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ACLA Merges with Thomas More Society in Chicago
to Broaden the Scope of Its Pro-Bono Legal Representation in America

December 8, 2020 - FAIRFIELD, NEW JERSEY

As this eventful year draws to a close, ACLA’s alliance with the Thomas More Society of Chicago is already producing great fruits with State and Federal court victories against COVID-19 restrictions on the rights of Catholics in violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the Federal Constitution (Soos v. Cuomo, New York) and the parallel provision of the California Constitution (Burfitt v. Newsom, California).

In addition, following our appeal, the United States Supreme Court has reversed the New Jersey district court’s refusal to grant an injunction against COVID-19 restrictions on houses of worship, and ordered the lower court to reconsider its decision in light of Brooklyn Diocese v. Cuomo, which affirms the principle that churches must be treated as least as well as secular businesses under these restrictions.

ACLA has been assisting the Thomas More Society by providing its Northeast Regional Office as base of operations, led by Christopher A. Ferrara as Special Counsel to the Society.  There will ultimately be a formal merger and dissolution of ACLA as its invaluable mission continues under the auspices of the Society.

Accordingly, all donations to this important work should be directed to the Thomas More Society at the following address:

309 W. Washington Street
Suite 1250
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone: 312.782.1680

www.ThomasMoreSociety.org

LAW PROFESSOR SETTLES DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS AGAINST UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

August 24, 2019 - NORMAN, OKLAHOMA 

ACLA is pleased to announce that with the assistance of ACLA affiliate attorney Brecken Wagner, Professor Brian McCall  of the University of Oklahoma College of Law has reached an amicable resolution of all claims relating to the end of his service as Associate Dean of the University of Oklahoma College of Law and Associate Director of the Law Center in October 2018 pursuant to a confidential settlement agreement. 

McCall said, “I am relieved finally to put this unfortunate incident behind me and to be free to dedicate my full time and effort to serving the students of the University of Oklahoma who are the entire reason for the University’s existence.  I want to express my deepest gratitude to the American Catholic Lawyers Association (ACLA) for expert and sound legal advice.  In particular, I wish to thank ACLA’s Oklahoma Affiliate, Brecken Wagner, and the entire ACLA team for their assistance over this past year, including President and Chief Counsel, Christopher A. Ferrara, and ACLA’s Western Regional Litigation Counsel, James Bendell.”

McCall is a tenured professor holding an endowed professorship and teaches courses in Contracts and Commercial Law with a specialization in teaching law in an experiential manner that emphasizes the acquisition of practical professional skills. 

Professor McCall is a graduate of Yale University, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and with Distinction in his major (English).  He received a Fulbright grant to the University of London, King’s College, where he received his Master’s Degree in English Language and Literature before 1525. After teaching high school English for two years he completed his Juris Doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated summa cum laude, Order of the Coif, and with the highest grade point average over the degree program.  He practiced law with Dechert LLP from 1997 until 2006 in Philadelphia and London (from 1999-2006) during which time he specialized in international mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. 

As a law professor, he was instrumental in developing the College of Law’s online Master of Legal Studies and online Master of Laws degrees which under his leadership grew from fewer than a dozen students to over 350 enrolled students.  He has been and remains a passionate advocate for practical experiential education that facilitates the development of professional skills and emphasizes the ethical practice of law.  He is a traditional Roman Catholic who has been married to his wife, Marie Elaina, for 28 years and is the proud father of six children. 

ACLA DEFENDS INJUNCTION PROCEEDING IN FEDERAL COURT

JUNE 26, 2019 - PHILADELPHIA

On June 26, 2019 ACLA Chief Counsel Christopher A. Ferrara and Pennsylvania affiliate counsel Christopher G. Sweet, defended veteran pro-life advocate Anthony Sulpizio at a preliminary injunction hearing in federal district Court before the Hon. Chad F. Kenny at the federal courthouse in Philadelphia.   Co-defendant Mark Bogunovich was represented by Thomas Olp of the Thomas More Society in Chicago. 

The preliminary injunction action, brought by Allentown Women's Center, a local abortion clinic, alleges that Sulpizio and Bogunovich  have engaged in "threats," "force" and "physical obstruction" in violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE).  "Nothing of the kind was proven during the two-day hearing," said Mr. Ferrara.  "The video evidence from Allentown Women Center's own surveillance cameras showed both my client and Mr. Bogunovich engaging in First Amendment-protected distribution of literature and conversations with the occupants of cars approaching the clinic who stopped voluntarily to speak with them. In fact, it is often the clinic's own video that undermines its claims in cases like this."

A decision on the motion for preliminary injunction is expected, after which the case will proceed to a final hearing on the merits.

SUMMONS AGAINST PRO-LIFE PREGNANCY CENTER WITHDRAWN

April 2019 - NEW YORK, NY

Chris Slattery  and his apostolate, Expectant Mother Care (EMC), have been saving innocent lives from the abortionist’s scalpel, forceps and suction machines. And, in consequence, for decades EMC has been under constant assault by New York State and New York City.

Back in March, ACLA's NY Litigation Counsel, Christopher A. Ferrara,  defended EMC against yet another summons the City had issued under “Local Law 17,” a pernicious statute erected for the obvious purpose of harassing EMC with endless inspections, fines and ultimately closure.  The law is so blatantly unconstitutional that the federal district court in Manhattan struck it down entirely, while the Second Circuit Court of Appeals left intact only one provision, requiring that EMC publish on its website, on all social media sites, the front door and walls of its office, and even as an attachment to Tweets, the statement: “This facility does not have a licensed medical provider on site to provide or supervise all services.”

But EMC does have a licensed medical provider – a licensed practical nurse – on premises on days when “services” as defined by the same law are provided (e.g. ultrasounds and supervised pregnancy testing). Therefore, EMC is not subject to what remains of this law, as the law itself clearly states in another provision. Yet the City continues to harass EMC with inspections and summonses on the basis of the absurd theory that EMC must publish the disclaimer even on days when the nurse is there, which would make the disclaimer false!  Or, even more absurd, EMC would have to change its website, social media site, Twitter account and signage practically every other day to reflect the presence or absence of a nurse.

 At an administrative hearing in March, the administrative law judge, after Mr. Ferrara's careful explanation of the absurdity of the City’s position, clearly indicated that he did not see any legal basis for the latest summons, as the City has no evidence that services are provided when a nurse is not there. Unable to persuade the judge to grant it an adjournment so that it could “amend” the summons, the City was forced to withdraw it. 

 So EMC is safe.  For now.  But there is no doubt the harassment will continue. As Chris Slattery observed: “This case is part of a systemic pattern of harassment using overly broad, and bureaucratic restrictions on NYC pregnancy centers, that are aimed at crippling us with unwarranted fines, and possible closure.”

 

ACLA LITIGATION COUNSEL FILES EEOC COMPLAINT ON BEHALF OF INVESTMENT ADVISOR

FIRED FOR DEFENDING MARRIAGE IN WORKPLACE

December 12, 2018 - New York, NY 

On December 12, 2018, ACLA's New York litigation counsel Christopher A. Ferrara, who is also President and Chief Counsel of the Association, filed a complaint for religious discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) at its Manhattan Office.  The complaint alleges that a Catholic investment advisor was forced out of his job because, in response to "LGBT" messages in the workplace he had placed business cards bearing Bible verses in support of marriage between a man and a woman.   The advisor, whose performance was exemplary, was given the choice of "resigning" without any notation on his public securities license record or being fired with an adverse public notation.  Having been forced to resign, he later learned that the company had still made an adverse notation on his public record, thus all but scuttling his career in the industry.

"Our client is clearly the victim of political correctness run rampant in the offices of a major investment firm," said Mr. Ferrara.  "These career-ending consequences are absurdly out of proportion to any supposed infraction, and can only be the result of animus toward the beliefs of a sincere Catholic who merely reacted to 'LGBT' propaganda in the work place. We intend to pursue all available remedies under federal, state and local discrimination laws."​

PRO-LIFE ADVOCATE ACQUITTED OF CRIMINAL CHANGES; COURT FINDS NO LEGAL BASIS​

November 27,  2018 - Bethlehem, PA

Following a trial before  District Magistrate Vivian Zumas, Catholic pro-life activist Tony Sulpizio was acquitted of charges of "disorderly conduct" and "harassment" arising from his lawful and First Amendment-protected pro-life advocacy at the infamous Allentown Women’s Center.  Mr. Sulpizio was represented by ACLA local counsel Joseph P. Stanton, and inveterate defender of pro-life advocates. The court that there was no  pattern of offensive acts constituting unlawful harassment and no disorderly conduct in that Mr. Sulpizio did not impede any motor vehicles (a standard false allegation by abortion clinic proponents).

