Alliance Defending Freedom

Alliance Defending Freedom
Abbreviation ADF
Motto For Faith, For Justice
Formation 1994
Type Non-profit
Purpose Christian advocacy
Headquarters Scottsdale, Arizona
President/CEO
 Alan Sears
Website www.alliancedefendingfreedom.org
Formerly called
 Alliance Defense Fund


Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF, formerly Alliance Defense Fund) is an American conservative Christian nonprofit organization with the stated goal of "defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation."[1] ADF was founded in 1994 by Bill Bright (founder, Campus Crusade for Christ), Larry Burkett (founder, Crown Financial Ministries), James Dobson (founder, Focus on the Family), D. James Kennedy (founder, Coral Ridge Ministries), Marlin Maddoux (president, International Christian Media), and Donald Wildmon (founder, American Family Association), along with the leadership of over thirty other conservative Christian organizations.[2]

ADF supports the inclusion of invocations at public meetings and the use of religious displays (such as crosses and other religious monuments) on public lands and in public buildings.[3] The ADF opposes abortion, and believes that healthcare workers have a right to decline participation in the performance of abortions and other practices an individual health worker finds morally objectionable. ADF opposes same-sex marriage and civil unions, as well as adoption by same-sex couples based on their belief that children are best raised by a married mother and father. ADF believes parents should be able to opt their children out of sex education in schools that run counter to a family's religious beliefs.[3]

ADF states that it has "had various roles of significance" in thirty-eight wins before the United States Supreme Court, including such cases as Rosenberger v. University of Virginia, Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York, and Boy Scouts of America v. Dale.[4] ADF represented a litigant in Perry v. Schwarzenegger in which the Supreme Court ruling in effect allowed same-sex marriage to proceed in California.

On July 9, 2012, the Alliance Defense Fund changed its name to Alliance Defending Freedom. The name change was a strategic initiative designed to reflect the organization's shift in focus from funding allied attorneys to litigating cases.[5]

Organization

ADF's President, CEO, and General Counsel is Alan Sears. Sears was previously a Justice Department official under the administration of President Ronald Reagan, and has co-authored two books with Craig Osten: The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today and The ACLU vs. America: Exposing the Agenda to Redefine Moral Values.

The ADF is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. It has six branch offices, located in Sacramento, California; Lawrenceville, Georgia; Shreveport, Louisiana; Memphis, Tennessee; Washington, D.C., and Olathe, Kansas. In addition, the ADF Center for Academic Freedom is located in Nashville, Tennessee.[6]

Major donors for the organization include the Covenant Foundation, the Bolthouse Foundation[7] and the Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation, whose vice president is Blackwater Worldwide founder Erik Prince.[8]

Programs and initiatives

ADF’s National Litigation Academy[9] and Blackstone Legal Fellowship[10] are aimed at training lawyers to pursue cases from a socially conservative perspective based on Christian ideals.

The National Litigation Academy brings together law school professionals, litigators, and constitutional lawyers for courses of study. Volunteer and allied attorneys are offered training in areas of law that relate to religious freedom, same-sex marriage, and pro-life issues. The training is provided at no charge, but each attorney pledges to spend 450 hours of pro bono time furthering ADF's mission by representing Christian organizations and individuals.[11][12] ADF states that more than 1,200 attorneys have attended the National Litigation Academy with pro-bono service totaling more than $82 million to date.[12]

The Blackstone Legal Fellowship is a nine-week summer internship program designed for Christian law students.[13] Interns work closely with legal professionals and advocate a Conservative Christian worldview. According to ADF, the goal of the Blackstone Legal Fellowship is "to train a new generation of lawyers who will rise to positions of influence and leadership as legal scholars, litigators, judges, and perhaps even Supreme Court justices, and who will work to ensure that justice is carried out in America's courtrooms."[14] More specifically, ADF states that the Blackstone Legal Fellowship purposes to "[e]quip Christian law students to engage the legal culture with biblical and natural law principles," to "[g]ive law students confidence that the foundation of law on which our country was established is rationally superior to any competing legal philosophy," and to "[p]rofoundly influence Christian law students to take their training and knowledge into positions of influence where they can bring about needed change in America’s legal system."[14]

