Posted by Thomas More Society (June 23, 2010 at 11:25 pm)
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has cited the amicus (”friend of the court”) brief authored by Thomas More Society Special Counsel Paul Linton in its lengthy opinion on the appeal of capital defendant Adrian Estrada, who had been found guilty for murdering both 17-year old Stephanie Sanchez and her thirteen-week old unborn child. Linton filed the amicus brief on behalf of the Texas Alliance for Life and is cited on page 54-55 in footnote 40.
While Estrada’s lawyers won a reversal and remand for a new punishment hearing, his constitutional challenge to the Texas statute that makes it a capital offense to intentionally or knowingly murder an unborn child—a statute that was also drafted by special counsel Paul Linton—was roundly rejected. [Continue reading ...]
Posted by Thomas More Society (June 23, 2010 at 11:09 pm)
Last week, a judge denied a motion by the Thomas More Society to dismiss a case against a small homeschooling group in Indiana, the Fishers Adolescent Catholic Enrichment Society (FACES). While the State of Indiana refuses to let up on the small faith-based group, the Thomas More Society continues to vigorously defend the trial of the families involved.
“We remain confident that we will prevail in this hearing,” said Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of Thomas More Society. “Our clients did go out of their way to accommodate the claimed disability of the home-schooled student for whom the discrimination charge was brought. We believe that the evidence will show—overwhelmingly—that the student’s mother wasn’t just asking for a ‘reasonable accommodation’ for her daughter, but for her own dictated form of accommodation, which is far more than any law does or should require.” Brejcha also said that the retaliation claim is equally baseless as no group can survive, let alone function, when its members are free to flout and circumvent the decisions of its established leadership. [Continue reading ...]
Posted by Thomas More Society (June 18, 2010 at 3:06 pm)
Paul Benjamin Linton, special counsel to the Thomas More Society, has just had an article published in the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal enitled Long Road to Justice: The IL Supreme Court, the IL Attorney General, and the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995. In it, he explores the Illinois General Assembly’s 35 year struggle to enact an enforceable statute requiring the consent of or notice to the parents of a pregnant minor before she undergoes an abortion.
These efforts to secure an enforceable, effective parental notice law in Illinois have been repeatedly thwarted, despite polls that consistently show dominant majorities of citizens favoring parental notice (including even many abortion supporters) and the existence of parental involvement laws in all Midwestern states surrounding Illinois. In many cases, the statutes themselves were struck down as violative of the governing federal constitutional standards. In another instance, the Illinois Supreme Court failed—or refused—to adopt procedural rules for confidential, expedited “bypass” hearings and appeals, measures deemed necessary for parental involvement laws to satisfy federal constitutional requirements.
Linton explains through the most comprehensive history to date of the 1995 Parental Notice of Abortion Act how both the Illinois Supreme Court and the Illinois Attorneys General—past and present—have failed the people of the state by not taking the steps needed to implement and enforce an otherwise constitutional law, and one with overwhelming public support.
Most recently (see our post on columnist Dennis Byrne’s OpEd), while Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s attorneys defeated the ACLU’s latest attack on the parental notice law, in which the ACLU had charged that the law violated Illinois’ state constitution, her trial attorneys agreed with the ACLU that the law’s enforcement could be “stayed,” i.e., suspended, for as long as it took for the ACLU to appeal the ruling to higher courts. In effect, she won the lawsuit but then threw in the towel! Cook County Chancery Judge Daniel Riley, although dismissing the ACLU’s lawsuit as meritless, entered an “Agreed Order” suspending the law’s enforcement yet again. Thomas More Society, representing downstate county prosecutors, tried repeatedly to intervene in the case to mount a robust defense of the parental notice law and to oppose this latest “stay” of enforcement. But its efforts were rebuffed by Judge Riley when the Attorney General and ACLU objected. The Society has appealed those rulings and will seek to vacate the “stay” when the case reaches the Illinois Appellate Court.