Mr. Stanton further elicited an admission by the complaining witness that there was a videotape of the incident, "even though the officer was advised that there was no videotape. We argued in response to this information, that there must be a tape and that the tape must be exculpatory, otherwise, it would have been shown by the Commonwealth," said Mr. Stanton.  "We also argued that not providing the tape was a clear violation of Mr. Sulpizio’s due process rights under the 14th amendment."

ACLA DEFENDS AGAINST "FISHING EXPEDITION" DEPOSITIONS BY NY ATTORNEY GENERAL

October 2018- New York, NY 

The ongoing official harassment of Christopher Slattery and his life-saving apostolate, Expectant Mother Care (EMC), by the State of New York continued in October, when Chris and one of EMC’s managers were subjected to “fishing expedition” depositions by the New York State Attorney General, at which they were represented by ACLA’s local counsel Dennis Ring. 

"For years, one New York Attorney General after another has  been trying, without success, to prove that EMC is engaged in the 'unauthorized practice of medicine' merely because it provides free ultrasounds to expectant mothers under the supervision of a licensed nurse," said ACLA President and Chief Counsel, Christopher A. Ferrara.

"Ultrasound technicians are not even required to be licensed in New York, and the Attorney General continues to pursue a claim of a criminal law violation with the obvious intention of trying to shut EMC down so that more babies can be murdered by Big Abortion in New York State," Ferrara added.

ACLA will defend Slattery and EMC against any further proceedings, in collaboration with attorneys for the American Center for Law and Justice.

FEDERAL HARASSMENT OF PRO-LIFE ADVOCATES CONTINUES IN KENTUCKY -- DESPITE TRUMP’S ELECTION​

September 2018 - Kentucky

Despite President Trump’s election, the harassment of Catholic pro-life advocates continues on the federal level as well, where ACLA is fighting in the trenches.  The Kentucky case involves ten pro-life advocates who have been sued by the Department of Justice under 18 USC 248, known as the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.  The group had participated in a protest to call attention to the abortion holocaust at the last remaining abortion clinic in Louisville, Kentucky.  The group was peaceful throughout and state charges have been dismissed.

      ACLA’s affiliate attorney, Michael Hirsh, a Jewish convert and father of eleven, represents Catholic pro-life advocate Thomas Raddell. Our client and his opponent, the Department of Justice, are now in the midst of exchanging pretrial discovery, the substantial cost of which ACLA is subsidizing with your help. Michael will be taking the depositions of the abortion clinic director as well as several “escorts,” whose job is to lead women into the abortion chamber where their children will be murdered.

      “While there is a new U.S. Attorney in Louisville who was appointed by President Trump, the litigation was initiated under the previous administration.  Either President Trump or Attorney General Jeff Sessions could end this litigation," observed Mr. Hirsh. 

SUIT FOR FALSE ARREST FILED ON BEHALF OF CATHOLIC PROTESTING

DISCRIMINATORY TREATMENT OF CATHOLIC NEWMAN CLUB

August 2018  - New York, NY

ACLA NY litigation counsel Christopher A. Ferrara has filed a suit for false arrest, malicious prosecution and violation of state and federal constitutional rights on behalf of Anggeluz Amendolare. Anggeluz was falsely arrested on a charge of “trespassing” on the premises of City College of New York (CUNY) after she protested the apparent closure of the Catholic chapel used by CCNY’s Newman Club -- at the same time Muslims are given their own worship space in the next room.  CUNY later abandoned the charge, which was dismissed at a hearing attended by ACLA affiliate attorney William Broderick.

       Ms. Amendola, who was a registered CUNY student at the time and could not possibly have been “trespassing,” was wrestled to the ground by security guards, handcuffed, carted up an elevator, then handcuffed to a desk like a violent criminal.  The false arrest continued even though I personally warned the CUNY employee who had ordered it (over the speaker on Anggeluz’s cell phone) that she was incurring liability for false arrest and imprisonment. 

      Ms. Amendola was finally freed from her unlawful confinement by the New York City police officers she was able to summon by calling 911 on her phone, whose screen had been cracked during the arrest.

      "This case is typical of the infringements of religious freedom to which Catholics and other Christians in our nation’s colleges and universities are routinely subjected while other the members of other religions and atheists are shown every consideration" said Mr. Ferrara.

EXPECTANT MOTHER CARE AND CHRIS SLATTERY 

UNDER GOVERNMENT ATTACK AGAIN

July 2018 - New York, NY

Chris Slattery and his leading crisis pregnancy center (CPC), Expectant Mother Care (EMC) are still under attack by both state and local governments.   The harassment continues even after ACLA NY litigation counsel Christopher A. Ferrara, working with attorneys for the American Center for Law and Justice, argued before the Appellate Division and won a major victory when the Court massively cut back a wildly intrusive subpoena demanding all kinds of EMC documents that are none of the government’s business, the governmental harassment continues on both the local and state level.  ​

     "Both the City of New York and the New York Attorney General are determined to hound EMC out of existence -- precisely because EMC is so successful at saving unborn babies from the clutches of the abortionist," said Mr. Ferrara.      

      EMC was fined under New York City’s Local Law 17, which requires EMC and other CPCs to post online, and print, bi-lingual disclaimers which state that they do not have a licensed medical provider on premises.  Yet EMC does have a licensed medical provider on premises on those days when sonogram and other testing is performed, so that even under the provisions of Local Law 17, EMC is exempt from the disclaimer requirement. Ignoring this, an administrative judge upheld a fine based on EMC not posting a disclaimer that would be false and contrary to actual fact.  

        Since then, in NIFLA v. Becerra, the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has held that a virtually identical disclaimer requirement in a California state law is unconstitutional compelled speech.  The 5-to-4 decision in favor of NIFLA, a California pro-life organization, was thanks to the appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Court.   Yet the City of New York, despite the decision in Becerra, has issued another summons to EMC on the grounds that EMC, which has a medical provider on premises, “failed” to publish a false disclaimer that it does not have a medical provider on premises.

      "In view of the clearly controlling decision in Becera, we are hopeful this matter can soon be brought to an end," said Mr. Ferrara. " The Supreme Court has made it clear that imposing such disclaimer requirements on pro-life crisis pregnancy centers impermissibly burdens their First Amendment rights by compelling speech they do not wish to utter.  Enough is enough." 

​

VICTORY IN OKLAHOMA! CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT SETTLED 

WITH JUDGMENT AGAINST OKLAHOMA CITY

April 2018 - Oklahoma City, OK

​After winning a total reversal of her groundless criminal convictions in Oklahoma’s highest criminal court, and then vigorously pursuing a federal civil rights suit on her behalf, ACLA attorneys have achieved justice for renowned Catholic pro-life activist Joan Bell.

After extensive pretrial discovery in the civil rights suit, including document production and numerous videotaped depositions, the City of Oklahoma City has agreed to settle the case by the entry of a money judgment in favor of Joan and against the City which will be paid from City funds, thus bringing the litigation to successful conclusion. 

 As you will recall from previous newsletters, Joan was falsely arrested and carted off to jail like a common criminal merely for kneeling and praying in protest of a “Black Mass” in the Oklahoma City Civic Center – staged by a “Satanist” who is a registered sex offender.

 In reversing Joan’s criminal convictions for her perfectly lawful activity, the decision of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals referred to her arrests as “exceptionally groundless,” and further held that she was entitled of offer passive resistance to a wrongful arrest in violation of her civil and constitutional rights.

Joan would never have achieved this victory for the rights of Catholics if your support had not made it possible to offer the free legal assistance of a law professor (Brian M. McCall, a graduate of Yale University and University of Pennsylvania Law School) and one the nation’s most experienced litigators in the field of civil rights, James Bendell (whose AVVO rating is “Superb”).  

Both of these fine Catholic lawyers are part of the volunteer network that is coordinated from the nerve center of our New Jersey office, which enables us to provide both top notch representation and state-of-the-art legal support in the cases we handle.