The Center for Academic Freedom was established in 2006 and works to protect the right of students and teachers to freely express their religious beliefs.[15]

Day of Truth

Main article: Day of Dialogue

The Alliance Defense Fund states that it established the Day of Truth[16] "to counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective."[17] The Day of Truth is held annually following the Day of Silence, which is organized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

The ADF claims that students who have attempted to speak against same-sex relationships and behavior have been censored or, in some cases, punished for their actions under campus hate-speech rules, such as Chase Harper, a high school student whose activism sparked the first Day of Truth. Harper was suspended for wearing a T-shirt that read "Be Ashamed' and "Our School Embraced What God Has Condemned," and on the back read, "Homosexuality is Shameful" and "Romans 1:27." The ADF filed an unsuccessful federal lawsuit against school officials on behalf of Harper, claiming his religious freedoms were violated. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court.[18][19][20]

The Day of Truth was first organized in 2005. According to ADF, over 1,100 students in 350 schools participated in the first Day of Truth.[21]

ADF announced that beginning in 2009, it had passed on its leadership role in the Day of Truth to an ex-gay organization, Exodus International,[22] who has prepared the resources for the event.[23] On October 6, Exodus International stated they will no longer be supporting or leading the Day of Truth.[24]

On November 11, 2010, evangelical Christian organization Focus on the Family announced it had acquired the Day of Truth event and was renaming it to the Day of Dialogue. The goal would remain unchanged.[25]

Notable cases

The Alliance Defense Fund, working with other socially conservative organizations and Christian groups, as well as allied litigators, litigates cases involving religious freedom, abortion issues, and same-sex marriage.[26]

Response

The Southern Poverty Law Center notes that "The ADF has a record of sharp anti-gay bigotry." and "Today, the group is increasingly committed to international anti-LGBT work."[44] The SPLC has also accused the Alliance Defending Freedom for assisting the group Belize Action in its campaign to preserve Section 53 of the Belize criminal code which recommends a 10-year prison sentence for homosexual acts.[45][46]

