Thomas More Society Cases

Since its founding in 1997, the Thomas More Society has handled a wide variety of cases, ranging from defending the constitutional rights of pro-life activists to upholding the sanctity of life and the ensuring a place for religion in the public square.

Many of these cases are briefly summarized below, with more information available on separate pages for cases of particular significance or interest.

NOW v. Scheidler

Defendants were Joseph Scheidler and his Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League, St. Louis pro-lifers, and pro-life heroine Joan Andrews who had been jailed in Florida for pulling the plug on a suction machine. They were brought up on charges of racketeering from which they were finally cleared after 21 years.

Read more about NOW v. Scheidler.

Reviving Illinois' Parental Notice Law

Over a decade ago, Illinois legislators had approved a parental notification law for minor girls, and the bill was signed into law back then by Governor Jim Edgar.

It took 15 years to get the law enforced, and even then it was only enforced for four hours. The Thomas More Society is currently working to get this vital law enforced.

Read more about the protracted fight for Parental Notice in Illinois.

Aurora, IL: Scheidler v. Trombley libel case

In the early stages of the Aurora, IL Planned Parenthood controversy, Planned Parenthood Illinois CEO Steve Trombley claimed Fox Valley pro-lifers had a "well documented history of violence" in writing to local political officials and in several local newspapers. Local pro-lifers took him to court and ended up taking on a much bigger case than anyone could have guessed.

Read more about Scheidler v. Trombley.

Aurora, IL: Frachey v. Planned Parenthood zoning case

Planned Parenthood Aurora came into town under a false name and built their facility with a host of zoning problems—the biggest one being that the zoning of the property specifically forbids Planned Parenthood's type of business from opeating there. Among other reliefs, the case seeks for Planned Parenthood Aurora to be demolished.

Read more about Frachey v. Planned Parenthood.

Aurora, IL: FVFAPP v. City of Aurora First Amendment case

As pro-lifers under the ad hoc name of Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood (FVFAPP) began to fight the opening of a new abortuary in Aurora in the summer of 2007, a distinct pattern emerged of the city of Aurora violating pro-lifers' First Amendment rights. The city eventually agreed to settle with pro-lifers in a detailed agreement that ensures their First Amendment rights will be protected.

Read more about FVFAPP v. City of Aurora.

Opposing the Chicago "Bubble Zone"

In the fall of 2009, Planned Parenthood pushed a "bubble zone" ordinance through the Chicago city council, effectively muzzling sidewalk counselors from offering real choices to women facing untimely pregnancy. The Thomas More Society leapt into action to fight this insidious ordinance.

Read more about the Chicago "Bubble Zone" case.

The Notre Dame 88

When President Barack Obama gave the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame in May, 2009, Catholics across the country were in an uproar. Some even came to Notre Dame to protest the university's choice to honor the most pro-abortion president in the nation's history. Eighty-eight of those people were arrested for praying on Notre Dame's propety after being asked to leave. The Thomas More Society came to their defense, asking university president John Jenkins to drop the charges.

Read more about the Notre Dame 88

U.S. v. John Arena and Marie Wentworth

Two pro-life activists had been convicted of federal extortion in federal district court in Syracuse, New York, based on the same flawed, overbroad legal theory that the Supreme Court had rejected in the NOW v. Scheidler litigation. The Thomas More Society retained special counsel to file papers there and we convinced the judge that both federal convictions had to be vacated.

National Abortion Federation (NAF) v. Operation Rescue

In 1989, a class action suit was brought by NAF on behalf of all abortion providers in the State of California against Operation Rescue, Randall Terry, and other pro-life activists.

A statewide injunction decree was issued against pro-life demonstrations at California abortuaries. TMS special counsel, Colette Wilson (now with U.S. Justice Foundation in San Diego), pressed the ACLU of Southern California to drop the case. California ACLU dropped the case and its statewide injunction against pro-lifers was dissolved.

Choose Life, Illinois, Inc. v. Jesse White License Plates case

The Thomas More Society filed this suit against Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White charging that Illinois' refusal to approve a "Choose Life" specialty license plate—while approving all variety of other specialty plate constituted "viewpoint bias" in violation of the pro-lifers' First Amendment rights.

Over 25,000 Illinois citizens had signed petitions for the "choose life" plate and, after numerous hearings up and down the chain of appeals, the case was denied a hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court and Illinois still has no "Choose Life" license plates.

Read more about the "Choose Life" license plates case.

