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Dear John,
Who doesn’t love opening a Christmas gift a little bit early?
That’s why we’re happy announce that earlier this week, the U.S. Senate confirmed former First Liberty volunteer network attorney, Lawrence VanDyke, for a lifetime federal judgeship on the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
VanDyke is the 50th appeals court judge confirmed since the beginning of the current administration, a groundbreaking milestone in the appointment of judges to America’s federal courts.
In fact, to date the Senate has confirmed close to 90% of the current president’s circuit court nominees, and that historic rate is the engine that’s driving a dramatic transformation across the federal circuits.
Currently, 7 of 13 circuit courts are comprised of a majority of conservative-appointed judges. That’s a big change from when the current president initially took office, when only 4 circuits had conservative-appointed majorities.
And why is this so important in reclaiming our First Freedom?
Because now those judicial seats are staffed with excellent judges whose records reflect a strong commitment to religious freedom and the original text of the Constitution.
VanDyke is certainly among them. He’s one of our county’s most brilliant legal minds and brings a background showing a passion to defend religious liberty. In fact, his first oral argument as a young attorney was when he volunteered his time with First Liberty.
Of course, his appointment is of critical significance because it means the addition of another pro-religious freedom judge to the Ninth Circuit, a court infamously known to hand down opinions detrimental to religious liberty.
In addition to VanDyke’s confirmation, First Liberty is also thrilled to celebrate with you the vast record-breaking judicial appointments we’ve seen in 2019. The confirmations over the last year alone have helped America’s judiciary take a monumental leap to get “Back to the Constitution.”
To achieve this, our legal team has been working tirelessly behind the scenes all year long to evaluate the religious freedom track record of nominees and offering our findings to President Trump and the Senate.
With God’s grace, First Liberty has become the go-to source on the religious freedom qualifications of judicial nominees. But this has demanded an investment of thousands of staff hours and nearly $2.3 MILLION in out-of-pocket expenses...at a time when we’ve also been called to fight multiple high-stakes Supreme Court cases, such as our defense of the Bladensburg Memorial case, Sweet Cakes by Melissa and Coach Joe Kennedy.
This investment, however, is having a major and lasting impact—as we now have over 170 judges who will help safeguard religious freedom for me, you and your family for the next 30 or even 40 years.
Yet it would be a grave mistake to let down our guard. The enemies of religious freedom aren’t backing down. In fact, some of our biggest battles ever will be fought in the coming year.
As we prepare for 2020, this may be our last chance for us to offer our expertise and analysis on pro-religious freedom nominees.
There’s a limited, short window of opportunity for us to reclaim our federal judiciary and to staff it with judges who will elevate the Constitution and cast aside radical political agendas.
That’s why I’m counting on YOU, John, to go ALL IN with First Liberty to help reclaim our federal courts...RIGHT NOW!
With your ongoing support and trust, First Liberty can continue doing the critical work of providing expert legal analysis to the Senate and the administration, ensuring that the best, most qualified and most importantly—pro-religious-freedom—nominees are vetted for a seat in America’s federal courts.
Will you consider donating to First Liberty and help us achieve our $2.8M year-end goal?
Your financial gift is critical in helping our federal courts get “Back to the Constitution.”
Yes, I will make a financial contribution today.
Gratefully,
Kelly
Kelly J. Shackelford, Esq.
President, CEO & Chief Counsel
First Liberty Institute
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