Read the complete article below (Click “Fullscreen” for the best reading experience):
Posted by Thomas More Society (May 29, 2010 at 11:17 pm)
Chicago Tribune columnist Dennis Byrne has posted a great piece on his Barbershop blog about the decades long struggle to enforce the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act.
The law, which requires girls under 18 to notify at least one parent before procuring an abortion, passed with bi-partisan support in 1995 and has been under constant attack from the ACLU and the abortion lobby who have found every conceivable way of blocking the actual enforcement of the law.
Although the ACLU’s federal lawsuit, claiming the 1995 law violated the federal constitution was finally rejected last August, 2009, by the U.S. Court of Appeals at Chicago, the Illinois Medical Disciplinary agency (whose executive director has ties to Planned Parenthood) allowed a “grace period” for abortion providers to give them more time (after 14 years!) to get ready to comply with the law.
When a second grace period was voted down, the ACLU filed another lawsuit, this time in state court, claiming that the law violated the Illinois State Constitution. This claim, totally baseless, was assigned to Judge Daniel Riley who entered a restraining order (TRO) barring enforcement indefinitely. Although Judge Riley finally dismissed the suit as legally meritless late this past March, he continued his TRO in effect when the Attorney General’s offce—whose duty is to defend Illinois laws—advised him they would agree to continue the enforcement ban in effect indefinitely for the duration of the ACLU’s appeal!
Thomas More Society tried to intervene before Judge Riley for a third time on behalf of downstate county prosecutors, moving to set aside this outrageous ban on the enforcement of a legally valid, fully constitutional law. ACLU filed their appeal and Judge Riley ruled he had no jurisdiction to address the intervention motion. Now Thomas More Society lawyers have appealed the denials of intervention as well as Judge Riley’s refusal to hear their motion to overturn the “stay” so the law could go immediately into effect. Get more in Byrne’s excellent post linked below:
Posted by Thomas More Society (May 29, 2010 at 9:22 pm)
For Immediate Release
Chicago—Today, attorneys from the Thomas More Society filed an appeal in an effort to vacate the stay Judge Daniel Riley imposed on the implementation of the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act, arguing that there is no legal basis to further delay the law.
“The Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act has held up numerous times against attacks by the ACLU and other opponents, and we believe there is no legal reason to prevent implementation of this long-overdue and much-needed law in Illinois,” said Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive director and legal counsel. “It is time to enforce this law and put an end to secret abortions in Illinois.”
Earlier this spring, Judge Riley dismissed a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that challenged the constitutionality of the Act and imposed a stay of his decision until the ACLU’s appeal of that decision is complete—a process that could take years.
The Thomas More Society has argued that the continuation of the temporary restraining order via Judge Riley’s indefinite stay violates Illinois law and contradicts the will of the people, particularly after the law had been found constitutional and valid.
Posted by Thomas More Society (May 27, 2010 at 10:19 pm)
Friday, May 21, Judge Neal Cerne denied motions to dismiss three of the five counts in the zoning lawsuit against the City of Aurora, Illinois and Planned Parenthood. The suit involves the building of the “Abortion Fortress” of Aurora in 2007 when Planned Parenthood entered the city under a cloud of deception.
Planned Parenthood presented itself to the city as a general use medical facility under the name Gemini Office Development and told the city council point blank that they didn’t know what tenants would be occupying the building. They represented the project as a general use, for-profit medical building that might house dentists or family doctors. [Continue reading ...]
Posted by Thomas More Society (May 27, 2010 at 9:59 pm)
On May 4, U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett denied motions to dismiss the case of pro-lifers who were allegedly unjustly arrested and mistreated while participating in a “Face the Truth” display in Maryland.
In August of 2008, pro-life leader Jack Ames was leading a group of pro-lifers in a display of graphic abortion photos along a Maryland highway. After complaints from local citizens, state troopers told Ames he had to leave town, so he moved the display four miles away into a neighboring Bel Air, Maryland. [Continue reading ...]