TRIAL COURT NARROWS SCOPE OF DOCUMENT PRODUCTION FOLLOWING APPELLATE DECISION HOLDING THAT ATTORNEY GENERAL SUBPOENA VIOLATED FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS OF EMC CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER

December 20, 2017 - New York, NY 

Following the Appellate Division's decision quashing or limiting the Attorney General's subpoena of documents from the Expectant Mother Care (EMC) crisis pregnancy center, the trial court on remand sharply reduced the number of documents to be produced in keeping with the appeals court's decision that document production was to be strictly limited in order to protect EMC's First Amendment right to advocate for alternatives too abortion.  "For the most part, the court agreed with our proposed redactions, and only 34 pages involve a difference between our view of what should be produced and the court's decision on remand from the Appellate Division," aid ACLA Chief Counsel Christopher A. Ferrara.  "This is a very substantial victory for EMC's right,  under the First Amendment, to oppose an overly broad subpoena.  The documents now to be produced show beyond any dispute that the Attorney General's claim that EMC engages in the 'unauthorized practice of medicine' has no foundation," added Ferrara, who argued the case before the Appellate Division.

SATANIST DEPOSED IN OKLAHOMA CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT

November 2017 - Oklahoma City

ACLA attorneys James Bendell and Professor Brian McCall are vigorously pursuing the civil rights lawsuit ACLA filed after ACLA attorneys won an appellate court reversal of Joan Bell’s bogus convictions stemming from her prayerful witness against a “Black Mass” held in the Oklahoma City Civic Center.

 "James and Brian are now in the pretrial discovery phase of the case, which includes depositions of the defendants and key witnesses.  One such witness is the very Satanist who staged the 'Black Mass', in question," said ACLA Chief Counsel Christopher A. Ferrara.  "When it came time for him to take the oath for his deposition he said: 'So help me Satan.'"

"Depositions of the police officers involved in Joan’s arrest. and the prosecutor who brought her to trial only confirm why Oklahoma’s highest criminal court found the charges to be unsupported by sufficient evidence – a finding rarely seen in criminal appellate decisions and a huge victory for Joan’s courageous witness," Ferrara added.

The defendants have offered multiple conflicting theories for why Joan was falsely arrested and prosecuted merely for praying on the Civic Center landing.  ACLA's complaint contends that none of these theories is supported by the law or the facts.

CITY OF NEW YORK CONTINUES TO PURSUE

EMC CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER

October 2017- New York, NY

News items on this site (see above and below) have reported on ACLA’s successful effort (working alongside attorneys with the American Center for Law and Justice) to limit the scope of an absurdly abusive subpoena issued by the Attorney General of New York, which demanded sensitive information about every aspect of EMC’s operations, including the names of its hundreds of volunteers. 

 The clear aim of that subpoena was to destroy EMC.  But ACLA Chief Counsel Christopher A. Ferrara argued for and obtained an emergency stay, which was followed by an appellate court decision striking down major parts of the subpoena as violative of EMC’s First Amendment rights, and limiting the rest of its intrusive demands under the same First Amendment.

 "But now the City of New York is getting into the act," said Ferrara.  After warrantless “inspections” of EMC’s facilities a few weeks ago, EMC has been served with a summons for violation of Local Law 17, enacted for the obvious purpose of putting EMC out of commission with burdensome disclosure requirements.  The provisions of the law were sharply restricted in a federal lawsuit in which Ferrara served as local counsel, but now the City is claiming that EMC is subject to fines because it does not post on its premises or in its advertisements a disclaimer that it does not provide “medical services.” 

 But EMC does provide medical services – ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, and STD testing – under the supervision of licensed practical nurses in consultation with licensed medical doctors, to whom EMC’s clients are often referred for prenatal care.  Thus, EMC is not even subject to Local Law 17.

 "Tellingly, the notice of violation issued by the City conspicuously omits the key sentence of Local Law 17, which exempts EMC from its provisions precisely because it does provide services under the supervision of licensed medical professionals and therefore does not have to, and indeed cannot post, the disclaimer because it would not be true," said Ferrara.  "I will be defending EMC at a hearing before an administrative law judge, which is the first step in what promises to be another long-running battle with the forces that have been trying to destroy EMC for decades because EMC saves unborn children from an otherwise certain death."

CASE DISMISSED AGAINST CATHOLIC ARRESTED FOR

PROTESTING ABOLITION OF CATHOLIC CHAPEL AT CCNY

October 19, 2017 - New York, NY

On October 19, the Criminal Court of the City of New York dismissed a “trespass” charge against Catholic activist Anggeluz Amendolare.   Anggeluz sought ACLA’s assistance after she was falsely arrested for “trespassing” on the premises of City College of New York when she objected to the elimination of a Catholic chapel on the premises at the same time a Muslim prayer room is maintained.

Anggeluz was enrolled as a student at CCNY and had a class on the day she was arrested, and thus could not possibly have been “trespassing.”
She was placed in handcuffs and her cell phone was broken during the false arrest, which occurred despite ACLA Chief Counsel, Christopher A. Ferrara's telephone warning to the CCNY administrator who instigated the arrest that it would result in legal liability. The baseless charge was dismissed during a court appearance at which Anggeluz was represented by ACLA affiliate attorney William Broderick.

A Notice of Claim has since been filed on Anggeluz's behalf with the City and CCNY, preparatory to any possible litigation.

ACLA DEFENDS FEDERAL LAWSUIT FILED BY

OBAMA HOLDOVER AGAINST PRO-LIFE ACTIVISTS

September 2017- Louisville, KY

The U.S. Attorney in Louisville, Kentucky, who was appointed by former President Barack Hussein Obama, recently filed a lawsuit against ten individuals under the Bill Clinton-inspired Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) law that was designed to make a federal case against pro-lifers who stood for life.

Catholic pro-lifer Tom Raddell is one of those named in the lawsuit. He is represented by ACLA affiliate attorney Michael R. Hirsh, a Jewish convert to the faith and the father of 13 children and 13 grandchildren. Hirsh is no stranger to pro-life activism and pro-life legal representation.

 Through the good work of Hirsh's law partner, Vince Heuser, Jr. in Louisville, the U.S. Attorney has already failed in his attempt to have a temporary injunction that would have placed a “bubble zone” around the only remaining abortion clinic in the state of Kentucky, preventing pro-life advocates from exercising their First Amendment rights inside the bubble.

The case now moves on to the claims that the government is making in its FACE lawsuit, which Mr. Hirsh will be opposing as ACLA’s affiliate counsel. “ACLA is proud to stand with those who stand for life,” said Mr. Hirsh, “and I am proud to be working with ACLA on this important case.”

APPELLATE COURT QUASHES AND LIMITS NY ATTORNEY GENERAL SUBPOENA

ISSUED TO HARASS EMC CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER, HOLDING THAT

 EMC'S FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS MUST BE PROTECTED

September 2017 - New York, NY

ACLA (alongside the American Center for Law and Justice) has been battling the Attorney General of New York regarding an intrusive subpoena served on Evergreen Association, Inc.(dba Expectant Mother Care/EMC), founded and headed by the legendary pro-life advocate Chris Slattery, whose organization has saved thousands of unborn children from death in the womb.

 "The subpoena was a classic governmental fishing expedition that poked into all of EMC’s affairs, including its personnel, corporate structure, sources of funding, volunteers, and pro-life literature," said ACLA Chief Counsel, Christopher A. Ferrara.  "These intrusive demands were issued under the guise of an "investigation" of the "unauthorized practice of medicine' by EMC, meaning the use of ultrasound technicians, who are not even required to be licensed in the State of New York."

 Ferrara argued successfully before the New York Appellate Division for an emergency stay of enforcement of the subpoena, and then orally argued the case for quashing the subpoena before the full panel.  On June 21, 2017, the Appellate Division gave EMC and the cause of life a major victory when it entirely quashed – that is, struck down – two key demands in the subpoena as violations of EMC’s First Amendment rights.

First, the Court struck down the Attorney General’s demand for all of EMC’s “advertisement and promotional literature, brochures and pamphlets… provided or disseminated to the public… including but not limited to, websites, pamphlets, billboards, and radio, television or internet broadcasts.” The Court held that EMC had no obligation to comply with this demand, and that it “must be quashed in [its] entirety because [it] seek[s] documents that infringe on Evergreen’s First Amendment rights . . .”

 Second, the Court also struck down the Attorney General’s intrusive demand for “All documents concerning any grant or other monies received from a local, New York State, or federal government agency.”   Here the Court also held that the demand must “be quashed in [its] entirety because [it] seek[s] documents that infringe on Evergreen’s First Amendment rights…”

 Moreover, the Court severely limited the remaining demands in the “blunderbuss” subpoena, holding that those demands were “not narrowly tailored to require production of only those documents directly related to Evergreen’s alleged unauthorized practice of medicine.”

Therefore, the Court “limit[ed] in scope the demands set forth in the subpoena to require the disclosure of only those documents that are substantially related to the Attorney General’s legitimate need to gather evidence to determine whether Evergreen has engaged in the unauthorized practice of medicine and which do not unnecessarily intrude on Evergreen’s First Amendment right to freedom of association.”