An Illinois Appeal: 'Dred Scott in a Petri Dish'

In a case of surpassing public interest that recalls the historic Dred Scott decision that some human beings may be classified as mere 'property,' an Illinois personal injury lawyer filed a lawsuit against an in vitro fertilization clinic on behalf of a couple whose embryo had been mislaid or lost.

The lawyer's complaint alleged negligence causing property damage, but he also added a claim under the Illinois Wrongful Death statute which brought into question whether the embryo was property, or a human being with rights the state must protect.

Read more about this critical case on the personhood of embryos.

State of Minnesota v. Otterstad and Rudnick

In 2007, the Thomas More Society won a unanimous decision by the Minnesota Supreme Court reversing the criminal nuisance convictions of protesters who had displayed pro-life signs on an overpass in a Twin Cities suburb, just weeks before the 2004 national election.

Stiff fines and even prison sentences had been imposed, and the Minnesota Appellate Court had affirmed this result—odious to the First Amendment. The Society went the extra mile, got a rare hearing before the state's highest court, and won a strong precedent for free speech.

Des Plaines, IL—Police Officer Disciplined for Harassing Pro-Lifers

When a "bad cop" harassed and even assaulted and battered sidewalk counselors outside an abortion provider in this Chicago suburb, we pressed a complaint and triggered a disciplinary proceeding, working with the city's counsel and police administrators, winning the perpetrator's removal from the police force. In several other cases where pro-lifers have been attacked, we have intervened and made sure that prosecutors take strong action as the law provides.

Dade County, FL—Baby's Corpse Hidden from Police on a Hot Roof

The Thomas More Society is pursuing a wrongful death claim against a Florida abortionist whose "clinic" delivered a baby who, although "born alive," was then brutally killed.

Hialeah, Florida police were contacted about the death and secured a search warrant and demanded entry, only to find no evidence of crime as the baby's remains were placed on the roof and left there for several days.

Read the full story on this baby's tragic murder.

Wisconsin—Defending a Pharmacist's Right of Conscience

The Society filed a substantial appellate brief on behalf of a courageous, faith-filled Wisconsin pharmacist, Neil Noesen, who was fined $20,000 and had his license suspended after he refused to fill a prescription for an abortifacient.

The ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and Wisconsin NARAL all filed briefs against Noesen. The Society awaits the court's ruling. TMS has also advised conscientious pro-life nurses in San Jose, California, Waukesha, Wisconsin, and elsewhere, and we took Orange County nurse Karen Kelly's case up to the Supreme Court.

Marsh v. City of South Bend and County of St. Joseph, Indiana

Special Counsel Dave Wemhoff filed a suit against this city and county whose police insisted on threatening pro-lifers with criminal contempt proceedings for violating a "bubble zone" provision in an injunction decree handed down in 1989 over civil disobedience committed during the era of "mass rescues."

Such decrees are remedial and enforceable only against those whose acts need remedying and others "in active concert or participation with" them. But the judge disagreed and the clients balked at appealing. Now a new client has retained the Society to prepare and file a federal civil rights suit to cure this injustice.

U.S. v. [name omitted]

The Thomas More Society is negotiating a very unusual 'pre-indictment diversion' for a Detroit woman whose ardent Christian faith impelled her to phone a local abortion provider and "warn" them of eternal consequences if they didn't desist from killing infants.

Though conceding the woman posed no threat to society, the U.S. Department of Justice's reproductive rights section in Washington, D.C. decided it "had to prosecute her" for violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for "threatening" an abortion provider.

The Thomas More Society strongly advises against any pro-lifers phoning abortion providers under any circumstances.

U.S. v. Fr. Norman Weslin

The Thomas More Soceity was privileged to provide support for the defense of Fr. Norman Weslin, who entered Dr. Carhart's notorious abortion facility in Omaha to kneel and pray there until he was arrested and prosecuted for a federal FACE violation—a felony. The Society was gearing up for appeal when news arrived that jurors had acquitted Fr. Weslin!

Testimony that workers and patients could walk around him while he prayed convinced the Omaha jurors that nobody's access to abortion services was actually "interfered with" so as to warrant a felony conviction.

Skokie, IL—Protest of The Da Vinci Code Suppressed

In 2006, the Village of Skokie, Illinois dispatched a platoon of squad cars to remove picketers from the Catholic group The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property protesting a showing of the movie The Da Vinci Code.

The Thomas More Society promptly wrote the Village mayor, legal counsel, and police chief to protest this blatant suppression of First Amendment rights. The next day brought news that henceforward the Village would protect the protesters' rights.

