List of court cases involving Alliance Defending Freedom

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has been involved in several landmark United States Supreme Court cases, including Rosenberger v. University of Virginia, Good News Club v. Milford Central School and Town of Greece v. Galloway. Rosenberger was ADF's first landmark case, described by law professor Marci Hamilton as a "fork in the road" with respect to judicial review of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.[1] Good News Club and Town of Greece established important precedents relating to Free Speech and the Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment respectively. But its most notable legal victory involved a 2014 case challenging the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., the Court ruled that the birth control mandate in employee funded health plans was unconstitutional. The case set a precedent for evaluating legal questions relating to religious liberty.[2] Since 2015, ADF has played a role in five victories at the Supreme Court.[2]

Pro-life and pro-choice activists demonstrate on the steps of the United States Supreme Court building during Gonzales v. Carhart.

ADF was founded in 1993 with the stated goal of advocating, training, and funding legal cases on the issues of "religious freedom, sanctity of life, and marriage and family."[3] In 2012 the organization shifted its mission of funding allied attorneys to direct representation of clients though litigation.[4] ADF has been described as "the largest legal force of the religious right arguing hundreds of pro bono cases across the country.[5]

List of cases

Following are legal cases in which the ADF has played a significant role, either by representing a party, filing an amicus brief, or otherwise participating in a substantial manner:

1995
  • Rosenberger v. University of Virginia (1995). ADF provided funding to defend a student newspaper which was denied university funding due to its religious nature. The case was litigated all the way to the Supreme Court.[6]

2001

2004
  • City of Littleton (CO) v. Z.J. Gifts (2004). The Supreme Court ruled unanimously against an adult bookstore in a case involving business licensing.[8][9]
  • Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow (2004). The Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion, held that the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance did not violate the First Amendment.[10]
  • Williams v. Vidmar (2004). In November 2004, the ADF filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Cupertino, California elementary school teacher against his school principal and school board members.[11] The lawsuit was settled without money changing hands and without changes in school policies.[12]
  • Perry v. Schwarzenegger. ADF represented Proposition 8 proponents ProtectMarriage.com in the Federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the proposition, which limited marriage in California to one man and one woman.[13] Their participation generated some criticism. The religious rights law firm Liberty Counsel, which has litigated opposition to same-sex marriage in California since 2004, criticized Alliance Defense Fund's handling of the case.[14]

2006

2011

2012
  • Bronx Household of Faith v. Board of Education of the City of New York (2012). The ADF lost this case challenging New York City's prohibition on holding worship services in the City's public schools, and the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.[5]

2014
  • Gonzales v. Carhart (2014). The case, which ADF argued before the Supreme Court, upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban of 2003.[21]
  • Town of Greece v. Galloway (2014). In a significant victory, the Supreme Court ruled that opening legislative sessions with prayer was constitutional.[22][23]
  • McCullen v. Coakley (2014). ADF obtained a unanimous Supreme Court victory in this case which struck down “buffer zones” which were designed to restrict pro-life activists. The ruling was a setback for the abortion rights groups.[24]
  • Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (2014). In this landmark Supreme Court case, where ADF represented Conestoga, the justices struck down the contraceptive mandate of Obamacare as applied to those with religious objections.[25]
  • The ADF served as co-counsel defending Sally Howe Smith, Court Clerk for Tulsa County (Oklahoma), whose denial of a marriage license to a same-sex couple was challenged in Bishop v. Oklahoma. Smith lost in U.S. District Court in January 2014.[26]
  • The ADF represented Dr. Mike Adams in a lawsuit against University of North Carolina Wilmington. A first amendment victory in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit[27] opened the door to a civil trial in which Adams was also victorious. The case concerned denial of promotion to full professor due to constitutionally-protected speech.[28][29][30]
  • In Bostic v. Rainey, the ADF represented Ms. Michele McQuigg, defendant-intervenor in her official capacity as Prince William County Clerk of Circuit Court; the defendants lost in US District Court in February 2014.[31]
  • The ADF defended Virginia's laws against a challenge to the prohibition on same sex marriage, but lost an appeal in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, July 28, 2014; they have stated that they plan to appeal the ruling.[32]

2015
  • Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015). In a First Amendment case, a pastor's right to place signs announcing church services was upheld by the Supreme Court.[33][34][35]
  • Holt v. Hobbs. The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, held that an Arkansas prison policy which prevented a Muslim inmate from growing a short beard according to his deeply held religious beliefs was unconstitutional.[36]

2016
  • Zubik v. Burwell. Two ADF cases, Geneva College v. Burwell and Southern Nazarene University v. Burwell were consolidated into Zubic and heard before the Supreme Court in 2016. The case addressed non-church coverage of mandated contraceptives under Obamacare. The individual cases were returned to the respective courts of appeal.[37]
Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado.

