—Posted by Thomas More Society (February 5, 2010 at 11:16 am)
In the wake of Chicago’s new bubble zone law restricting protest and counseling activities outside abortion clinics, the City Council of Rockford, Illinois is considering a similar ordinance. Tom Brejcha appeared before the City Council along with a number of Rockford pro-lifers on Monday, February 5 to testify against the proposed ordinance. It now appears the City Council will debate the measure in committee next week.
Rockford has been the center of abortion-related controversy for some time now. In fact, one of the the Thomas More Society’s ongoing cases is centered on Rockford’s abortion mill. Check out the most recent amended complaint in that case as well as news coverage of the bubble zone story below.
Related Links
—Posted by Thomas More Society (February 5, 2010 at 10:09 am)
Don’t miss this commentary by Brian Simboli, Ph.D. on the Notre Dame 88 situation.
Brian, who got his Ph.D. at Notre Dame, provides some stirring thought on why the ND 88 need continued support from pro-life advocates.
—Posted by Thomas More Society (February 3, 2010 at 12:55 pm)
Check out this interview with TMS President and Chief Counsel Tom Brejcha discussing the verdict in the trial of Scott Roeder for the murder of infamous late-term abortionist George Tiller:
—Posted by Thomas More Society (January 26, 2010 at 6:16 pm)
People of faith everywhere are outraged at recent events at St. James Catholic Church in New York City.
The story started when a group sought permission to put on a Christian music event on January 15, 2010, ostensibly to bring young people back to the parish.
What actually happened that night was a sacrilege. The group’s representative, a Roman Catholic, deceived parish staff about the concert that he intended to put on at the Church. Not only was the event not Christian, the group, “Less Artists More Condos,” took over the altar and sanctuary space and put on a hard rock concert, complete with copious amounts of alcohol.
Now, this group, which has deceived other organizations in the past, has now posted videos and pictures of this outrageous event online to brag about its offensive and disgusting abuse of St. James Church, one of the oldest in New York City.
Thomas More Society attorneys were asked to intervene to stop these videos from spreading, and they have issued demands to internet sites to remove these videos. Church officials have not yet decided what further civil or criminal actions should be taken, and TMS will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that, at the very least, these videos won’t provide any further notoriety or motivation for these monsters or others who would desecrate holy sites.
Case Documents
Related Links
—Posted by Thomas More Society (January 26, 2010 at 11:25 am)
Indiana attorney Tom Dixon, who represents the “Notre Dame 88,” just learned that Judge Jenny Pitts Manier has formally accused him of violations of Indiana lawyer disciplinary rules, because he argued that she should “recuse” or remove herself from the cases. Dixon argued that a reasonable person may view the judge as biased against the “ND 88,” due to the judge’s husband having financial ties to Notre Dame, where he is a noted emeritus professor and outspoken opponent of Catholic teaching on human sexuality.
After briefing and argument in the Trial Court, Judge Manier denied the initial request for recusal, but agreed with the ND 88 attorneys that the issue should be certified for immediate consideration by the Indiana Court of Appeals. After the appeal was underway but before it was decided, Manier reversed her earlier decision and recused herself.
Details to follow as we learn more…
—Posted by Thomas More Society (January 26, 2010 at 10:03 am)
Fr. Jenkins, president of Notre Dame who joined the Notre Dame delegation to the March for Life, held last Friday in Washington, D.C., came face to face with large banners urging him to “Free the ND88″ and many thousands of leaflets also calling out for his taking steps to end criminal prosecutions of the “ND88.”
Pro-Choice President at a Catholic University
These are 88 pro-lifers who peaceably bore witness to the sanctity of life last May, 2009, by entering upon Notre Dame’s famous campus just outside South Bend, Indiana, in a solemn, prayerful procession intended to counterbalance the anti-life message bound up with this Catholic university’s decision to invite pro-abortion president Obama to give the Commencement address to graduating students last May.
Notre Dame also saw fit to bestow an honorary doctor of laws degree on the president, whose Administration already had marked him as the most pro-abortion leader in our nation’s history. Indeed, the actual Commencement ceremony was utterly adulatory toward the president, without a word of dissent or opposition to his pro-abortion record, let alone to his pro-abortion agenda — an agenda that now includes a health care proposal that would negate the Hyde Amendment and usher in an era of tax-supported abortions, thereby assuring a vast expansion of abortion in the U.S., far from the touted net reduction in abortions that Mr. Obama had promised to work for as president during his run for office.
The statue of Our Lady, “Notre Dame,” who stands atop of the university’s famous Golden Dome and crowns its Main Building, might have wept real tears when the president was greeted with rousing applause during his nationally televised graduation speech when he advocated “stem cell research,” without distinguishing between embryonic stem cell research, which destroys innocent human lives but which his Administration now promotes, on one hand, and adult stem cell research, which pro-lifers support, which has proven to yield tangible medically successful results, and which does not harm or destroy any human lives.
Pro-Lifers Arrested for Peaceful, Prayerful Witness
It was mainly during the days leading up to the Commencement when those 88 pro-lifers, who were bearing a cross and/or praying the rosary and not causing any disturbance whatsoever, suddenly found themselves halted by campus security police and were then arrested and hauled off to jail in handcuffs.
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—Posted by Thomas More Society (January 18, 2010 at 9:10 pm)
Controversy arose last week over whether or not Scott Roeder, the man who allegedly killed late-term abortionist George Tiller in June of 2009, should be allowed to be tried for voluntary manslaughter instead of the original charge of 1st degree murder.
In the face of abortion-related legal issues, the media has turned to TMS Chief Counsel Tom Brejcha and Executive Director Peter Breen to shed some light on the difficult issues of law at stake.
Check out these two stories highlighting the opinion of TMS attorneys:
—Posted by Thomas More Society (January 18, 2010 at 1:16 pm)
LifeSiteNews.com is spearheading a new petition calling on University of Notre Dame president Fr. John Jenkins to drop the charges against the ND 88.
The ND 88 are pro-life people who walked on Notre Dame’s campus in protest of President Obama’s scandalous commencement speech there in May of 2009. Find out more about the ND 88 and get all the latest news on the case here.
As of this writing, over 4,000 people have signed the which has recently gained Human Life International as a con-sponsor. The Thomas More Society certainly hopes Fr. Jenkins will hear the outcry of all these faithful pro-life people. Join your voice to theirs by signing the petition today.
—Posted by Thomas More Society (January 12, 2010 at 11:49 am)
Judge Jenny Pitts Manier, the judge who was hearing the case against the “ND 88,” the 88 pro-lifers who were arrested while protesting President Obama’s scandalous appearance at the University of Notre Dame in May, 2009, recused herself and removed herself from the case due to a conflict of interest. You can read the whole story in the TMS press release on the story. Below you’ll find a list of media coverage of this breaking story. This post will be updated as more stories become available.
ND 88 Judge Recusal in the News
—Posted by Thomas More Society (January 11, 2010 at 10:47 pm)
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333, tc@tcpr.net
Pro-Life Defendants Had Argued That Judge ‘Reasonably’ Appeared To Be Biased
January 11, 2010 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—In the ongoing case involving 88 pro-life demonstrators arrested at the University of Notre Dame in the days leading up to (and in some cases during) President Barack Obama’s commencement speech and receipt of an honorary degree, the assigned trial judge has recused herself just days after defense attorneys filed an appeal from her earlier ruling, denying recusal.
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