Justice Sunday III Set to Air: Alito, Controversy, and the Courts

If previous broadcasts are any indication, next month’s broadcast of ''Justice Sunday III'' will place the focus once again on what Christian conservatives see as judicial tyranny perpetrated by liberal judges.

If previous broadcasts are any indication, next month’s broadcast of “Justice Sunday III” will place the focus once again on what Christian conservatives see as judicial tyranny perpetrated by liberal judges. The broadcast comes just in time for confirmations hearing for the president’s conservative nominee Judge Samuel Alito.

The national telecast airing from Philadelphia on Jan. 8, whose extended title is Justice Sunday III: Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land, will be used to urge evangelicals across the nation to not be afraid to express their biblically informed political opinions on judicial nominees to their representatives in Washington.

The first edition of the broadcast in April to protest judicial filibusters and the second one in August just ahead of hearings for recently confirmed Chief Justice John Roberts have drawn fire from liberal religious groups who say conservatives are hijacking the “people of faith” appellation for causes they don’t agree with and that originating the broadcasts from churches seems to improperly blur church-state line of separation.

Tony Perkins, who heads the conservative Family Research Council that has organized “Justice Sunday,” has responded to such criticism saying that he simply wants conservative Evangelicals and others who agree with his group’s views to have a seat at the political table and take part in setting the parameters for future Supreme Court nominations.

"We do not claim the right to speak for everyone but we do claim the right to speak, and speak we will, to the millions of Americans who share our values," said Perkins ahead of the second broadcast in August.

The program, which is scheduled for one-and-a-half hours, has previously included prominent conservative figures such as James Dobson, founder of Family Research Council; Chuck Colson, former Watergate convict and founder of the evangelical Prison Fellowship ministry; longtime conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly of the Eagle Forum; and National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) President Ted Haggard.

From support of Ten Commandments displays on public property and allowing prayer in public schools to ridding the country of “abortion-on-demand” and stopping the expansion of gay marriage, conservatives have been increasingly taking their concerns to the courts.

Legal groups such as the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), Liberty Counsel, Christian Legal Society, and the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) have been litigating and winning cases for such conservative causes. They say they are driven by a conservative biblical worldview to ensure that the religious views of conservative Christians are not legislated away or ruled out of the public square.

The speakers at Justice Sunday telecasts have served to urge Evangelicals to contact their representatives to ease the way for future legal battles by getting the senate to approve judicial nominees who will be “strict constructionists” that stand for a conservative view of the constitution – one which advocates say reflects the values of the nation’s founding fathers.

Among the most heavily scrutinized aspects of past broadcasts has been the decision to include politicians. When Senator Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) announced his intention to come aboard to speak at the first Justice Sunday, opponents said that he and the organizers were clearly advancing a political agenda dressed in the garb of religious liberty.

Frist spoke for several minutes about changing the rules in the Senate so that the Republican majority could stop judicial filibusters and allow senators to vote on the nominees. At the time, Perkins said that the Democratic minority was using the legislative stalling tactic to exclude “people of faith” from federal benches.

An appearance by Rep Tom Delay (R-Texas) at the next Justice Sunday was met with less resistance. Meanwhile it may be too early to tell if the third edition’s inclusion of Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) in recent days will generate as much controversy.

The schedule speakers for the third edition of Justice Sunday are Tony Perkins; James Dobson; Sen. Rick Santorum; Liberty University’s Dr. Jerry Falwell, who is heading up the Moral Majority Coalition; the Rev. Herbert Lusk of Greater Exodus Baptist Church, who will be hosting the broadcast; Bishop Wellington Boon of The Father's House Church; and Dr. Alveda C. King, niece of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. More are scheduled to be announced in the coming days

Organizers say that the last broadcast had a potential audience of 79 million viewers, although the actual number who tuned in could not be measured.

”Justice Sunday III: Proclaim Liberty Throughout Land” will air from Greater Exodus Baptist Church in Philadelphia on Jan. 8, 2006.

The program will be shown from 7-8:30 p.m. EST and 9-10:30 p.m. EST on Sky Angel satellite television and at 7-8:30 p.m. PST and 10-11:30 p.m. EST on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). Radio broadcasts will air live on American Family Radio and Bott Radio Network. An Internet feed will be streamed at www.justicesunday.com.