Albequerque, NM—Free Speech on Church Parking Lots case

Based on the Thomas More Society helping a pro-life protester charged with trespass in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Society was alerted to a grave problem that afflicts the Catholic Church nationwide and many other churches as well.

The Society discovered that the legal office of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a formal opinion that pastors' allowing pro-lifers to disseminate literature on church parking lots would jeopardize the Church's tax exempt status.

TMS is preparing a "white paper" refuting the USCCB legal office's opinion which we intend to disseminate among the Bishops and, in cooperation with Priests for Life, as widely as possible.

40 Days for Life National Legal Consultant

David Bereit, national coordinator of the 40 Days for Life Campaign, asked if the Thomas More Society would agree to handle calls from participants around the country worried over legal issues. So far the Society has had calls from District of Columbia, Connecticut, Arizona, North Dakota, and Arizona among others.

Religious Expression in the Public Square

In (year) the City of Chicago blocked showing of scenes from the movie The Nativity Story at The Christkindlmarkt, regularly held in December on Daley Plaza, Chicago's "Public Square." The Thomas More Society stepped in, prepared a lawsuit, and won the right to mount a private, noncommercial showing of those movie scenes.

Then the Society sought and won a city permit to mount a 19-foot wooden cross on the Plaza at Easter time, and held an interdenominational sunrise service on Easter Sunday morning.

Private religious expression in public venues is constitutionally protected, and to the extent the Thomas More Society has resources to do so, the Society is prepared to aid and counsel any private citizens who want to express their religious faith in their local public squares all over the United States.

Granite City, Illinois v. Angela and Daniel Michael

The Thomas More Society has come to the aid of Angela and Daniel Michaels, who conduct "Small Victories" ministry outside the late term abortion provider Hope Clinic in Granite City. TMS has negotiated favorable settlements in two lawsuits brought against the Michaels by Hope's lawyer, and won temporary and permanent injunctions for them against city efforts to suppress their pro-life protests.

The Society is also helping to defend Granite City's federal appeal of another injunction and damage award in a similar case against a Christian leafletter, and another case is set for jury trial. TMS is also defending a spurious criminal case against Mrs. Michael, a nurse, who parks an ultrasound van near Hope and saves many lives.

Planned Parenthood v. American Coalition of Life Activists

The Thomas More Society tried to aid the Thomas More Law Center, Ann Arbor, founded by multi-millionaire Tom Monaghan several years after our inception, with which the Thomas More Society, Chicago has no affiliation.

The Society hired Prof. Ed Gaffney of Valparaiso Law School to recruit amici and to submit an amicus curiae brief supporting Ann Arbor's petition for U.S. Supreme Court review of lower court decisions in Oregon and California, affirming huge damage awards against pro-lifers, again on account of "threats" under an unduly broad definition of that term. Regrettably, the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal.

People v. Bill Klee, Columbus, Ohio

A pro-life veteran, octogenarian Bill Klee, stepped onto clinic property in Columbus to pass out leaflets, and when a clinic supporter tried to wrest them from his grasp, he pulled back, and she filed an assault and battery charge. The Thomas More Society retained special counsel Tom Condit of Cincinnati to defend Bill, who was given only a slap on the wrist for trespass. Now Bill does his sidewalk counseling at a different Columbus abortion facility.

Vote Life v. Oak Forest and Palatine, Illinois

A citizen group, "Vote Life America," proposed to picket a state legislator's office in Oak Forest and at a busy intersection in Palatine, Illinois. Both of these suburbs insisted that "parade permits" were necessary. So the Thomas More Society filed lawsuits and won injunctions against both municipalities and the protests proceeded peaceably as planned.

People v. Mieding et al

The Thomas More Society has defended numerous misdemeanor prosecutions against those who stand up and protest to save others' lives. Often these defendants lack resources or otherwise cannot get the legal defense to which they're entitled.

The Thomas More Society believes that this service we render in the so-called "gatehouses of justice" is as vital to the pro-life cause as the filing of any appellate court brief.

Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England

The Thomas More Society filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court during 2005 in support of New Hampshire's parental notice law, which lower federal courts had struck down as "unconstitutional."

In January, 2007, the Court handed down a unanimous per curiam decision that turned on the very points we had argued in our amicus brief, heralding a new era when abortion providers are no longer treated as immune from state regulatory measures.

Defending and Advising Pregnancy Help Centers

The Thomas More Society has a long history of advising and defending pregnancy centers in the Greater Chicago area and across the country, including a recent county grand jury investigation that proved utterly baseless and maliciously inspired.