2017
  • Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer (2017). In an important First Amendment case the Supreme Court ruled that a Missouri playground resurfacing program violated freedom of religion guaranteed by the Free Exercise Clause. ADF represented the petitioner.[39]
  • ADF joined a lawsuit originally filed in late 2016 by three inmates of the Carswell Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. These three inmates—all cisgender women—had complained that being housed with transgender women was "cruel and unusual punishment."[40][41] (ADF dropped the lawsuit in 2019 because these clients were no longer incarcerated, and because they wished to wait for the outcome of other Supreme Court cases about transgender rights.)[42]

2018
  • Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The lawsuit had the potential of setting a "landmark" First Amendment precedent, according to Fox News.[43]
  • National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra. Oral arguments in this pro-life case were heard at the Supreme Court in 2018. The case pertained to California's FACT Act which mandated crisis pregnancy centers to provide certain disclosures.[44] The high court found those notices to be a free speech violation of the First Amendment.[45]
  • Cochran vs. City of Atlanta. After Kelvin J. Cochran was fired by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, a judge declared inconstitutional the city's preclearance rules on what employees could do on their own time outside work. Atlanta ended up agreeing to pay $1.2 million to Cochran.[46][47]
  • Brush & Nib v. City of Phoenix. Two Christian artists who owned a stationery store did not want to make custom wedding invitations for same-sex couples on religious grounds, and wished therefore to have an exemption from a Phoenix, Arizona anti-discrimination ordinance. The artists were represented by ADF. Lower court rulings upheld the city ordinance, but the Arizona Supreme Court ruled in September 2019 that, based on the Arizona Constitution, the ordinance violated the free-speech rights of the artists. The ruling was on narrow factual grounds and pertained only to custom wedding invitations and the artists' right to free speech, and was neither granted them a blanket exemption from the ordinance, nor was it a ruling on whether the law was constitutional. Other businesses which wished to be exempt from the law would need to seek their own court order. The 4-3 decision did not address whether Phoenix's adoption of LGBTQ people as a protected class was legal.[48][49][50]

