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CTV Memo
October 25, 2019
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AG Nessel's Motioned Denied
in Same-Sex Adoption Case
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US District Judge Robert Jonker has turned down MI Attorney General Dana Nessel’s request for a stay of judgement regarding a case brought by a Christian adoption agency that would not assign children to LGBTQ couples. St. Vincent Catholic Charities and Bethany Christian Services are among the organizations that were affected by the onerous rules put in place earlier this year by Nessel.
The appeal is in response to a September court decision in which Judge Jonker ruled that Nessel’s Office acted with specific intent to discriminate against Christian adoption agencies. He stated that the case revolves around “whether St. Vincent may continue to do this work and still profess and promote the traditional Catholic belief that marriage as ordained by God is for one man and one woman.” He also established that Nessel had a history of animosity towards Christian adoption agencies prior to her taking office: “During her campaign for Attorney General, Defendant Nessel asserted that there was “no viable defense” for the statutes enacted under 2015 PA53 and that the 2015 statutes’ “only purpose is discriminatory animus.”
According to the Detroit News, “In his order Tuesday denying the request, Jonker said that Nessel’s office, “has failed to come to grips with the factual basis on the preliminary injunction record that supports the inference of religious targeting in this case.”
Read more about the case here.
You can find more about the background of the case here.
The original decision from Judge Jonker can be found here. |
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Supreme Court Declines to Hear
First Amendment Appeal
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A case from Maryland regarding a high school student and her faith was declined by the US Supreme Court on Tuesday.. In 2016, the high school student sued her local school district due to hostility in the classroom towards her Christian faith. This included being required to write the shahada, which is the Islamic profession of faith that is recited when someone converts. The statement included the phrase “there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” Her legal team also cited that the characterization of Christianity vs. other religious was less than hospitable.
Attorneys from the Thomas Moore Legal Society noted in their appeal: “For example, Ms. Wood [the student] and her classmates were instructed that the “Qur’an is the word of Allah as revealed to Muhammad in the same way that Jews and Christians believe the Torah and Gospels were revealed to Moses and the New Testament writers.”
After receiving the assignment, the student refused to complete it and was given a failing grade. By passing this case up, the Supreme Court missed an important chance, in the words of Thomas Moore’s Richard Thompson, “…to provide clearer constitutional guidance" on an important issue.”
Read the full story here.
You can view the appeal filed by the Thomas Moore Legal Society here.
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Supreme Court Rejects MI Gerrymandering Case |
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Earlier this week, the US Supreme Court put a stop to a ruling that would have given the judicial branch unprecedented power over the drawing of voting districts in the state of Michigan. The ruling that was overturned would have required Michigan to re-do congressional district lines and could have potentially altered the outcome of the 2020 elections. Two similar cases were previously before the court, coming from North Carolina and Maryland, where plaintiffs sought the help of the court in overturning voting districts drawn by state legislatures.
In his ruling, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts noted “Federal judges have no license to reallocate political power between the two major political parties, with no plausible grant of authority in the Constitution, and no legal standards to limit and direct their decisions…”
One reason why this ruling is important is the power that would have been imparted to the judiciary in the event that state lawmakers had not redrawn districts in time. If they had failed to comply, the lower court allowed for judicial discretion in the re-drawing of congressional districts, a power that is not and should not ever be in the hands of un-elected judges.
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East Lansing School Board Votes Against Abortion Disciplinary Measures |
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Michigan law currently prohibits teachers working in public schools from providing advice or referrals to students for abortions. Additionally, the law requires local school boards to create disciplinary policies that would be enforced on any educators who broke this law. If a local school district fails to comply, the state will cut their funding by 1%.
East Lansing’s school board voted unanimously on Sept 30th to issue a formal rejection of this state policy, refusing to comply with creating policies that would punish teachers in their district. Some in the school district claim that this hurts educators rights to free speech, and could be dangerous to students health. However, the East Lansing school board is also risking funding cuts from the state which would directly impact students and educators alike for the purpose of making a political statement.
You can read more about the case here and here.
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Political Leadership Academy Postponed |
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Due to circumstances outside of our control, we are postponing the candidate and grassroots training school that was scheduled to take place on Oct. 25-26. Stay tuned to CTV as we look to arrange and new date. If you have any questions, please call or email us. |
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Citizens for Traditional Values relies on the support of grassroots activists and concerned citizens who care about preserving, protecting, and promoting traditional values in Lansing and our local communities.
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