The Society has been poised and prepared to meet and defeat any claim that these life-saving ventures qualify as "fake clinics" that deceive women, as the opposition says.

Defending the Defenders of Terri Schiavo

The Thomas More Society traveled to Clearwater, Florida, twice to defend out of state defendants who were prosecuted for trying to bring food and water to the dying Terri Schiavo. The Society was also asked to consult with the Schindlers, Terri's family, in St. Petersburg about issues arising in the wake of Terri's death and publication of books by both the Schindler family and Michael Schiavo.

Libel Cases to Protect Pro-Lifers' Good Names

In addition to the 2007 Aurora filing against Planned Parenthood/Chicago's CEO, the Thomas More Society has filed several other libel cases whenever abortion partisans have crossed the line and made recklessly and maliciously false statements about pro-lifers. In one case, the Society called to account the prestigious Oxford University Press for publishing barefaced lies about Joseph Scheidler. The case settled on terms that remain confidential.

The Abortion Breast Cancer Coalition

The Thomas More Society consulted with Karen Malec, head of the ABC Coalition, and her board members about their having been awarded the "Golden Boob" award by a pro-abortion group that falsely accused them of misstatements in urging a scientifically validated link between abortion and breast cancer. The Thomas More Society is also pursuing data for ABC from the National Cancer Institute.

Helpers of God's Precious Infants

The Thomas More Society negotiated parade permits and dealt with police officials on behalf of this group when bishops led prayer processions from Chicago area churches to nearby abortion clinics to lead prayer.

Defending Texas' Prenatal Protection Act for Texas Alliance for Life, Inc.

The Thomas More Society filed two amicus curiae briefs in a pair of appeals before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for the Texas Alliance for Life Trust Fund, the principal lobbying organization that supported the 2003 enactment of that state's Prenatal Protection Act.

The Act extended the protection of civil and criminal law to unborn children at every stage of gestation. Two Texas defendants found guilty of capital murder for killing unborn children attacked the statute on constitutional grounds, claiming it was inconsistent with Roe v. Wade. The Society's briefs, authored by special counsel Paul Linton, made short shrift of those claims.

Fighting Euthanasia Law in Oregon

The Thomas More Society filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Congress' effort to outlaw Oregon's state law authorizing "mercy killing" or euthanasia on the basis that it was inconsistent with federal laws banning narcotics.

Regrettably, in Gonzales v. State of Oregon, the Justices ruled that Congressional intent was insufficiently clear to support the Justice Department contention that state laws authorizing the use of drugs to kill patients must be struck down.

Pregnancy Discrimination Cases

The Thomas More Society has advised and even filed suit for several women who have made credible, substantial claims that they have lost employment or job perquisites by virtue of their having become pregnant.

Child Custody Cases

Priests for Life asked us to intervene on behalf of a mother in Brandon, Florida, whose infant was the target of a custody claim by the same father who had urged the mother to abort that child. In another case, a Cook County mother was threatened with loss of custody on account of her allegedly excessive insistence on raising the child according to the dictates of her religion.

Defending Pro-Life Signs & Monuments

In Homewood, Illinois, the Knights of Columbus wanted to put up a monument in front of their Catholic church to memorialize the unborn victims of abortion. The city said that the monument could be placed by a side door, where it could barely be seen, but not on Main Street in front of the church.

The Knights asked the Thomas More Society to intervene. The Society told the city lawyer that a commercial sign ordinance could not constitutionally be applied to a religious monument on church property. The monument now stands on Main Street.

Guardianship, Power of Attorney, and Other End of Life Cases

The Thomas More Society has been called on often to advise and aid family members who believe that their loved ones are imperiled by caregivers bent on doing away with them. Guardians, power holders, court-appointed guardians ad litem and judges often hold widely varying views on end of life issues and those views often slant their fact-reporting and fact-finding.

The Society has intervened when possible, but this isn't always easy. A horrible case in Springfield, Illinois, involves an unmarried daughter who took care of her mom into her adult years only to have her power of attorney negated and guardianship given to her out of state siblings who then had the mother transferred out of state and had the faithful daughter convicted of criminal contempt, sentenced to 14 days in the county jail, and stripped of her home and assets for having put her mom's social security checks in a joint bank account, thereby "commingling funds." Some legal reforms are in order, and the Society will be advocating for them in light of these hard cases.

The State Constitutional Law Project

We are underwriting a systematic, comprehensive and in-depth study by our special counsel Paul Linton of the constitutional law relating to abortion rights in all 50 states.