2020

See also

References
  1. Posner, Sarah. "The Legal Muscle Leading the Fight to End the Separation of Church and State Archived August 31, 2007, at the Wayback Machine" April 1, 2007, Washington Spectator Online
  2. Allison, Sherry (December 5, 2017). "Who Is The Alliance Defending Freedom, The Legal Team Behind Masterpiece Cakeshop?". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  3. Issues, Alliance Defense Fund
  4. "Who We Are". adflegal.org. ADF. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  5. Sharon Otterman (March 30, 2015). "Supreme Court Leaves Intact New York's Ban on Religious Services in Schools". nytimes.com. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  6. Robert Booth Fowler (November 2010). Religion and Politics in America: Faith, Culture, and Strategic Choices ... ISBN 9781458720955. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  7. Joel Stashenko (February 3, 2009). "Conservative Christian Group Targets New York". Law.com. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  8. "City of Littleton v. Z.J. Gifts D-4, L.L.C." Oyez. January 20, 2018. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  9. "Colorado, Petitioner v. George Woldt and Francisco Martinez, Jr". Free Court Dockets. 2002. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  10. "US Supreme Court Docket". FindLaw. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  11. Boyer, Peter J. "A Reporter at Large: Jesus in the Classroom". The New Yorker. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  12. California teacher, district settle religion lawsuit | First Amendment Center – news, commentary, analysis on free speech, press, religion, assembly, petition Archived February 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  13. Farrell, Michael B. "Will California gay-marriage trial go to Supreme Court?" Christian Science Monitor January 26, 2010: N.PAG. Academic Search Premier. Web. December 7, 2011.
  14. "California Judge Strikes Down Prop 8 Marriage Amendment". Liberty Counsel. August 4, 2010. Archived from the original on August 9, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
  15. "High court rules pro-life protests a lawful right". The Washington Times. February 27, 2003. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  16. "Protecting young women: Pro-life organizations urge high court to uphold parental notification law". Alliance Defending Freedom. August 9, 2005. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  17. Beard, Sterling (August 22, 2013). "NM Supreme Court Finds Refusing to Photograph Gay Wedding Illegal". National Review Online. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  18. Gentilviso, Chris (August 22, 2013). "Elane Photography v. Vanessa Willock: Court Rules Against Photographer In Gay Bias Case". The Huffington Post. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  19. Gershman, Jacob (August 22, 2013). "Photographers Discriminated Against Gay Couple, Court Rules". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  20. "School Choice Research". Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  21. "Legal ministry's CEO will discuss religious freedom". Catholic Transcript Magazine. August 27, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  22. Gorbman, Randy; Juan Vazquez (May 5, 2014). "Supreme Court Rules Prayers in Greece Can Continue". WXXI News. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
  23. Eric, Eckhholm (May 11, 2014). "Legal Alliance Gains Host of Court Victories for Conservative Christian Movement". New York Times. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  24. Cunningham, Paige Winfield (July 30, 2014). "Abortion clinics: Drawing the line". Politico. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  25. Cassidy, Suzanne. "Meet the major legal players in the Conestoga Wood Specialties Supreme Court case". Lancaster Online. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  26. Geidner, Chris (January 14, 2014). "Oklahoma Ban On Same-Sex Marriages Is Unconstitutional, Federal Judge Rules". Buzz Feed. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
  27. Victory for academic freedom: 4th Circuit says professor's speeches, columns protected by First Amendment – Alliance Defending Freedom
  28. Mike Adams Wins His Day in Court |
  29. Mike Adams Lawsuit | Jury Verdict | UNC Wilmington
  30. A Victory for Free Speech: Atheist Turned Christian Professor Wins Lawsuit Against University Archived March 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  31. Dujardin, Peter (February 14, 2014). "Reaction mixed to Virginia judge's ruling in same-sex marriage case". Daily Press. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  32. Barnes, Robert; Portnoy, Jenna. "Appeals court upholds decision overturning Virginia's same-sex marriage ban". www.washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  33. Cortman, David (June 23, 2015). "An Important Blow for Free Speech". National Review. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
  34. "Church sign case seems to sidestep religious freedom issue". MSNBC. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  35. "Supreme Court will hear Gilbert church-sign case". azcentral. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  36. "Holt v. Hobbs". SCOTUSblog. 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  37. Liz, O'Connor (November 30, 2015). "HHS mandate cases court will hear known collectively as Zubik v. Burwell". Catholic News Service. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  38. Kraemer, Kristen M. (July 17, 2017). "Richland floral shop owner wants US Supreme Court to review ruling". Union Bulletin. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  39. Hurley, Lawrence (June 26, 2017). "Supreme Court Backs Church In Key Religious Rights Case". Huffington Post. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  40. McGaughy, Lauren (March 26, 2018). "Trump administration enters into settlement talks over treatment of transgender inmates". Dallas News. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  41. McGaughy, Lauren (May 15, 2018). "After Texas suit, Trump administration reverses prison policies protecting transgender inmates". Dallas News. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  42. Ring, Trudy (November 8, 2019). "Anti-LGBTQ Group's Effort to Imprison Trans Women With Men Is on Hold". www.advocate.com. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  43. Kurtz, Steve (January 31, 2018). "The Tenth Amendment: Out of the shadows and into the spotlight". Fox News. Retrieved February 24, 2018. This term, Supreme Court watchers are paying close attention to “Masterpiece Cakeshop”—the gay wedding cake case—which could be a landmark in First Amendment jurisprudence.
  44. Farber, Madeline (November 16, 2017). "Supreme Court to hear anti-abortion and free speech case: A breakdown of NIFLA v. Becerra". Fox News. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
  45. Howe, Amy (June 26, 2018). "Opinion analysis: Divided court rules for anti-abortion pregnancy centers in challenge to California law". SCOTUSBlog. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  46. AMANDA PRESTIGIACOMO (October 16, 2018). "Atlanta To Pay Out $1.2 Million To Christian Fire Chief After Violating His First Amendment Rights". The Daily Wire. Retrieved October 17, 2018. After a December 2017 ruling found that the city discriminated against Mr. Cochran and violated his First Amendment rights by firing him for expressing Christian views with which they disagree, the city council on Monday agreed to pay out $1.2 million to the former chief for damages and attorneys' fees, reports Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the organization which represented Mr. Cochran.
  47. "Atlanta City Council Votes To Settle Ex-Fire Chief's Lawsuit For $1.2 Million". CBS Atlanta. Associated Press. October 16, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018. Atlanta’s City Council has voted to settle a $1.2 million lawsuit brought by the city’s former fire chief who was dismissed after he wrote a book that included anti-gay passages.
  48. Associated Press (September 17, 2019) "Arizona artists win suit over same-sex wedding invitations" NBC News
  49. Trimble, Lynn (September 16, 2019) "Court: Phoenix Business Can Refuse to Make Invitations for Same-Sex Couples" Phoenix New Times
  50. Stern, Mark Joseph (September 16, 2019) "Arizona Supreme Court Greenlights Discrimination Against Same-Sex Weddings" Slate
  51. Grinberg, Emanuella. "She came out as transgender and got fired. Now her case might become a test for LGBTQ rights at the US Supreme Court". CNN. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  52. "In landmark case, Supreme Court rules LGBTQ workers are protected from job discrimination". NBC News. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
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