That limited subset of documents will show nothing that could be reasonably described as the practice of medicine. "Indeed," said Ferrara " to show how absurd the Attorney General’s position is, his deputies argued in court that merely providing an over-the-counter pregnancy test which any expectant mother can buy anywhere and read for herself is 'practicing medicine.' Thank God, the Appellate Division has put the brakes on the Attorney General’s attempt to intimidate EMC into silence by violating its First Amendment rights with an unconstitutionally intrusive subpoena."

 CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT PROCEEDS IN OKLAHOMA FEDERAL COURT 

March, 2017 - Oklahoma City. ACLA’s civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Joan Andrews Bell is proceeding in the federal district court for the Western District of Oklahoma.  ACLA attorneys James Bendell and Professor Brian McCall will be conducting pre-trial discovery in preparation for the trial now scheduled for February of 2018.  The civil rights suit follows the reversal by Oklahoma’s highest criminal court Joan's baseless convictions following an appeal by ACLA affiliate counsel Prof. Brian P. McCall.

The pretrial discovery will include document production requests designed to uncover how and why the City of Oklahoma City decided to continue its groundless prosecution of Mrs. Bell following her false arrest for praying in protest of a “Black Mass” at the Oklahoma City Civic Center. 

In particular, ACLA attorneys are seeking to determine who authorized amendment of the original groundless charges in favor of new, equally groundless, charges so that the malicious prosecution could continue.  ACLA will also be seeking to discover who authorized the attempt to induce Mrs. Bell to give up her right to sue the City and its personnel for violation of her civil rights if she agreed to stipulate that her arrest and prosecution were supported by probable cause, which they most certainly were not.

On the issue of attempting to coerce criminal defendants to drop their potential civil claims in return for dismissal of groundless criminal charges, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has offered this withering assessment of the tactic:  "We believe that when private parties or public officials use criminal complaints to coerce a release of civil liability from injured persons, this action, as a malicious prosecution, is egregious and qualifies as a deprivation of due process that violates the Fourteenth Amendment. It is no part of the proper duty of a prosecutor to use a criminal prosecution to forestall a civil proceeding by the defendant against policemen, even where the civil case arises from the events that are also the basis for the criminal charge."

ACLA SCORES FILES CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT FOLLOWING

APPEALS COURT VICTORY IN OKLAHOMA

​​November 23, 2016:  ACLA local affiliate attorney Professor Brian P. McCall has filed and served a multi-count civil rights lawsuit against the City of Oklahoma City in the federal District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.  The suit, which also names several police officers and the head of the City's Civic Center, follows the appellate victory of Joan Andrews Bell in the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals (see story below), which reversed her convictions for "disorderly conduct" and "Interfering or Obstructing by Disobeying a Lawful Command" by allegedly not cooperating in her unlawful arrest. 

The suit alleges that the defendants violated Mrs. Bell's civil and constitutional rights under both federal and state law, seeks unliquidated monetary damages and attorney's fees, and also requests an injunction to prevent future rights violations by the City and its personnel.

"Suits of this kind are an important vehicle for the vindication of civil and constitutional rights when they are violated by state actors," said Christopher A. Ferrara, ACLA President and Chief Counsel.  "They benefit not only the plaintiff in the suit but others who might be similarly situated, as such suits often result in published opinions and injunctions that serve as precedents for the protection of civil and constitutional rights."

Professor McCall will be assisted in this case by ACLA affiliate counsel James Bendell, an experienced civil rights litigator based in Idaho who has been specially admitted to the Western District of Oklahoma for this case.

ACLA SCORES WIN IN OKLAHOMA:

APPEALS COURT TOSSES CONVICTIONS OF JOAN ANDREWS BELL

IN "BLACK MASS" PROTEST CASE

August 18, 2016:  In an opinion issued yesterday, the Court of Criminal Appeals of the State Oklahoma reversed the convictions of veteran pro-life activist Joan Andrews Bell following her unlawful arrest for kneeling and praying the Rosary at the Oklahoma City Civic Center on September 21, 2014 during a "Black Mass" being held inside the building.  ​

​

The Court's 18-page opinion systematically dismantles the prosecution's groundless criminal complaints against Mrs. Bell for "disorderly conduct", based on alleged "obstruction" of access to the Civic Center, and "Interfering or Obstructing by Disobeying a Lawful Command" by allegedly not cooperating in her unlawful arrest. 

The Court accepted ACLA's arguments that there was insufficient evidence to support either charge, that Mrs. Bell's arrest (originally for "trespass" but later amended to "disorderly conduct") was unlawful, and that she had a right passively to resist her unlawful arrest by going limp momentarily but otherwise offering no significant impediment to the arrest.​​  "The City has failed to show that Bell obstructed access to the Civic Center, and we find there was insufficient evidence to support the charged offense," the Court concluded.  Further,  the Court found, "Bell reasonably resisted officers during an unlawful arrest for the City's unsupported trespass charge," the arrest having occurred on public rather than private property.

"This is an important victory for the rights of Catholics in America, faced with a rising tide of anti-Catholic hatred, in this case officially sanctioned by the City of Oklahoma City," said ACLA President and Chief Counsel Christopher A. Ferrara following the decision.  "Congratulations are in order to ACLA Oklahoma affiliate counsel Professor Brian McCall and local counsel Matt Kane," Ferrara added.   "ACLA attorneys are now reviewing the options, including a federal civil rights law suit on Mrs Bell's behalf. The gross violation of civil and constitutional rights in this case must never happen again in Oklahoma City."

ACLA INTERVENES IN PLANNED PARENTHOOD VIDEO EXPOSE CASE

May 27, 2016 - At the request of the attorneys for David Daleiden and his organization, the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), ACLA has filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief on his and CMP’s behalf.

 Mr. Daleiden and CMP received worldwide publicity for of their undercover video exposé of Planned Parenthood’s trafficking in human baby parts. Thanks to David’s work Planned Parenthood has been exposed as the diabolical organization it really is, and numerous states have defunded that vile organization as a result.
 
 Mr. Daleiden and CMP were sued in federal court by the National Abortion Federation. In that lawsuit, a federal judge in San Francisco issued a totally unprecedented injunction against release of any further CMP videos of revealing conversations with the abortionists who call themselves “women’s healthcare providers.”  These conversations took place during NAF conventions, but were not part of the official proceedings.

 The federal court based its decision in part on an attendance form Mr. Daleiden was required to sign in order to attend NAF’s conferences. The form states that “information provided” during the conferences is “confidential.” As ACLA’S brief notes, however, courts have consistently held that such “confidentiality” agreements do not negate someone’s First Amendment right to publish information on matters of public concern.  And, as the judge in this case conceded in his own judicial opinion: “There is no doubt that members of the public have a serious and passionate interest in the debate over abortion rights and the right to life, and thus in the contents of defendants’ recordings.”

 The court’s “prior restraint” on Mr. Daleiden’s speech is presumed to be unconstitutional under Supreme Court precedent.  Yet the judge disregarded that precedent and issued a preliminary injunction against release of the videos on the theory that if people heard and saw what these abortionists had to say about their grisly trade, the abortionists might be subjected to a “significant increase in harassment, threats, and violence.”

  “That theory would allow federal courts to prohibit the speech of anyone whose message might arouse justified public indignation against the subject of the speech,” said ACLA President and Chief Counsel, Christopher A. Ferrara.  “For example, criticism of radical Islam could be prohibited because it might cause ‘harassment’ of Muslims.”

 But as ACLA’s brief argues, the Supreme Court has made it clear that “a function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it induces a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger… There is no room under our Constitution for a more restrictive view.”

 “That goes for activism on the ‘right’ as well as activism on the loony left,” said Mr. Ferrara. “Such a prior restraint on speech would be unthinkable as to Green Peace or PETA if they conducted ‘undercover’ video recording of their targets for protest.  But, sad to say, the courts have tended to employ a double standard of First Amendment liberty when it comes to advocacy against abortion, and this is one such case.” 

As ACLA’s brief argues, however, “Doctors who happen to perform abortions for a living are not entitled to a special cloak of protection from the First Amendment’s ample – indeed almost limitless – accommodation of the tempests of American political discourse.”

Please pray that David Daleiden and his valiant organization receive justice in this case, and that their First Amendment rights are restored.

TWO MAJOR DECISIONS EXPECTED

May 26, 2016 - ACLA is awaiting decisions from appellate courts in two major cases.

