Threats to the First Amendment are Growing
We are living at a critical moment.
We’re facing unique and growing threats to our First Amendment freedoms.
At Alliance Defending Freedom our legal requests have skyrocketed in the past year.
Requests from teachers and professors who have been punished or fired for refusing to violate their faith, churches that have been targeted with discriminatory COVID-19 regulations, and students who have been silenced and had their First Amendment rights infringed upon by university officials.
If you’re unfamiliar with our work, ADF is the world’s largest legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, marriage and family, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
We defend your most cherished freedoms in Congress, state legislatures, and courtrooms across the country, and all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
We defend everyday Americans who have been unjustly targeted for their beliefs. You may have heard of a few of our clients….
Jack, a cake artist.
Jack designs, paints, and sculpts beautiful custom cakes at his business, Masterpiece Cakeshop. He serves everyone, but he cannot use his talents to express messages that go against his beliefs. And the First Amendment protects his right to do so.
But after politely declining to create a custom cake that expressed a message in conflict with his faith, the Colorado government tried to punish him.
We defended him all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and won a major victory! And yet, Jack is still being harassed. He’s back in court battling another lawsuit, this time from an attorney who is targeting Jack for declining to create a cake celebrating and symbolizing a gender transition.
Lydia, a third grader
Lydia is a very brave nine-year-old girl in Mississippi.
When her school required masks, she wanted to peacefully share her Christian views with her schoolmates by wearing a mask with the message, “Jesus Loves Me” printed on it.
But her principal required her to remove and replace it. Two days later, administrators announced a policy that prohibits certain “political” or “religious” messages on masks.
It didn’t matter that other students and faculty have worn masks with a wide variety of messages, including masks displaying college logos, professional sports team logos, and “Black Lives Matter.” The school still enforced a policy which subjected her to escalating discipline, up to and including suspension.
Lydia and her mom knew this was a violation of her rights. So, they filed a federal lawsuit against the school district.
David, a pro-life sidewalk counselor.
You may recognize David Benham.
David, the co-founder of the pro-life group Cities4Life, was peacefully praying and offering sidewalk counseling outside of an abortion clinic in Charlotte.
But police handcuffed and arrested him for violating North Carolina’s “stay-at-home” order during the COVID-19 pandemic. It didn’t matter that David and other volunteers were exempted from the order and following the State’s protocol to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Today, ADF is defending David’s rights in Benham v. City of Charlotte, filed with a North Carolina federal court.
Chike, a college student.
When Chike was a student at Georgia Gwinnett College, he wanted to share his faith with his classmates on campus. But his college officials prevented him from speaking, not just once—but twice.
We took his case all the way to the Supreme Court—and won. The Court ruled that government officials should not get a free pass when they violate students’ priceless constitutional rights.
These are just three examples out of the thousands of requests for legal support we receive.
That’s why at Alliance Defending Freedom, we’re taking a stand to help ensure that religious liberty has a strong legal defense.
And, with God’s favor, we’re winning. We’ve prevailed in hundreds of cases in state and federal courts, winning 13 victories at the United States Supreme Court since 2011!
We continue to refine our process to give our Constitution and cherished freedoms the best defense. But this isn’t possible without feedback from people like you.
We need your input. Will you take a moment to participate in our National Survey on Religious Freedom in America?
Your responses will give us valuable information that will help us better defend your religious liberty both in the court of law and in the court of public opinion.
Please click here to complete the survey, then help us reach even more Americans by forwarding this email to your friends.
