A legal group has filed suit in federal court concerning a deal the IRS made with an anti-religious organization to monitor churches.
The Alliance Defending Freedom says the IRS has failed to honor a Freedom of Information act request regarding the details of an agreement between the group and the anti-religious Freedom From Religion Foundation.
“As of the date of this complaint, Defendant has failed to: (i) determine whether to comply with the request; (ii) notify Plaintiff of any such determination or the reasons therefor; (iii) advise Plaintiff of the right to appeal any adverse determination; and/or (iv) produce the requested records or otherwise demonstrate that the requested records are exempt from production,” reads the complaint.
“Plaintiff is being irreparably harmed by reason of Defendant’s unlawful withholding of records responsive to Plaintiffs’ FOIA request, and Plaintiff will continue to be irreparably harmed unless Defendant is compelled to conform its conduct to the requirements of the law.”
The anti-religious group demanded in 2012 that the IRS enforce their view of the Johnson Amendment which strips churches of tax exemptions if they are openly involved in political activity.
This is the second suit against the IRS over agreements related to “monitoring of churches and other tax exempt religious organizations.”
A Supreme Court justice has given temporary relief to two religious groups that objected to the compromise to the abortion pill mandate in the Affordable Care Act.
Geneva College of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and the Roman Catholic dioceses in Erie and Pittsburgh along with their affiliated organizations. The groups sued the Obama administration because the so-called “compromise” still required them to provide abortion-inducing drugs.
The University of Notre Dame had previously filed a lawsuit over the same issue.
“Signing such a form or letter facilitates moral evil,” the groups wrote in legal briefs. “This is true whether or not applicants pay for the objectionable coverage.”
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito granted temporary relief and ordered the Obama administration to respond to the appeal by Monday.
The Supreme Court has already remanded the Notre Dame ruling to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to be reconsidered in light of the 2014 Hobby Lobby stations.
In a landmark judgment against the nation of North Korea, the family of an American missionary who was kidnapped and killed by North Korean agents has been awarded $330 million.
Rev. Kim Dong-Shik, who had been taken by North Korean agents while he was in China, was taken in January 2000 and tortured to death in a prison camp in North Korea. Kim was born in South Korea but a permanent resident of the United States. He had been working as a missionary providing humanitarian aid and religious council to Christians who had fled North Korea at the time of his kidnapping.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia awarded $15 million to Kim’s son and brother along with $300 million in punitive damages.
“This is an important human rights decision that will be utilized in all political abduction cases going forward,” Israel Law Center head Nitsana Darshan-Leitner told The Christian Post.
The court ruled that when a foreign regime abducts an individual, it is the responsibility of the abductors to prove that the person has not been murdered.
“We are grateful that the court has found that once we proved the kidnapping of Rev. Kim by North Korean intelligence and brought human rights experts to testify about the horrific conditions in the political detention camps, the burden must be on Pyongyang to show was still alive after so many years,” Darshan-Leitner said.
Christian watchdog groups say around 100,000 Christians are being tortured and forced into hard labor at North Korean prison camps.
The Satanic Temple along with the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has announced they are suing an Indiana county that refused to allow a Satanic display during the month of December.
The lawsuit claims that a Franklin County ordinance that requires permits for displays and activities be restricted to county residents is a violation of the First Amendment.
“Our joint lawsuit with the FFRF is our response to this arbitrary limitation,” Satanist spokesman Doug Mesner said. “I suspect that the arbitrary restriction of local standing is merely but an effort at keeping varying viewpoints to a minimum.”
The Indianapolis Star says the American Civil Liberties Union filed the suit.
The Satanic Temple wanted to display “an artistic three-dimensional sculpture mounted on a wooden platform” between November and January and the FFRF wanted to display cut out figures marking the “December 15 nativity of the Bill of Rights.”
“FFRF wishes to erect this display on the courthouse lawn in order to highlight what it believes to be the paramount importance of the Bill of Rights and to otherwise express itself,” the lawsuit reads.
“Additionally, FFRF is aware that it has members who reside in the county and also has members that visit the county. It would also like to erect its display to support these persons and to make sure that their secular beliefs are adequately represented.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington is attempting to force a hospital to perform abortions in their facility.
The lawsuit claims that Skagit Regional Health is violating a state law that requires medical facilities that provide maternity care to also kill babies via abortion. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a woman who is doctoral nursing student.
“As a woman and a health care provider, I care deeply about reproductive health issues. I want to make sure that women throughout Washington have access to the full range of reproductive health care services,” Kevan Coffey said in a statement. “And I personally want to have all options, including abortion, available to me.”
“The right of women to choose or to refuse to have an abortion is fundamental and has long been recognized under Washington law,” said ACLU Executive Director Kathleen Taylor. “We want to ensure that all women in our state can access the full range of reproductive health care at public health facilities in their communities.”
The state has said numerous times that hospitals have to provide abortion services if they want to provide maternity services.