Lisa Biron controversy

The organization was embroiled in a controversy when Lisa Biron, a Manchester NH based attorney who is affiliated with the ADF, was arrested by the FBI in November and charged with possession of child pornography and endangering a minor. Biron allegedly brought a teenage girl to Canada and filmed her having sex with another person.[47][48] ADF has stated, "Thousands of attorneys across the country and the globe donate their time providing free legal services in our areas of interest. However, these attorneys are neither our employees nor our agents... This attorney was one of those thousands. She is in private practice and has never been employed by Alliance Defending Freedom."[47] In May 2013 Biron was given a 40 year prison sentence.[49]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Defending our First Liberty, Pg. 3, Retrieved June 2, 2007, Alliance Defense Fund
  2. ↑ History, Alliance Defense Fund
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gizzi, John. "Alliance Defense Fund Promotes Religious Freedom." Human Events 65.28 (2009): 21. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Nov. 2011.
  4. ↑ Supreme Court Victories, Alliance Defense Fund
  5. ↑ "Alliance Defense Fund now Alliance Defending Freedom" (Press release). Alliance Defending Freedom. 2012-07-09.
  6. ↑ ADF Center for Academic Freedom - Faith has a Voice
  7. ↑ "The Bolthouse Foundation". The Bolthouse Foundation. 2013-04-08. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  8. ↑ Posner, Sarah. "The Legal Muscle Leading the Fight to End the Separation of Church and State" April 1, 2007, Washington Spectator Online
  9. ↑ National Litigation Academy, Alliance Defense Fund
  10. ↑ Blackstone Legal Fellowship, Alliance Defense Fund
  11. ↑ National Litigation Academy - Multiplying the Power of Alliance through Training
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 National Litigation Academy - Alliance Defense Fund - Defending Our First Liberty
  13. ↑ "Blackstone". Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Our Work > Training > Blackstone Legal Fellowship - Alliance Defending Freedom". Alliancedefensefund.org. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  15. ↑ "Speak Up : About Us". Speakupmovement.org. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  16. ↑ Day of Truth Participant Manual Web site
  17. ↑ "Day of Dialogue | Join the Dialogue". Dayoftruth.org. 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  18. ↑ "'Day of Truth' provides response to homosexual-themed day". Baptist Press. Sbcbaptistpress.org. 2005-03-29. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  19. ↑ ADF attorneys seek justice for high school student silenced on Day of Truth, Alliance Defense Fund
  20. ↑ "T-Shirt Wars". Box Turtle Bulletin. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  21. ↑ Day of Truth participation statistics, Day of Truth website
  22. ↑ "Hostile Questions". Day of Truth. 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  23. ↑ Homosexuality FAQ Sheet, Day of Truth website
  24. ↑ ": Day of Truth Support Pulled". Religion.blogs.cnn.com. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  25. ↑
  26. ↑ Issues, Alliance Defense Fund
  27. ↑ Robert Booth Fowler. Religion and Politics in America: Faith, Culture, and Strategic Choices ... Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  28. ↑ Joel Stashenko (2009-02-03). "Conservative Christian Group Targets New York". Law.com. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  29. ↑ Boyer, Peter J. "A Reporter at Large: Jesus in the Classroom". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  30. ↑ California teacher, district settle religion lawsuit | First Amendment Center – news, commentary, analysis on free speech, press, religion, assembly, petition
  31. ↑ Farrell, Michael B. "Will California gay-marriage trial go to Supreme Court?" Christian Science Monitor 26 Jan. 2010: N.PAG. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Dec. 2011.
  32. ↑ "California Judge Strikes Down Prop 8 Marriage Amendment". Liberty Counsel. 2010-08-04. Archived from the original on 9 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  33. ↑ Beard, Sterling (22 August 2013). "NM Supreme Court Finds Refusing to Photograph Gay Wedding Illegal". National Review Online. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  34. ↑ Gentilviso, Chris (22 August 2013). "Elane Photography v. Vanessa Willock: Court Rules Against Photographer In Gay Bias Case". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  35. ↑ Gershman, Jacob (22 August 2013). "Photographers Discriminated Against Gay Couple, Court Rules". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  36. ↑ Geidner, Chris (January 14, 2014). "Oklahoma Ban On Same-Sex Marriages Is Unconstitutional, Federal Judge Rules". Buzz Feed. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
  37. ↑ Victory for academic freedom: 4th Circuit says professor’s speeches, columns protected by First Amendment - Alliance Defending Freedom
  38. ↑ Mike Adams Wins His Day in Court |
  39. ↑ Mike Adams Lawsuit | Jury Verdict | UNC Wilmington
  40. ↑ A Victory for Free Speech: Atheist Turned Christian Professor Wins Lawsuit Against University
  41. ↑ Dujardin, Peter (2014-02-14). "Reaction mixed to Virginia judge's ruling in same-sex marriage case". Daily Press. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  42. ↑ Barnes, Robert; Portnoy, Jenna. "Appeals court upholds decision overturning Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban". www.washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  43. ↑ Sharon Otterman (2015-03-30). "Supreme Court Leaves Intact New York’s Ban on Religious Services in Schools". nytimes.com. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  44. ↑ "Criminalizing Sex: Six U.S. Anti-Gay Groups Abroad"
  45. ↑ http://www.splcenter.org/get%20informed/publications/Dangerous%20Liaisons/Dangerous%20Liaisons%3A%20Outlawing%20Homosexuality%20in%20Belize
  46. ↑ American Groups Encourage Anti-Gay Violence In Belize: Southern Poverty Law Center Report
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Adrian Humphreys (2012-11-20). "U.S. family values lawyer accused of bringing girl to Canada to make child pornography". National Post. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  48. ↑ Tricia L. Nadolny (2012-11-17). "Manchester lawyer facing federal child pornography charges arrested by FBI at courthouse". Concord Monitor. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  49. ↑ Blackman, Jeremy (2013-05-23). "Former Manchester lawyer sentenced to 40 years for producing child pornography". Concord Monitor.

Further reading

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External links