 In Oklahoma, the Criminal Court of Appeals, Oklahoma’s highest criminal court, is considering an appeal by ACLA local affiliate attorney Professor Brian McCall and local counsel Matthew Kane of the conviction of renowned pro-life advocate Joan Andrews Bell on charges of “disorderly conduct” and “failure to obey a lawful command” because she declined to cease kneeling in prayer outside the Oklahoma City Civic Center while a “Black Mass” was being staged inside.

The appellate brief argues that Mrs. Bell was exercising her First Amendment rights by prayerfully protesting the blasphemy and sacrilege being committed on public property.  As the court’s rather remarkable opinion states, however: "She said that, 'God told me to do it. I am here to pray. I was just praying.' … She clarified not just to pray,but to protest…. I think that the Defendant wanted to be a martyr or have others see her up there on like a stage, showing that this was her being here for this, that she was uncooperative at all times, and that she had an ulterior motive in doing what she did….

It thus appears that Mrs. Bell was explicitly punished for exercising her First Amendment rights, which the court characterized as an “ulterior motive” that warranted her arrest and prosecution.

Another major decision ACLA awaits is from New York’s Appellate Division, which late last year heard Chief Counsel Christopher A. Ferrara’s oral argument for quashing an abusive subpoena issued by New York’s Attorney General, Eric T. Schneiderman, in what ACLA argues is a blatant attempt to shut down Chris Slattery’s Expectant Mother Care (EMC) crisis pregnancy centers. The overbroad subpoena demands all manner of sensitive and confidential information about EMC’s staff, operating procedures, literature and sources of funding.

The four-judge appellate tribunal was attentive to ACLA’s argument that the subpoena is an abuse of power and a “fishing expedition.” It is hoped that the Court will strike it down or severely limit its scope.

STATEMENT ON THE INDICTMENT OF DAVID DALEIDEN AND 
SANDRA MERIT IN PLANNED PARENTHOOD VIDEO CASE

APRIL 2016-  At this time—shortly after the 53rd anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion on demand in the United States—the American Catholic Lawyers Association (ACLA) reiterates its commitment to overturn this unjust decision.  The practice of killing unborn children, at any stage, is murder, and the Federal Government overstepped its bounds in finding a so-called “right” to murder unborn children in the Federal Constitution.  Roe is unconstitutional, immoral and supremely unjust.  We pledge to work to restore the right of all children to live and the right of the States to prosecute anyone who participates in the murder of unborn children.

In that regard, the ACLA condemns the practices of Planned Parenthood for its part in the murder of the unborn.  Equally abhorrent is its practice of trafficking in the body parts of the babies it murders.  ACLA has reviewed the various items of evidence that are available regarding the allegations that Planned Parenthood violated laws regarding trafficking in fetal remains and the recent Grand Jury proceedings in that matter.  The Grand Jury did not indict Planned Parenthood, and apparently didn’t even vote on the allegations against Planned Parenthood. Rather,  they indicted the pro-life investigators David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, whose work helped to expose Planned Parenthood’s conduct.

ACLA believes there was more than enough evidence for a Grand Jury to indict Planned Parenthood.  For example, a federal statute, 42 USC section 274(e), makes it a crime to: “transfer any human organ for valuable consideration” across state lines. The available video evidence shows Planned Parenthood representatives admitting that they harvest fetal parts at their clinics, and that money is exchanged in connection with this.  The video evidence records one worker stating a clear profit motive: “If [abortion providers] can do a little better than break even, and do so in a way that seems reasonable, they’re happy to do that.” 

42 USC 289 G provides that the woman donating her child’s body must give consent in writing, and the doctor killing the child must verify in writing that no “alteration of the timing, method or procedures” used to kill the child was made solely for purposes of obtaining the tissue.  Yet the video evidence from a fifth video taken by the undercover investigators shows a director of Planned Parenthood admitting alterations: “Yeah, and so if we alter our process, and we are able to obtain intact fetal cadavers, then we can make it part of the budget…”  

It is also clear that no rational prosecutor could guide and permit a Grand Jury to find that the investigators who uncovered these abhorrent practices were themselves guilty of legal violations.  First, it was the Governor of Texas who ordered the Prosecutor to investigate the alleged criminal actions of Planned Parenthood. No authority was ever given to the Prosecutor or the jury to indict the investigators or anyone else.  That lack of authority is enough to raise issues of abuse of process and to invalidate any indictments of anyone but Planned Parenthood. 

Second, the laws that the Grand Jury found that the investigators violated cannot apply in this situation.  For example, the Texas Penal Code, Title 8, Chapter 37, prohibiting falsification of government documents, was designed to prohibit serious crimes like identity theft.  The felony section that the Grand Jury used to indict the investigators for their use of a fictitious driver’s license to gain entrance to Planned Parenthood, bans falsification with “intent to defraud or harm.”  The use of a pseudonym by undercover investigators is obviously not prohibited by this law—their clear intent was to pursue truth and justice through undercover journalism, not to “defraud or harm.”  Indeed, Texas law provides a defense where the false information has “no effect on the government’s purpose for requiring the governmental record.”  Texas Penal Code 37:10 section 3(f). 

Moreover, the other charge on which the Grand Jury indicted the pro-life investigators, Texas Penal Code section 48:01: Prohibition Against the Purchase and Sale of Human Organs, prohibits only “knowingly or intentionally offer[ing] to buy, offer[ing] to sell” human organs for consideration.  How a Grand Jury could be led to their conclusion that the investigators violated this statute is baffling.  Undercover investigators routinely offer to engage in illegal transactions to determine whether a crime is being committed by the other party.  Such offers are clearly devoid of all intent to violate the law, and to hold otherwise would invalidate much of the law enforcement activity in this country.   

For these reasons, ACLA believes that the outcome of the Grand Jury investigation here was erroneous at best and misguided and an abuse of process at worst. 

Finally, in light of the fact that all evidence given to the Jury comes through the Prosecutor, who has a duty fairly and justly to inform and guide the Jury, we must question the actions of the Prosecutor in this case.  There are very dubious circumstances surrounding the use of the Prosecutor, Devon Anderson, currently assigned to this matter, including but not limited to:  (a) she is the same Prosecutor that “guided” a Grand Jury investigation that led to no indictment against Kermit Gosnell, a notorious late term abortionist, despite evidence showing him gruesomely murdering already born babies; (b) she is the same Prosecutor who accepted numerous donations from Chip Lewis, Kermit Gosnell’s attorney, (c) she is the same Prosecutor who has a Planned Parenthood board member working on her staff; (d) she is the same Prosecutor who allegedly never even had the Grand Jury vote on the charges against Planned Parenthood; and finally; (e) she is running unopposed for re-election as a Republican but only announced the results of the Grand Jury after the time had expired for an opponent to register to run against her in the primary.

To avoid manifest injustice, we call on the Governor of Texas to appoint a special prosecutor to discover how such a clearly absurd, unjust, illogical and erroneous result emerged from these Grand Jury proceedings.  The Planned Parenthood investigation should be reopened by a prosecutor who is independent and free from any appearance of bias, and a new Grand Jury should be impaneled to consider charges against Planned Parenthood, not against those who have exposed its activities.

​
ACLA FILES APPEAL BRIEF IN OKLAHOMA "BLACK MASS" CASE

October 16, 2015 - ACLA Oklahoma affiliate counsel, Professor Brian McCall, and local counsel Matt Kane have filed an extensive appellate brief on appeal to Oklahoma's highest criminal court from the conviction of Catholic pro-life advocate Joan Bell for "disorderly conduct" and "failure to obey a lawful command."  At the time of her arrest on September 2014, Mrs. Bell was peacefully protesting a nationally publicized "Black Mass" being held inside the Oklahoma City Civic Center. Her protest consisted of keeling and praying the Rosary on the public landing outside the Center, where others were allowed to be present  without police interference.

As the appeal brief argues:  "Appellant’s conduct in silently kneeling and praying in front of the Civic Center to protest the 'Black Mass' going on inside was lawful, peaceful and constitutionally protected. Moreover, the convictions cannot be sustained under the rule of lenity, which requires that the operative terms of the subject municipal ordinances be construed liberally in favor of appellant and strictly against the City, especially in the First Amendment context present here."

As of June 2016, a decision in this important case is still pending.

