Month in Review – April 2024

Here are the highlights for April:

* On April 4, 2024, we represented Andrew Hess as he made his initial appearance in the 50th District Court in Pontiac, Michigan on the charge of “making a terrorist threat,” which is a felony offense that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years confinement and a $20,000 fine.

Hess voluntarily surrendered himself to the warrant that was issued, and he was released on a $20,000 personal recognizance bond.

The felony charge was brought by the Oakland County Prosecutor.

During a contentious ballot recount in Oakland County last December where allegations of election improprieties were ignored by Oakland County election officials, Hess walked outside of the recount room and allegedly made the statement, “hang Joe for treason,” allegedly referring to Joe Rozell, the director of elections in Oakland County, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Following this alleged “threat,” Hess returned to the recount room and had multiple interactions with Rozell and other election officials without incident.

Deputies from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office were present, and even after speaking with Hess about the alleged comment, took no action against Hess whatsoever and allowed him to return to the recount room.

While this alleged “terrorist threat” took place in December 2023, the Oakland County Prosecutor waited until April 1, 2024, to file a criminal complaint, which itself demonstrates that the alleged safety concerns are bogus and that politics are driving this prosecution.

This is yet another example of left-wing prosecutors weaponizing their office to strike fear in anyone who may question the way they (Democrat officials) are running elections.

There is no doubt that Hess’s alleged statement was political hyperbole and thus fully protected by the First Amendment.

Make no mistake, the Left is prepping the battlefield in anticipation of the upcoming national election.  They want to deter anyone from challenging their nefarious actions.

* On April 10, 2024, we, along with co-counsel Great Lakes Justice Center, filed a full-throated response to a motion to dismiss our federal lawsuit challenging Proposal 3.  Proposal 3 resulted in the creation of Article I, § 28 of the Michigan Constitution.

The lawsuit, which challenges § 28 on federal constitutional grounds, was filed on behalf of sixteen pro-life plaintiffs, including, among others, Right to Life Michigan, the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, two Michigan Representatives, a Michigan Senator, Christian Medical and Dental Associations, Crossroads Care Center, a physician, two moms, and parents with children in public schools.

The defendants in the case are Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

As set forth in the pro-lifers’ response, § 28 creates a super-right to “reproductive freedom” that is exceedingly harmful to women and children.  In fact, this constitutional provision is a Trojan Horse for the left-wing’s radical pro-abortion and “gender-reassignment” agenda . . . and worse.

The proponents of Proposal 3 falsely claimed that it would simply “restore Roe.”  It does not such thing.  Our response lays bare the pernicious effects of this state constitutional amendment.

As set forth in the response, Article I, § 28 runs afoul of the First and Fourteenth Amendments and the Guarantee Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

* On April 15, we filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the high court to review our case against Attorney General Merrick Garland.  Our lawsuit was filed on behalf of parents from Loudoun County, Virginia and Saline, Michigan.

In this lawsuit, AFLC is challenging the Attorney General’s political attack of parents who speak out at school board meetings against the indoctrination of their children by “woke” school boards.

The district court judge dismissed the lawsuit on “justiciability grounds”—claiming that the parents were not “injured” by the Attorney General’s policy and thus lacked standing to challenge it.  The court refused to address the merits of the case.

A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit (the very court where Garland presided as a judge) affirmed the lower court ruling.

We are now asking the Supreme Court to take up this important case.

* On April 16, we filed a joint status report in our lawsuit challenging the military vaccine mandate on behalf of four Navy SEALs.

The report was a result of a recent order of the district court granting our motion for reconsideration and restoring our claim for damages against the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Gilday, who was the senior official directly responsible for denying the religious exemption requests submitted by the SEALs.

The case proceeds.

* On April 18, AFLC Co-Founder Robert Muise argued a motion for reconsideration in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho in our civil rights lawsuit filed on behalf of a Christian father, Nathan Wilson, and his two sons.

The lawsuit was filed against the City of Moscow, Idaho, and several of its officials, including three police officers

The City of Moscow (appropriately named) is a blue dot in the largely red (freedom-loving conservatives) state of Idaho.

Within this tyrannically liberal City is a conservative Christian community, many of whom belong to Christ Church.

The pastor of this church is Douglas Wilson, the father of Nathan Wilson.  And, of course, Nathan and his children are active members of this Christian community.

On October 6, 2020, Nathan’s two sons posted Soviet Moscow protest decals on City property, particularly at locations where other decals, stickers, and handbills were or have been posted in the past.

These locations include City light poles, parking poles, and signs.  The boys engaged in this expressive activity to protest the City’s tyrannical COVID-19 orders.

It is an accepted and routine practice in the small university City to post messages, specifically including commercial messages, political messages, and messages on matters of public interest, on poles and other City property throughout the City.  The City permits this practice and has created a forum for speech by doing so.

The City later dispatched workers to remove the Soviet Moscow protest decals from the downtown area.  The workers only removed the protest decals and left every other decal, sticker, or poster in place, including stickers directly insulting the Wilson’s Christian community.

Days after the City dispatched its first group of workers to remove the protest decals, a City police officer (one of the defendants) delivered citations to the Wilson’s home, and told Nathan that both of his sons were being charged with 13 misdemeanors each for violating a City ordinance and that he was being charged as an accessory.

The City has never prosecuted anyone under this City ordinance for posting flyers or decals on poles in the City.

The charges were dismissed against Nathan and one of his sons.  This lawsuit followed.

As set forth in the complaint:

This case seeks to protect and vindicate fundamental rights.  It is a civil rights action brought under the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and 42 U.S.C. § 1983, challenging Defendants’ unlawful actions and selective enforcement of the law that were motivated by Defendants’ hostility toward Plaintiffs and their political and religious viewpoints and religious beliefs.

* Our efforts to save “Baby Doe” from the Taliban continue with full force as we battle Gitmo lawyers from large law firms who have engaged in a battle of legal attrition in an effort to wear us down.  It won’t work.

As you know from prior reports, Baby Doe was miraculously rescued from the battlefield of Afghanistan and adopted by a Marine family.

These Gitmo lawyers want to take this little girl from the Marine family and give her to the Taliban.  They can’t stand the idea that this little girl will be cared for and raised by a loving, Christian family.

* Our California lawsuit (details to be revealed after we publicly file the complaint) is coming together as there are multiple hurdles we have had to overcome to get to this point.  Stay tuned on this one.

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