The anti-Christian Freedom From Religion Foundation wants to destroy a monument to a beloved teacher because they cannot stand her Christian faith being referenced in the memorial.
Ravenswood Middle School in West Virginia has a monument to Joann Christy, a 26-year educators who died in a car accident. The memorial had bench, two stone planters and several crosses to represent her deep Christian beliefs.
“There’s so many kids that came through this school that were affected by her death, that were affected by her teachings, and now we’re just trying to keep her memory alive here,” Tracy Sadecky, a family friend, told a local TV station.
The family of the late teacher agreed to have the crosses removed in an attempt to appease the hate group, but left angels saying that Christy had a collection of angels and the angels represented her.
A new bill from an Oklahoma state senator will protect public schools in the state from lawsuits by anti-Christian groups for teaching non-sectarian Bible classes.
Senator Kyle Loveless introduced Senate Bill 48 that will declare any school that offers a “religious elective” impervious to lawsuits. The bill will allow “no liability as a result of providing an elective course in the study of religion or the Bible.”
The senator explained to a local newspaper that he was spurred to introduce the bill after anti-Christianists attacked the Mustang School District that had planned to offer an elective about the history of the Bible.
“The district projected that there were going to be between 20-30 students interested in the elective. In actuality, 180 students signed up,” he said. “They were extremely disappointed in having the class canceled.”
“I don’t see anything wrong [with a provision] that gives local school districts the ability to study the historical aspects of the Bible. That’s my reasoning for the bill. It is not a forced class and this would not be a ‘Sunday School’ type course. We are not endorsing one religion over the other,” he continued.
He says that there’s no violation of church and state to teach about the history of a historical religious book.
A cross that stood on a hill above Grand Haven, Michigan for over 50 years will now be removed after an anti-Christian man who does not live in the community threatened a lawsuit.
Grand Haven City Council voted 3 to 2 for the removal of the cross from Dewey Hill despite massive opposition from the community for the move.
Grand Haven resident Brandon Hall, who writes for West Michigan Politics, says that the community is united against a man they see as a bully.
“One thing I want to make clear: Grand Haven is not divided. It is very united in support of the cross,” Hall said. “All my atheist friends hate what is going on here. It’s very surprising that one guy can come from out of state and start all this. It is very shocking and disappointing.”
Mitch Kayle, who is openly bigoted against Christians, has bragged on social media of his actions attacking anything that might be Christian in public. He has conducted similar hate campaigns in Hawaii.
“He is an atheist extremist who targets Christians and gives atheists a bad name,” Hall said.
A group of residents is raising funds to purchase the land the cross sits upon to keep it standing above the city.
The Supreme Court is going to hear arguments in the case of a lawsuit brought by a small church against the town of Gilbert, Arizona.
The city has a law that prohibits the church from posting roadside signs.
The Alliance Defending Freedom is representing the Good News Presbyterian Church in the case. ADF Senior Web Writer Marissa Poulson said Monday that the signs are important.
“By stating the church’s signs are less valuable than political and other speech, the town is ignoring the church’s free speech rights and claiming to have the power to handicap, and even eliminate, speech it deems unimportant,” wrote Poulson.
The suit focuses on the fact that church signs are given restrictions that are not placed on other form of speech.
- Political signs can be up to 32 square feet, displayed for many months, and unlimited in number.
- Ideological signs can be up to 20 square feet, displayed indefinitely, and unlimited in number.
- Religious signs can only be 6 square feet, may be displayed for no more than 14 hours, and are limited to 4 per property.
The ADF says that if the government can use this law to restrict religious speech, there’s nothing to stop them from restricting other speech.
A Florida city who has been harassing pro-life protesters is being taken to court by two women threatened with loitering citations for their protest.
The American Center for Law and Justice says they are representing Judith Minihan and JoAnn O’Connell in a federal suit. The women hold protests and plead with women seeking to kill their children through abortion at the Fort Myers Women’s Health Center.
“When individuals who are driving into the medical office complex stop to speak with Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs will generally hand them literature and speak with them about abortion-related topics, including information about the possible emotional and physical effects of abortion, nearby maternity homes, local and national helplines, and fetal development,” the ACLJ wrote in their complaint.
The women take care to stand on the public sidewalk while they are there and do not block pedestrians from entering the abortionist. However, police have taken to harassing the women.
“Defendant Officer Conticelli stated that he would enforce the loitering ordinance against them if they (1) stood in one spot on the public sidewalk in front of the medical office complex and abortion clinic and did not keep walking on that public sidewalk, (2) approached any vehicles entering or leaving the medical office complex and abortion clinic to hand out literature or speak with the occupants of the vehicle, or (3) blocked vehicular traffic entering or leaving the medical office complex and abortion clinic by handing out literature or talking to the people in vehicles,” the complaint reads.
The women handed the officer a consent decree from a previous lawsuit with the city that said they would not interfere with their pro-life activities but the police continued their threats necessitating the current suit.
The city’s attorney said they would be reviewing the situation.