Month in Review – November 2014

American FreedomPlease know that we are committed to keeping you informed of the work we are doing at AFLC.  And we do this for three principal reasons.  First, to alert you to the many battles in which our faith and freedoms are under attack.  Second, to demonstrate more clearly why your generous support is so needed.  And third, to show you what we are doing with that support.

Below are some of the highlights for November 2014.

*On November 5, AFLC Co-Founder and Senior Counsel Robert J. Muise presented oral argument in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., in AFLC’s critically important lawsuit challenging Obama’s unlawful executive orders as they relate to the enforcement of Obamacare.

* On November 6, AFLC filed its reply brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of its petition requesting that the Court hear the case of Captain Paul Fields v. City of Tulsa.  As you know from prior alerts, Captain Fields was summarily punished for objecting to an order mandating officer attendance at a proselytizing event held at a local mosque.  Unfortunately, the Court recently denied review of the case, thereby permitting this injustice to stand.  But make no mistake, this was an important fight, and Captain Fields should be applauded for taking a courageous stand in defense of his faith and our Constitution.  Indeed, despite this unfortunate outcome, we seriously doubt that Tulsa police officials would be foolish enough to do this again.

*On November 20, AFLC filed a reply brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Washington, D.C., in support of its request to enjoin the enforcement of the Obamacare mandate and its penalty provision against Jeffrey Cutler, a Pennsylvania resident who lost his health insurance despite Obama’s promise that “if you like your health care plan, you can keep it.”  The case is Cutler v. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

*On November 24, AFLC filed its supplemental brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Bible Believers v. Wayne County.  In this case, AFLC is representing several Christian evangelist who were attacked by a violent Muslim mob while preaching at an Arab festival held in Dearborn, Michigan in 2012.  Rather than arresting the violent attackers, officers from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office ordered the Christians to halt their peaceful speech activity under threat of arrest for disorderly conduct.  Last month, the Sixth Circuit granted AFLC’s petition for rehearing en banc (full court).  Consequently, AFLC will reargue the case on March 4, 2015, before a 15-judge panel of Sixth Circuit judges.

*On November 25, a federal judge in Philadelphia ruled in AFLC’s favor, holding that an “expert” hired by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) may not testify that an “Islamic Jew-Hatred” advertisement submitted by the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) was false.  The advertisement stated, in relevant part, “Islamic Jew-Hatred: It’s in the Quran” and referred to Haj Amin Al-Husseini as “the leader of the Muslim world.”  The judge rejected SEPTA’s argument that it could ban the advertisement based on SEPTA’s claim of falsity, holding that the First Amendment does not permit government officials to be the “arbiter’s of truth” regarding matters of public concern.  The case is American Freedom Defense Initiative v. SEPTA.

Finally, we continue to work on many other important cases that we will be revealing over the coming months, and as always, we continue our efforts to educate the public through traditional media as well as social media (remember to “like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter).

Thank you again for your prayers and your financial support — which makes all of this possible!  God bless you, and may He continue to bless America!