Here are highlights for January, as we kicked off a new year fighting for faith and freedom!
* On January 12, we filed our opening brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in our lawsuit against Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of parents from Loudoun County, Virginia and Saline, Michigan, challenges the Attorney General’s political attack against parents who speak out at school board meetings against the indoctrination of their children by “woke” school boards.
We are on the frontlines challenging the weaponization of the DOJ!
*On January 13, we filed our reply brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in our case challenging the draconian COVID-19 restrictions enforced by the Pennsylvania Governor and his Secretary of Health.
The lower court dismissed our lawsuit on mootness grounds on the basis that the challenged restrictions have since been rescinded as the pandemic is over.
We argue in our briefs that the case is not moot because the government voluntarily ceased its unlawful restrictions and that the restrictions are capable of repetition.
We continue to press these cases because we cannot have a repeat of such egregious restrictions on fundamental liberties every time a “crisis” occurs.
* On January 14, we filed a motion to expedite the ruling on our motion for an injunction pending appeal in our lawsuit filed on behalf of Catholic Healthcare International, Inc. (CHI) against Genoa Township, Michigan.
In this case, the Township has unlawfully denied CHI the right to use its property for religious worship and expression.
On December 20, the U.S. district court granted in part our injunction to permit CHI to use its 40-acre property for “organized gatherings” (i.e., religious worship), but denied our request to permit CHI to erect religious displays (an altar, Stations of the Cross, and an image of Our Lady of Grace) in furtherance of that religious worship.
We are appealing that portion of the injunction that prohibits the religious displays and filed a motion for an injunction pending appeal on December 23.
Despite showing the CHI is irreparably harmed by the loss of its right to religious expression, the district court has yet to rule on our motion for an injunction pending appeal, prompting the filing of the motion to expedite.
*On January 16, we prepared a letter brief for Priests for Life to distribute to pro-life advocates. The brief sets forth the rights of pro-life advocates to sidewalk counsel, distribute literature, and to display signs outside of abortion centers.
The brief addresses many common questions and misconceptions raised in light of the DOJ’s weaponization of the law to target pro-life advocates. In short, the First Amendment remains as a bulwark against such government tyranny.
*On January 23, we filed supplemental briefs in both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. in our case challenging the military vaccine mandate on behalf of four Navy SEALs.
In December, Biden reluctantly signed the FY 23 NDAA, which rescinded the mandate. Consequently, the courts requested additionally briefing as to whether this moots our case.
We argued that it definitively does not moot the case as the SEALs continue to suffer from the adverse effects of objecting to the mandate on religious grounds (loss of travel, pay, training, etc. . .) — effects which continue today.
* On January 25, we were retained to represent attorney Richard Mast, who has been representing his brother, a Marine Judge Advocate, then-Major Joshua Mast, and his wife Stephanie.
This case involves the incredible rescue story of a young baby girl by a Marine and Army Rangers who took the baby out of a nest of mujahideen foreign fighters in Afghanistan shortly before the chaotic evacuation.
The Marine and his wife subsequently adopted the baby and are now involved a major legal battle to keep her from being returned to the Taliban.
You can read more about this intriguing case here.
* On January 30, we filed a supplemental brief in the Michigan Supreme Court in our case seeking an immediate appeal of an injunction issued in the state circuit court preventing CHI from using its property for religious worship and expression.
This appeal raises issues regarding the application and interpretation of the Michigan Constitution.
Thank you for your prayers and financial support. We couldn’t do what we do without them!