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Arthur,
Liberty Counsel has led the charge defending life, religious liberty, and the natural family in courts across our nation and before the U.S. Supreme Court. Since 2020, we have won all seven of the cases we argued or briefed before the High Court, including not one but TWO extremely rare, unanimous 9-0 wins. Each of these cases were landmark wins.
Harvest Rock Church and Harvest Rock International Ministries v. Gavin Newsom, December 2020 — 5-4 win!
During COVID, CA Gov. Gavin Newsom shredded the U.S. constitutional right to free exercise of religion. Newsom forbade pastors from opening their churches and serving their congregants, banned worship and singing — even declaring that people could not worship in their own homes. We dragged Newsom to the U.S. Supreme Court and won in December 2020.
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Harvest Rock Church and Harvest Rock International Ministries v. Gavin Newsom, February 2021 — 6-3 win!
Although the Supreme Court ruled in our favor just three months before, the lower courts refused to obey the High Court’s decision and ruled against Harvest Rock once again. We brought the case back before the Supreme Court to free Californians to worship as their faith directed. After 324 days of illegal church bans, Californians were FREE TO WORSHIP AGAIN!
During the course of this case, Liberty Counsel advised over 2,200 pastors and churches in 44 states whose governors and/or local leaders had also tried to steal their religious liberty. The Harvest Rock ruling set a precedent that NO government could ever again prevent people from worshipping as they pleased and as their faith required.
“But if Hollywood may host a studio audience or film a singing competition while not a single soul may enter California’s churches, synagogues, and mosques, something has gone seriously awry,” Justice Gorsuch wrote.
Shurtleff v. Boston, May 2, 2022 — 9-0 win! The City of Boston refused to allow Hal Shurtleff and Camp Constitution to fly a Christian flag in the city’s public forum “open to all applicants” merely because the flag was described as “Christian” ON THE APPLICATION FORM.
Liberty Counsel took Boston to the High Court, which ruled 9-0 in our favor on May 2, 2022, declaring that a city may not censor Christian viewpoints. This truly landmark decision rejected the 1971 “Lemon Test.” It is now a new day for religious expression, meetings, symbols, displays, and performances.
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Dobbs v. Jackson, June 2022 — 5-4 win! In 2018, Mississippi passed a law that banned abortion after 15 weeks. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Mississippi’s sole abortion clinic, sued to continue its child-killing practice.
Liberty Counsel submitted a powerful amicus brief on behalf of 70,000 African American and Hispanic churches detailing the racist and eugenic origins and continuing nature of the abortion industry. The High Court opinion specifically cited our brief in overturning the murderous Roe v. Wade opinion, which had stolen an estimated 65 million preborn lives.
When the High Court opinion was released, we were notified by federal law enforcement that Liberty Counsel was specifically named as a target on pro-abortion terrorist sites. Within days, our offices and servers were under attack. But God’s grace (and a lot of physical and computer security), we were protected to continue fighting for life state by state.
Kennedy v. Bremerton, June 2022 — 6-3 win! The Bremerton, WA, school district unlawfully fired Coach Kennedy for silently praying on the school football field before each game. Liberty Counsel submitted a brief based on our winning arguments in Shurtleff. On June 27, 2022, the High Court once again ruled for religious liberty, citing Liberty Counsel’s Shurtleff win, voting 6-3 in favor of Coach Kennedy and religious liberty.
Groff v. DeJoy, June 2023 — 9-0 win! Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act requires employers to provide religious accommodation to employees. That included Gerald E. Groff, a U.S. postal carrier whose religious beliefs prevented him from working on Sundays. The USPS granted Groff’s religious accommodations for years. But when Amazon contracted the post office to begin delivering packages on Sundays, Groff’s religious accommodation was revoked, and Groff sued to win back his rights. Liberty Counsel submitted an amicus brief defending Title VII rights. On June 27, the Court ruled in favor of Groff and overturned the 1977 case of Trans World Airlines v. Hardison.
Defend Religious Liberty!
303 Creative v. Elenis, June 2023 — 6-3 win! In 2008, Colorado passed a law that forced people to perform work that violated the tenets of their faith. Lorie Smith, a Christian website designer refused to use the creative talents God gave her to design websites that violated God’s Word. Liberty Counsel submitted an amicus brief on the case, defending the right to religious freedom. On June 30, the Court ruled that the government cannot compel individual speech.
Each of these important cases will reverberate throughout history, restoring the religious freedom upon which our country was founded.
But our work defending the right to life, religious freedom, and the natural family is far from over. We have many more cases working their way through the courts and pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Those cases include, but are far from limited to, defending freedom of the press from Planned Parenthood (Sandra Merritt), overturning the Obergefell same sex “marriage” case (Davis), overturning 87 state and local bans on Christian counseling, fighting for life in the states, and more.
We fight every day to preserve life and liberty. But we cannot do this important work alone. These cases take years and often millions of dollars to win. We never charge our clients because few could afford to defend themselves. Our clients rely on YOU, the faithful Liberty Counsel supporter.
Speaking of supporters, a generous benefactor has established a brand-new Challenge Grant to support our groundbreaking legal work. Every donation made today will be DOUBLED in impact by the “Win More in 2024” Challenge Grant. Be a part of the victory with your generous gift today!
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Thank you for loving life and liberty as much as we do!
Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel
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