Posted by Thomas More Society (May 4, 2010 at 9:59 pm)
Monica Miller, head of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society in southeastern Michigan and herself one of the “ND88” whom Notre Dame had arrested for protesting the Obama Commencement at Notre Dame almost a year ago, conducted another, similar protest last Saturday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the campus of the University of Michigan.
The occasion? It was the latest Commencement appearance by president Obama, this time at the University of Michigan’s 2010 Commencement.
Perhaps amazingly to some folks, these photos show that such protests can be conducted without arrests, jailing and prosecution of protesters—something that may come as a surprise to those guarding the gates at Notre Dame’s celebrated campus. [Continue reading ...]
Posted by Thomas More Society (April 27, 2010 at 9:41 am)
For Immediate Release
Chicago, Ill.,—In a major ruling—which ultimately could prove decisive for the defense—St. Joseph County, Ind., Superior Court Chief Judge Michael P. Scopelitis lifted a stay order that barred lead defense attorney Tom Dixon from pursuing discovery from Notre Dame officials. Dixon represents the 88 pro-lifers who peacefully assembled against the Catholic university’s decision to honor the vehemently pro-abortion President Barack Obama. By allowing discovery, Judge Scopelitis authorizes Dixon to pursue testimony under oath from said officials who were key decision makers in the arrest of the ND88. It will also allow him to subpoena documents that may shed light on the college’s apparent inconsistency regarding the arrest and prosecution of other groups and individuals participating in similar on-campus events.
“The lifting of this stay on discovery is very significant,” said Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Society. “A Notre Dame alumni group, Sycamore Trust, recently reported that homosexual rights and anti-ROTC protesters received, at worst, mere slaps on the wrist for leading unauthorized protests on campus. We believe that through discovery we may well uncover evidence that the Notre Dame police engaged in ‘viewpoint discrimination:’ that the university singled out the ND88 for especially harsh treatment.” [Continue reading ...]
Posted by Thomas More Society (April 26, 2010 at 9:00 am)
The lawsuit against Planned Parenthood for libeling Eric Scheidler and the Pro-Life Action League, which was turned against them by means of the Illinois Citizen Participation Act, has been appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, the highest court in the State.
You can read the whole saga of this important case here, and you can see the Petition for Leave to Appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court linked below.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has cited the amicus (”friend of the court”) brief authored by Thomas More Society Special Counsel Paul Linton in its lengthy opinion on the appeal of capital defendant Adrian Estrada, who had been found guilty for murdering both 17-year old Stephanie Sanchez and her thirteen-week old unborn child. Linton filed the amicus brief on behalf of the Texas Alliance for Life and is cited on page 54-55 in footnote 40.
Last week, a judge denied a motion by the Thomas More Society to dismiss a case against a small homeschooling group in Indiana, the Fishers Adolescent Catholic Enrichment Society (FACES). While the State of Indiana refuses to let up on the small faith-based group, the Thomas More Society continues to vigorously defend the 
Paul Benjamin Linton, special counsel to the Thomas More Society, has just had an article published in the 
Chicago Tribune columnist Dennis Byrne has posted a great piece on his 
Friday, May 21, Judge Neal Cerne denied motions to dismiss three of the five counts in the zoning lawsuit against the City of Aurora, Illinois and Planned Parenthood. The suit involves the building of the “Abortion Fortress” of Aurora in 2007 when Planned Parenthood entered the city under a cloud of deception.
On May 4, U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett denied motions to dismiss the case of pro-lifers who were allegedly unjustly arrested and mistreated while participating in a “
Monica Miller, head of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society in southeastern Michigan and herself one of the “
The lawsuit against Planned Parenthood for libeling Eric Scheidler and the Pro-Life Action League, which was turned against them by means of the Illinois Citizen Participation Act, has been appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, the highest court in the State.