Month in Review – November 2023

Here are the highlights for November:

* On November 8, we filed a federal civil rights lawsuit challenging Proposal 3, which has now become Article I, § 28 of the Michigan Constitution, on federal constitutional grounds.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of sixteen plaintiffs, including Right to Life of Michigan, three Michigan legislators, pro-life health organizations, medical professionals, and parents.

The passage of Proposal 3 resulted in an amendment to the Michigan Constitution (Article I, § 28), which created a super-right to “reproductive freedom.”  At no time in our nation’s history has such a super-right, immune from all legislative action, ever been created by a popular vote.

The lawsuit advances multiple federal constitutional claims arising under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and the Guarantee Clause.

* Also on November 8, AFLC Co-Founder and Senior Counsel Robert Muise argued the appeal of pro-lifer Matthew Connolly before the 6th Circuit Court of Oakland County, Michigan.

Connolly and five other pro-lifers were convicted of several misdemeanor offenses as a result of a Red Rose Rescue they conducted at an abortion center in the City of Southfield, Michigan on April 23, 2022.

A jury trial was held in February 2023, and the six rescuers were found guilty of trespassing and resisting/obstructing a police officer.

Four of the rescuers were found guilty of interfering with a business/disturbing the peace and two were found not guilty of this offense.

Prior to trial and after we filed a motion to dismiss the “loitering” charge on constitutional grounds, the City prosecutor dismissed that charge for all six of the rescuers.

Our appeal raises constitutional issues as well as the issue of whether the District Court erred by denying our requests for jury instructions on the defense of others and necessity.

* On November 13, AFLC Co-Founder and Senior Counsel Robert Muise spoke at a Michigan TEA party meeting.  The topic of Muise’s talk was “The Weaponization of Government.”

* During November, we agreed to join in the defense of the sixteen Michigan Trump electors who were sued civilly by three Biden electors as a result of the so-called “fake electors” scheme.  These same sixteen electors were also indicted by the Michigan Attorney General for what was little more than a failed political protest.

On November 17, we asked the circuit court judge presiding over the civil matter to stay proceedings as the civil defendants are incapable of mounting a defense due to the ongoing criminal case.  As we argued, the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination prevents them for participating in civil discovery while the felony criminal charges hang over their heads.

The judge denied our motion, but we will soon be filing a motion for summary disposition in the case as the civil claims are patently frivolous.

At the end of the day, these cases (civil and criminal) are nothing more than the weaponization of our courts by the Left to punish political opponents.

* On November 28, we submitted Freedom of Information Act requests to the Department of Justice and the FBI on behalf of Priests for Life, seeking information regarding the targeting of pro-lifers and “traditional Catholics” by the Biden administration.

* On November 30, we filed a motion for summary judgment in our case defending a Catholic organization’s right to build a prayer campus and adoration chapel on its 40-acre property located in Genoa Township, Michigan.

For three years, our clients, Catholic Healthcare International, Inc. and its president, Jere Palazzolo, have been battling the Township over their fundamental right to religious liberty.

We recently obtained an important ruling from the Sixth Circuit, which granted our request for a preliminary injunction, ordering the Township to permit CHI to use the property for religious worship.

Our most recent motion asks the district court to rule in our favor on the merits of our claim brought under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a federal law that protects religious liberty in the land use context.

* The “Baby Doe” case rages on.  Throughout this month and from the moment we joined this important case, we were fully engaged in various discovery disputes—filing responses and replies to motions—in this remarkable custody case involving a baby girl who was rescued from the battlefield of Afghanistan and adopted by a Marine family.

Now, Gitmo lawyers from large law firms want to take this little girl from the Marine family and give her to the Taliban.

In light of all that is going on in the Middle East and the resurgence, yet again, of jihadists, this case is becoming all that more important.  You can read more about it here.

* As noted previously, we are working on a major case that we hope to file soon in California.  The important Michigan case we alluded to in previous emails is our challenge to Prop 3.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support.  We couldn’t do what we do without them!