​

COUNTY SUED BY ACLA AGREES TO PROVIDE

FIRST AMENDMENT TRAINING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

July 2015 - ACLA has won another victory for pro-life activism in federal court.  A civil rights lawsuit ACLA filed in federal court on behalf of pro-life activist John Ferrao, has been settled under an important agreement for the protection of First Amendment liberty.  Under the terms of the settlement,  Rockland County, NY and Rockland Community College will  provide First Amendment training to their law enforcement personnel. The training will involve a slide presentation outlining the First Amendment rights of protesters on public property and will make it clear to law enforcement personnel that a pro-life advocate cannot be prevented from demonstrating on public property merely because his message is unwelcome or is deemed offensive by some people.  The training material includes these points, which should guide every law enforcement official in the country:

•  Anti-abortion protest is protected speech.

​

•  Signs with graphic depictions of aborted fetuses are protected.
  

• The vast majority of protests that police encounter involve protected speech.
  

•  Government/Police should never take action based on the content of protected speech.
  

•  Police limitations based on content are always improper and subject to civil liability.
  

• When in doubt, resolve the doubt in favor of the speakers (First Amendment broadly interpreted).
  

•  Unless you are certain that the speech falls into an unprotected category (obscenity, threat) assume the speech is protected.
  

"If only every police department and other law enforcement agency followed these guidelines in the first place, there would  be no need for civil rights litigation on behalf of pro-life advocates," said ACLA President and Chief Counsel, Christopher A. Ferrara.  "We are gratified that we were able  "to effect important social change in this case."

ACLA FILES SUPREME COURT BRIEF 
IN “SEXUAL ORIENTATION CHANGE” CASE

On May 21, 2014, ACLA filed amicus curiae (friend of the Court) brief on behalf of the American College of Pediatricians in the pending Supreme Court case of Welch v. Brown. Read the brief here.

The brief requests that the Supreme Review the refusal by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to declare unconstitutional an unprecedented California law that prohibits licensed psychotherapists from engaging in “sexual orientation change efforts” (SOCE) with minors aimed at eliminating unwanted feelings of “same-sex attraction,” yet permits therapy that “affirms and supports” so-called “homosexual orientation.”

The brief, filed by ACLA’s Supreme Court counsel James Bendell of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, argues that the Ninth Circuit “has departed from this Court’s controlling precedents by holding that this plainly content-based speech restriction does not restrict speech but only conduct, and that the law need not be shown actually to address any proven harm or actually to advance any legitimate state interest.” New Jersey has enacted a virtually identical law, currently being challenged in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

“The California law, like the one in New Jersey, actually seeks to dictate what a psychotherapist may and may not say to a minor patient with unwanted feelings of ‘same-sex attraction’—no therapy to eliminate those feelings, but only therapy to support those feelings. “This is an unheard-of restriction on First Amendment freedom of speech and has to be seen as the final stage in the culture wars against the traditional moral order,” said ACLA Chief Counsel Christopher A. Ferrara.

“California and the Ninth Circuit have disregarded every applicable Supreme Court precedent regarding unconstitutional speech restrictions based on the content of speech. We believe the Supreme Court must intervene in order to prevent a massive distortion of the law in the Ninth Circuit, the Third Circuit and throughout the nation, and we hope our brief will help persuade the Court to grant review of this unprecedented legislative attempt to dictate political correctness,” said Mr. Bendell.

CIVIL RIGHTS CASE FOR FIRED NURSE SETTLED

After years of federal court litigation, including discovery proceedings and voluminous motions, on March 24, 2014, ACLA attorneys negotiated a financial settlement of the civil rights lawsuit they filed on behalf of Nurse Tanya Britton.

The suit, brought under Mississippi’s Conscience Act and the federal Civil Rights Act, alleged that Nurse Britton had been wrongfully fired by the University of Mississippi Medical Center on account of her conscientious refusal to participate in the administration of contraception, tubal ligations and abortions.

“I am most appreciative of the ACLA representing me in settling my Mississippi freedom of conscience law suit, and I am grateful for the ACLA’s dedication and diligence in protecting the rights of Catholics throughout this nation,” said Nurse Britton following the settlement.

The litigation now concluded is believed to be the first of kind under the Mississippi Conscience Act.

ACLA WINS ACQUITTAL OF THREE PRO-LIFE ADVOCATES

On February 12, 2014 ACLA’s Pennsylvania litigation counsel, Denis Brenan, scored yet another victory for the pro-life cause when he won the acquittal of three pro-life advocates falsely accused of “trespass” during their advocacy for life outside a notorious abortion mill in Bethlehem, PA.

The three advocates were found not guilty of trespass after the testimony revealed that they had not demonstrated beyond a posted “no trespassing” sign and that they had never been given any warning that they were trespassing.

The acquittal of all three advocates came after a trial in the Magisterial District Justice Court.

“Thanks to Denis’s fine work, these pro-life advocates will be spared the indignity and legal disability of a criminal record and will be free to continue their advocacy for life in an increasingly hostile legal environment,” said ACLA Chief Counsel Christopher A. Ferrara.

APPELLATE COURT GRANTS EXPECTANT MOTHER CARE STAY OF ATTORNEY GENERAL SUBPOENA

In a crucial ruling, the Appellate Division of the Second Department in Brooklyn, New York, has granted ACLA’s motion for a stay of enforcement of a subpoena issued by the New York Attorney General to Expectant Mother Care (EMC), the life-saving apostolate headed by Chris Slattery.

The stay will be in place pending EMC’s appeal from a local judge’s refusal to quash the subpoena, which demands documents, names, email addresses, pro-life literature and other information involving every aspect of EMC’s affairs. A four-judge panel of the Appellate Division unanimously granted the stay of enforcement, allowing EMC to avoid a violation its rights while the appeal is being considered.

“The principal alleged grounds for the Attorney General’s subpoena is that EMC’s free sonograms for expectant mothers, which it has been providing since the 1980s, constitute the “unauthorized practice of medicine,” said ACLA Chief Counsel Christopher A. Ferrara, argued successfully for the say. “But sonogram operators do not even require a license in the State of New York because they are not doctors and do not ‘practice medicine.’”

ACLA has also filed an opening brief and a reply brief in support of the appeal, which argue that the subpoena is a gross violation of EMC’s First Amendment right to advocate against abortion and to provide free counseling and other assistance to women contemplating abortion.

ACLA is handling this matter in conjunction with attorneys from the American Center for Law and Justice, who have applied to be admitted pro hac vice on the appeal.

ACLA FILES FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS LAWSUIT TO CHALLENGE UNCONSTITUTIONAL “PERMIT” REQUIREMENT

ACLA affiliate counsel Denis V. Brenan has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Hanover Township, Pennsylvania, the Colonial Regional Police Department, and named officials on behalf of Catholic pro-life advocate Nathaniel Kubick.

The suit was prompted by acts and policies of the defendants that have interfered with pro-life advocacy by Mr. Kubick and other defenders of life, including a flatly unconstitutional demand that they obtain a “permit” to protest against a local abortion mill.

The suit alleges that the local permit ordinance is being misapplied to Mr. Kubick and his fellow advocates because has nothing to do with demonstrations of this sort, which take place on public sidewalks or rights of way. By its own terms the ordinance applies only to parades and other mass gatherings that might obstruct highways and require traffic control.

Freedom of information requests made before the suit was filed revealed that Hanover Township has never applied this ordinance to any demonstrators except pro-life advocates. The defendants have even demanded that a lone pro-life advocate obtain a “permit” to pray outside this abortion mill.

The suit further alleges that the defendants have established an imaginary line that pro-life advocates are not permitted to cross, even though they have every right to be on the public property declared “off limits” by the police. The defendants have also forbidden pro-life advocates to use any means of amplifying their voices, even a cardboard or plastic megaphone of the sort commonly used by protesters all over the country.

“This is yet another example of how local authorities all over the country are abusing their authority and engaging in unconstitutional harassment of advocates for life,” said ACLA Chief Counsel Christopher A. Ferrara. “Where pro-life advocates are concerned, local police are constantly making up ‘rules’ as they go along – rules that apply only to those who protest the mass murder of innocent human beings in their own mothers’ wombs.”

The suit requests a federal court injunction striking down the unconstitutional requirement of a “permit to protest,” as well as nominal damages and attorney’s fees from the defendants.

ACLA FIGHTING DISMISSAL OF FEDERAL SUIT 
IN SIGN-TOSSING CASE

In 2012, ACLA Maryland affiliate counsel Howard Walsh III commenced a civil rights lawsuit against the City of Aberdeen, Maryland, and an individual police officer.

The suit arises from an incident in which, as the complaint alleges, the officer seized the pro-life protest signs of the plaintiff, Catholic pro-life activist Kurt Linnemann, and hurled them into the street, after falsely asserting that the sidewalk on which the signs were being displayed was “private property.”

