Here are the highlights for June 2018:
* On June 1, we filed our reply brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in our case challenging King County’s (Seattle, Washington) refusal to display our clients’ “Faces of Global Terrorism” ads on their transit authority buses. The County claims that the ads, which depict the actual faces of the FBI’s most wanted global terrorists, are demeaning toward Muslims since the depicted terrorists are Muslim or engage in terrorist acts in the name of Islam. Oral argument has been set for August 29 in Seattle.
* On June 14, we successfully defended the Urth Caffe against a frivolous lawsuit filed by seven women who claimed they were subjected to religious discrimination when the Urth Caffe staff asked them to leave after the women refused to abide by the café’s seating policy. The women later made the fraudulent claim that they were evicted from the café because they wore hijabs—Islamic head coverings worn by some Muslim women. The lawsuit was initiated by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas front group operating in the U.S.
Following many months of hard fought litigation, we concluded a follow-on mediation at which Plaintiffs agreed to dismiss their lawsuit and receive zero money from the Urth Caffe. This was a huge win for the good guys against the Muslim Brotherhood/CAIR/progressive juggernaut.
* Also on June 14, AFLC Co-Founder and Senior Counsel Robert Muise argued before the Macomb County Circuit Court in our appeal of the convictions of our clients, four pro-lifers who were involved in a “Red Rose Rescue” at the Northland Family Planning Center, an abortion center in the City of Sterling Heights, Michigan. During the argument, Muise set forth the factual and legal bases as to why the trial judge committed reversible error by not allowing the pro-lifers the defense of necessity and the defense of others in violation of their constitutional right to due process. The Circuit Judge hearing the appeal appeared sympathetic to our arguments. Muise reports that he would not be surprised if the judge reverses the convictions and remands the case for a new trial with a properly instructed jury. The decision is pending.
* On June 29, we successfully defended five pro-life “rescuers” in a restitution hearing held in the 48th District Court in Michigan. The pro-lifers were part of a Red Rose Rescue involving the Western Women’s Center, an abortion center located in West Bloomfield, Michigan. During the hearing, the prosecutor presented the testimony of the abortion center’s office manager, who testified and provided documentary evidence that 12 women who were scheduled for appointments (11 were scheduled for abortions and 1 was scheduled for a “post-operative” procedure) were turned away by the actions of the pro-lifers.  In fact, none of the 12 would return the abortion center’s calls—the center was desperately trying to reschedule the abortions. The judge denied the request for restitution. Mission accomplished.
*Also on June 29, we filed our response to a “show cause” order issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in which we explain why the appellate court has jurisdiction over our cross-appeal. In this case, we are representing Kimberley Thames, a pro-life demonstrator who was unlawfully arrested and jailed for over two days based on a facially bogus claim from an abortion center security guard that she made a bomb threat. The alleged threat, which Thames did not make, was as follows: “I prophesy bombs are going to fall and they’re going to fall in the near future.” As we argued in the district court, the alleged threat is not a “true threat” as a matter of law, but protected speech, and thus it cannot serve as a basis for her arrest in the first instance.
* We are preparing a new civil rights lawsuit to be filed in Ohio on behalf of two pro-lifers who were threatened with arrest for preaching the Gospel and singing worship songs on the public sidewalk outside of a local abortion center.
* We continue with court appearances, depositions, briefs, and motion practice in many other cases as well.
Thank you for your prayers and financial support. We couldn’t do what we do without them!