "right-wing extremism". The case is currently pending in Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Gary Glenn, et al. v. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
The Law Center filed a federal lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., challenging the constitutionality of the recently-enacted federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The Act addresses crimes motivated by a person's "actual or perceived" "sexual orientation" or "gender identity." The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, on behalf of Pastor Levon Yuille, Pastor Rene Ouellette, Pastor James Combs, and Gary Glenn, the president of the American Family Association of Michigan (AFA-Michigan).Thomas More Law Center v. Barack Obama, et al.
The Thomas More Law Center filed a federal lawsuit against the new health care law known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care ActPatient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law is the principal health care reform legislation of the 111th United States Congress...
. The Law Center is challenging its constitutionality in the Federal District Court (Eastern District of Michigan). The purpose of the lawsuit is to permanently enjoin enforcement of the new health care legislation. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Law Center itself, and four individuals from the Southeastern Michigan area. None of the individuals have private health care insurance. Named as defendants in the lawsuit are: President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius is an American politician currently serving as the 21st Secretary of Health and Human Services. She was the second female Governor of Kansas from 2003 to 2009, the Democratic respondent to the 2008 State of the Union address, and chair-emerita of the Democratic Governors...
, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services; Eric H. Holder, Jr., U.S. Attorney General; and Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the US Department of Treasury. All the defendants were sued in their official capacity. On October 7, 2010, U.S. District Court Judge George Caram Steeh dismissed two out of six of their claims, upholding these provisions under Congress's interstate commerce clause powers. The others remain pending.
External links
- Thomas More Law Center website
- Science Wars - Should Schools Teach Intelligent Design An October 2005 public debate hosted by the American Enterprise InstituteAmerican Enterprise InstituteThe American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...
that included the TMLC. - Thomas More Law Center successfully defends Christian high school club against being forced to admit gay students Additional coverage
- Thomas More Law Center sues Florida town for refusing public Nativity displays
- In Intelligent Design Case, a Cause in Search of a Lawsuit, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, November 4, 2005. - Thomas More Law Center vs ACLU on intelligent design
- Full text of Judge Jones' Kitzmiller v Dover ruling, dated December 20, 2005 (317.8 KBKilobyteThe kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...
PDF file) - Summary Opinion of Planned Parenthood v. American Coalition of Life Activists
- Creators of Anti-Abortion Web Site Told to Pay Millions
- Court reduces award to harassed abortion clinics