The complaint further alleges that the officer’s conduct violated Mr. Linnemann’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech, his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizures of his property, and his equivalent rights under the Maryland Declaration of Rights, and that the City failed to provide the officer with adequate training on respect for constitutional rights.

In November, in federal court, the defendants brought a motion seeking dismissal of the lawsuit. The ACLA will file a comprehensive brief opposing the motion.

Please pray for our success in opposing the motion to dismiss and for a speedy and just conclusion to this action in defense of First Amendment freedoms for pro-life Catholics.

MARYLAND STATE TROOPERS ATTENDING 
FIRST AMENDMENT 101

The historic spring 2012 settlement in the ACLA’s civil rights suit filed against numerous Maryland state troopers on behalf of a group of Catholic pro-life advocates, falsely arrested and jailed in 2008 because of their graphic signs, is being implemented.

The entire State Police force, including recruits at the academy, is undergoing training in the basics of respect for First Amendment rights in a public forum.

The training includes a PowerPoint presentation and classroom lectures, including slides that warn the troopers not to repeat the mistake they made in our case.

Thanks to your support, there is every chance that the massive violation of First Amendment rights suffered by our Catholic pro-life clients will never occur again at the hands of a Maryland State Police officer.

FEDERAL JUDGE UPHOLDS ACLA SUIT AGAINST MISSISSIPPI: 
CASE PROCEEDING TO DISCOVERY

In a 14-page decision issued on May 31, 2012, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel P. Jordan III, of the Southern District of Mississippi ruled that a civil rights lawsuit filed by ACLA attorneys on behalf of Catholic nurse Tanya Britton against the State of Mississippi and various individual defendants will not be dismissed and must proceed against the State and three of the named individual defendants.

The suit alleges that Nurse Britton was wrongfully discharged from her employment as a registered nurse in the post-partum, ante-partum, and gynecology/oncology units of the Wiser Hospital for Women and Infants, part of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, because she refused in conscience to provide prescribed contraceptives or participate in sterilizations, and further advised her supervisors that she would not assist in abortions.

The suit further alleges that “throughout her employment before the actions giving rise to this suit, Ms. Britton’s religious beliefs were accommodated by having other nurses on duty perform in her stead services related to sterilization, contraception, and abortion.”

The suit includes claims against the defendants for violation of Nurse Britton’s rights under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Mississippi’s Health Care Rights of Conscience Act. In fact, this suit appears to be the first ever brought under the Health Care Rights of Conscience Act, which prohibits transfers, shift changes, loss of specialty, and terminations because of conscientious objections by medical service providers, including nurses, who decline to participate in medical procedures contrary to their “religious, moral or ethical principles.”

In denying defendants’ motion to dismiss, Judge Jordan held that “the Court can draw a reasonable inference that defendants Lawson, Richardson, and Bass were personally involved in the disputed employment decisions” and that if the allegations of the complaint are proven, “the State is responsible for their acts and omissions” under the Conscience Act.

The Court also found that said defendants could be held liable for the individual conduct in violation of federal law as alleged.

“We look forward to proceeding with pre-trial discovery in this important case for the conscience rights of Catholics,” said ACLA Mississippi affiliate counsel James T. McCafferty after Judge Jordan’s decision was handed down.

Briefing in the case was handled by ACLA President and Chief Counsel Christopher A. Ferrara, who remarked that “this case appears to represent the first judicial interpretation of Mississippi’s Conscience Law, an important measure for the protection of the right of medical professionals to decline to participate in procedures that violate the fundamental tenets of their religion.

The Mississippi legislature is to be commended for providing that not even state agencies may violate this right of conscience.”

Please pray for a successful outcome in this key case.

CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT IN NEW JERSEY 
OVER “SEX CHANGE” CONTROVERSY

Some months ago, the ACLA filed a civil rights suit under New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination on behalf of Anthony Martini, a licensed professional counselor.

The suit alleged that Mr. Martini was fired from his counseling position on account of his conscientious Catholic opposition to a policy of treating psychiatric patients contemplating “sex change” operations as if they were really members of the sex to which they want to “change.”

The suit further alleged that Mr. Martini was also subjected to a pattern of religious discrimination by a supervisor who accused him of “imposing” his Catholic morality by merely answering questions about what the Church teaches.

The supervisor, the complaint alleged, also confronted Mr. Martini over his Catholic beliefs on abortion, contraception, homosexuality, transgender reassignment and other issues, while defending her own non-Catholic beliefs and insisting that her contrary beliefs were valid.

“My wife and I would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for the wise counsel you provided, and the proficient manner the case was brought to a just settlement [in 2012]…We thank you for defending our faith and religious rights in this matter!,” Mr. Martini told us.

ACLA REPRESENTING PRO-LIFE ADVOCATE 
IN SIDEWALK ARREST

The ACLA is defending a veteran pro-life activist on a charge that he “obstructed pedestrian traffic” for simply offering pro-life literature to women approaching a Bronx, New York, abortion mill.

ACLA’s client was arrested, handcuffed, and taken to the local police precinct at the command of a female police sergeant who had ordered him to stand behind metal barricades stored by the abortion mill on its premises and regularly deployed to thwart the approach of pro-life advocates to women about to enter the clinic.

Our client reportedly explained to the officers at the scene that he could not stand behind the barricades because they would have prevented him from getting his pro-life message to the women and offering them literature as he has been doing for years at the location.

There was no court injunction or any other legal basis for ordering this 75-year-old anti-abortion activist to stand behind a NYPD metal barricade the abortion clinic keeps on its premises and then sets up to stop pro-life advocates from effectively communicating with women during the crucial final moments before they enter the abortuary.

Like all other ACLA cases in which pro-life advocates are subjected to the criminal process for simply exercising their First Amendment rights on public sidewalks – which are quintessential public forums – this case will be defended vigorously at the bench trial scheduled for January 24, 2013.

ACLA’S AMICUS BRIEF AND THE “OBAMACARE” DECISION

During the summer of 2012, as the world knows, the United States Supreme Court issued its “ObamaCare” decision. In a stunning and alarming upset, Chief Justice John G. Roberts joined four associate justices to uphold the “individual mandate” to purchase health insurance or suffer a federal penalty.

The ACLA, prior to the fateful decision, filed with the Supreme Court a friend-of-the-court brief which opposed the mandate by supporting the legitimate rights of individual autonomy and religious conscience – understood, of course, in a Catholic sense, as we made clear in our brief.

In the process of preparing the brief, ACLA attorneys recognized that if the defenders of the individual mandate saw that the Court was not receptive to the argument that the mandate is a valid exercise of Congressional power to regulate interstate commerce, they might seize on the flimsy alternative argument that the mandate, with its penalty for failure to buy health insurance, is a “tax” within the taxing power of Congress merely because it is imposed and collected by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). And this argument, we worried, might be made even though President Barack H. Obama had actually insisted that the mandate was not a tax!

Our worse fears were confirmed: the Court upheld the mandate precisely on the basis that it was a “tax” permitted by the Taxing Clause of the Constitution, even if it could not be upheld as a legitimate regulation of interstate commerce under the Commerce Clause.

The implications of this ruling are catastrophic for the freedom of Americans.

The Supreme Court has now set a precedent wherein Americans can be penalized by a tax for simply not doing what the government wishes, even if it violates one’s conscience to do so.

But the High Court acknowledged the ACLA’s argument in one respect, and to that degree we scored a victory. Chief Justice Roberts’s majority opinion held that the Commerce Clause does not authorize the mandate precisely because of its impact on personal autonomy: “Every day individuals do not do an infinite number of things. In some cases they decide not to do something; in others they simply fail to do it.” And so, he wrote:

“Allowing Congress to justify federal regulation by pointing to the effect of inaction on commerce would bring countless decisions an individual could potentially make within the scope of federal regulation, and – under the Government’s theory—empower Congress to make those decisions for him.”

“That,” the Chief Justice said, “is not the country the Framers of our Constitution envisioned.”

But then, in a sudden turn-around, Roberts avoided the ACLA’s argument by holding that the ObamaCare individual mandate is not a mandate, but “only” a tax. Why? Because the mandate does not actually order individuals to buy insurance, but merely imposes a “tax” on those who choose not to buy it:

“The mandate is not a legal command to buy insurance. Rather, it makes going without insurance just another thing the Government taxes, like buying gasoline or earning income.”

Since the mandate involves “only” a tax, held Roberts, it was within Congress’s power to enact under the Constitution’s Taxing Clause.

