Tag Archives: Alliance Defending Freedom

The Associated Press reports: An appeals court on Friday blocked a federal judge’s order that three attorneys for Southwest Airlines get religious liberty training from a conservative advocacy group, saying the judge likely exceeded his authority.  Three judges with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans put the training order on hold while appeals are pursued. The …

NBC News reports: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a challenge to law in Colorado that bans “conversion therapy” aimed at young people questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity. The justices took up an appeal brought by Kaley Chiles, a Christian therapist, who argued that the restriction violates her free speech rights under the Constitution’s First Amendment. …

Reuters reports: The state of Colorado has agreed to pay more than $1.5 million in legal fees to a web designer who won a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that the right to free speech allows some businesses to refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings. Colorado and web designer Lorie Smith’s lawyers at conservative law firm Alliance Defending …

USA Today reports: A divided Supreme Court on Friday left in place lower court orders blocking changes to sex discrimination rules for schools in many states while new protections for transgender students under Title IX are being challenged. The Biden administration, in an emergency request, had argued the court orders were too sweeping and some of the updates should be …

The Vermont Public reports: The conservative Christian law firm that helped orchestrate the downfall of Roe v. Wade is suing Vermont — again. This time, the Alliance Defending Freedom has filed suit on behalf of two southern Vermont couples, who allege that Vermont’s policy requiring foster families adhere to new policies aimed at protecting LGBTQ youth is unconstitutional. They were …

Rolling Stone reports: It’s not unusual for attorneys general to bring on outside counsel when they’re going to the Supreme Court. Historically, however, experts say, it has not been common for attorneys general to outsource their litigation efforts to private, agenda-driven interest groups. But in recent years, Alliance Defending Freedom has become the go-to firm for Republican officials defending anti-abortion …

Politico reports: On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in one of the most closely watched cases of its current term: a challenge to the FDA’s rules for the abortion pill mifepristone. The plaintiffs — who want to overturn FDA decisions that increased access to mifepristone by, among other things, allowing it to be prescribed online and mailed …

The Christian Post reports: The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal filed by a Christian therapist against Washington state’s ban on “gay conversion therapy,” allowing the law to remain in effect. In an orders list released Monday morning, the high court declined without comment a petition for a writ of certiorari in the case of Brian Tingley …

Via press release from Alliance Defending Freedom: Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in 303 Creative v. Elenis, an Alliance Defending Freedom case that affirmed free speech for all Americans, ADF attorneys have successfully settled a lawsuit on behalf of a Virginia photographer. As part of the settlement, Virginia officials agreed that Bob Updegrove is free to create wedding …

The New Republic reports: A Trump-appointed Texas judge has ordered three senior Southwest Airlines lawyers to take eight hours of “religious-liberty training” from the far-right Christian hate group Alliance Defending Freedom. In his late Monday ruling, U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr specifically mandated the lawyers take the training as part of court-ordered sanctions for religious discrimination. He described ADF as …

USA Today reports: Days after the Supreme Court’s ruling that businesses can deny same-sex wedding services if it clashes with their religious views, new data says most American voters disagree with that position. Last week, the nation’s high court sided with a Colorado business owner who argued a state non-discrimination law could not compel her to make same-sex websites. The …

Via press release from Alliance Defending Freedom: In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic opinion protecting the free speech rights of all Americans, commentators and activists have propagated false information about 303 Creative v. Elenis. It’s time to set the record straight. “This desperate attempt to malign ADF, our client, and a critical ruling affirming all Americans’ free …

The New Republic reports: Representing the plaintiff—303 Creative, a small business run by a Colorado woman named Lorie Smith—is Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a group whose founder dubbed it a “Christian legal army,” with a long history of opposing civil rights protections for LGBTQ people. But unlike the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, which at least involved real customers wanting a real …

The SPLC’s Hatewatch reports: Documents left public on a Google Drive by anti-LGBTQ+ hate group American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds), first reported by WIRED, reveal nearly a decade of coordination between ACPeds and another hate group, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), to shore up anti-trans policy efforts and legal arguments with bespoke research. A new trove of internal documents from the …

The Washington Post reports: The federal judge who could upend access to a widely used abortion medication pressed government lawyers in a hearing Wednesday about the safety and approval process for the drug, which has been on the market in the U.S. for more than two decades. While the antiabortion group challenging the drug acknowledged there is no precedent for …

Lever News reports: The foundation behind a $20 million Super Bowl advertising campaign to promote “the Jesus of radical forgiveness, compassion, and love” has also bankrolled a conservative nonprofit leading efforts to roll back abortion rights and allow businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ+ customers. During the Super Bowl next weekend, viewers around the country will watch two Christianity-themed messages from …

The Christian Post reports: A three-judge panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled against Christian baker Jack Phillips, having concluded that he was wrong to refuse, on religious grounds, to bake a cake celebrating transgenderism. In a decision released Thursday, Judge Timothy Schutz authored the panel’s opinion affirming an earlier trial court decision against Phillips, concluding that the …

The Christian Post reports: A doctor and a Christian medical group have filed a lawsuit against New Mexico over an assisted suicide law passed last year they say violates their sincerely-held religious objections to the controversial practice. Dr. Mark Lacy and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations filed a lawsuit against New Mexico on Wednesday in the United States District …

The Washington Post reports: The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed sympathetic Monday to an evangelical Christian graphic artist from Colorado who does not want to create wedding websites for same-sex couples, despite the state’s protective antidiscrimination law. Those justices seemed amenable to businesswoman Lorie Smith’s argument that the state may not compel her to create speech that violates her religious …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments in a major case pitting LGBT rights against a claim that the constitutional right to free speech exempts artists from anti-discrimination laws in a dispute involving an evangelical Christian web designer. The justices are set to hear Denver-area business owner Lorie Smith’s appeal seeking an exemption from a Colorado …