This, the Chief Justice acknowledged, was not the most straightforward interpretation, but he looked to legal precedents holding that if a statute can be interpreted two different ways, one of which will render it unconstitutional and the other constitutional, it should be interpreted to make it constitutional. If it is “fairly possible” to read it that way, that is how it will be read.

The four dissenting justices led by Justice Antonin Scalia vehemently disagreed, protesting that “we cannot rewrite the statute to be what it is not.”

In the dissenting justices’ view, “there is simply no way, without doing violence to the fair meaning of the words used, to escape what Congress enacted: a mandate that individuals maintain minimum essential coverage, enforced by a penalty.”

Commentators will argue for years to come whether Chief Justice Roberts’s interpretation was a “fairly possible” reading of the statute. But the more pressing problem is this:

This new precedent could well give Congress carte blanche to get around the limitations of the Commerce Clause by using the Taxing Clause to impose on individuals obligations which under the Constitution it could not otherwise impose.

Now, Chief Justice Roberts admits that “Even if only a tax, the payment remains a burden that the Federal Government imposes for an omission, not an act. If it is troubling to interpret the Commerce Clause as authorizing Congress to regulate those who abstain from commerce, perhaps it should be similarly troubling to permit Congress to impose a tax for not doing something.”

But, incredibly, he goes on to say that taxes are just part of life, citing Benjamin Franklin’s famous remark that “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

But not to worry, Justice Roberts assures Americans, for the U.S. Supreme Court will never—no never!—allow the power to tax to become the power to destroy.

As the principal author of the ACLA’s amicus brief, the brilliant New Jersey lawyer Bertram P. (Skip) Goltz, Jr., asks: “Does this take into account the American values of individualism and autonomy, not to mention personal conscience, that the ACLA stressed in its friend-of-the-court brief? And how far will the ingenuity of Congress reach to impose other mandates in the form of taxes?”

Indeed! Moreover, if a Catholic surrenders and buys the health insurance instead of paying the tax, he may well have to buy it through one of the ObamaCare-created insurance exchanges that has nested within it an involuntary premium covering abortion.

So what does the future hold? It seems that this new precedent gives Congress a green light to use the Taxing Clause to impose on individuals obligations which under the Constitution it could not otherwise impose.

The Chief Justice assures us that “there comes a time [when] the so-called tax…loses its character as such and becomes a mere penalty with the characteristics of regulation and punishment.”

But surely, as Skip Goltz observes, “Congress will be canny enough to write its ‘tax’ laws so as to avoid this. In how many other ways will Americans be mandated—sorry, taxed—into buying things and doing things that violate their consciences? The governmental power to tax has always been given broad leeway by the courts, and so we enter uncharted waters…The waters are uncharted—and likely, rough and stormy as well.”

As the ACLA declares in its mission statement, we are “a non-profit religious organization run by Catholics, to defend the rights of Catholics,” and to provide “free legal services on behalf of Catholics needing legal defense in matters of faith and conscience.”

We are dedicated to establishing the Social Kingship of Christ and to “upholding the Divine prerogatives and moral law.” There has always been much to do in furnishing legal defense in matters of faith and conscience.

Our commitment is great, but our resources are few. As the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision become manifest, we commend ourselves to your prayerful and practical support in what are sure to be challenging days ahead.

MAJOR PRO-LIFE VICTORY IN MARYLAND

BALTIMORE, MD: On July 12, 2011, Hon. Richard D. Bennett of the federal district court for the District of Maryland issued a 49-page opinion in a civil rights action filed by attorneys with the American Catholic Lawyers Association (ACLA) in 2009.

The decision, following extensive motions for summary judgment by both plaintiffs and defendants, holds that the First and Fourth Amendment rights of the seven pro-life advocates who are the plaintiffs (as well as two pro-life advocates represented by the Alliance Defense Fund) were violated as a matter of law when State Troopers arrested and jailed them in Harford County, MD on August 1, 2008 for displaying signs deemed offensive by passing motorists. (Another plaintiff in the action, the organization Defend Life, Inc., is represented by attorneys Tom Brejcha and Pat Gillen of the Thomas More Society in Chicago.) The plaintiffs’ First and Fourth Amendment claims against the Troopers would proceed to a jury trial for the assessment of damages only.

Quoting controlling case law, the Court held that “[A] reasonable police officer faced with the facts confronted by the Defendants would have known that, in ordering the demonstrators to leave Harford County, he would violate the Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights. Moreover, arresting the Plaintiffs for exercising those rights was a violation of the Plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment rights. In engaging in this manifestly unlawful behavior, the individual officers could not have reasonably misapprehended the law, nor can it be said that they made a bad guess in a gray area.”

The pro-life advocate plaintiffs in the case, Ames, et al. v. Colonel Terrence Sheridan, are being represented by ACLA President and Chief Counsel Christopher A. Ferrara, serving as lead counsel, and ACLA attorneys Denis Brenan and Howard Walsh, III, assisted by local counsel Matt Paavola.

Commenting on the decision, Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro, a member of ACLA’s Advisory Board and interim President of Human Life International, stated: “This is an important judicial decision that protects the natural right of persons involved in an active way in the defense of the right to life of the unborn.”

“We are gratified by the court’s comprehensive decision, and we are preparing to move ahead to a final resolution of this case,” said Mr. Ferrara.

Meanwhile, however, the State Trooper defendants have appealed Judge Bennett’s decision to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. “We will respond appropriately to the Trooper defendants’ brief, and will demonstrate the Judge Bennett’s decision is well-grounded in law and fact,” Ferrara added. 

NEW YORK FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN LAW 
TARGETING CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTERS

NEW YORK NY: The ACLA is serving as local counsel to the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) in a constitutional challenge to a New York City law that seeks to “regulate” pro-life crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) out of existence, including the crisis pregnancy center headed by the renowned pro-life advocate Chris Slattery, represented by ACLA in prior matters.

On July 13, 2011, U.S. District Court Judge William H. Pauley, III issued an opinion finding that the CPC plaintiffs are likely to prevail in their challenge to the law, and he has temporarily forbidden its enforcement until there is a final court hearing.

Penalties for non-compliance with the new law include fines, shutting down the CPC, and imprisonment. Furthermore, the law defines a CPC in a way that would allow the City of New York to fine and imprison the volunteers at CPCs based on “criteria” such as offering women pregnancy tests they can buy at any local drugstore without a prescription.

As Judge Pauley found, the onerous City law impermissibly burdens the First Amendment rights of CPCs by compelling them to utter government-required messages that would impose both a financial burden in terms of advertising costs and would “significantly alter the manner in which plaintiffs approach these topics with their audience.”

CPCs provide “life-saving information about alternatives to abortion, such as adoption; and many provide ultrasounds that show expectant mothers that their babies are not mere blobs of tissue but living human beings,” said ACLA chief counsel Christopher A. Ferrara. “The ultrasounds alone have saved countless thousands of unborn children.”

The City of New York has appealed Judge Pauley’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

MAJOR PRO-LIFE VICTORY IN MARYLAND

South Bend, IN: On May 5, 2011, ACLA President Christopher Ferrara announced that all pending criminal charges against the "Notre Dame 88" represented by the ACLA were dismissed with prejudice by the St. Joseph County, Indiana Prosecutor.

The dismissals were requested by the University of Notre Dame as part of the joint efforts of the University and the ND 88 to reconcile and pledge to move forward together for the sake of the faith and the pro-life cause.

"I wish to thank Christopher Ferrara and the ACLA for their invaluable assistance in the criminal matters, which are now definitively resolved," said Tom Dixon, who was lead counsel in the criminal cases, and who, along with attorneys from the ACLA and the Thomas More Society in Chicago, negotiated this outcome on behalf of the ND 88.

"ACLA's attorneys were honored to assist Tom Dixon and TMS attorneys Tom Brejcha and Peter Breen in bringing these important cases to a successful conclusion, and I look forward to working with them in other pro-life matters in the future," said Ferrara.

CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT FILED IN MISSISSIPPI

JACKSON, MS: ACLA’s Mississippi affiliate, James McCafferty, Esq., has filed a major civil rights suit against the University of Mississippi Medical Center under that state’s Health Care Rights of Conscience Act and other statutes.

The suit alleges that the Catholic nurse plaintiff was subjected to a punitive transfer, a shift change, and then was fired on account of her conscientious refusal to be involved in contraception or sterilization procedures.

A Mississippi conscience law specifically prohibits any adverse employment action based on an employee’s religious or moral objections to certain medical procedures. The law provides for triple damages to remedy discrimination against employees who will not surrender to the Culture of Death.

The suit, recently removed to federal court, also involves as claim under the federal Civil Rights Act.Type your paragraph here.