Current Cases
A Highlight of Some of Our Current Cases
Salazar v. Buono
The case arose when a former National Park Service (NPS) employee sued for the removal of a seven-foot-tall cross erected in the Mojave Desert in 1934 as a war memorial to honor all fallen soldiers. Following attempts by Congress to designate the cross as a national memorial and to transfer the land to the VFW, the District Court and Ninth Circuit Court both ruled that the cross is unconstitutional and must be removed. The memorial is currently covered with a plywood box, awaiting a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Liberty Institute filed an amicus brief on behalf of the four million veterans in the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), America Legion, Military Order of the Purple Hearts, Veterans of Foreign Wars of California, and the American Ex-Prisoners of War, asking the court to save the memorial. The case, which is part of a larger trend to remove all religious imagery from the public square by groups like the ACLU, could impact thousands of other memorials nationwide. Visit www.donttearmedown.com for more information.
Hannah Giles' Legal Defense Fund
In the summer of 2009, 20-year-old college student Hannah Giles spent her summer working with James O'Keefe to expose ACORN corruption. Together, they released videos from six cities showing ACORN employees encouraging the duo, posing as a prostitute and pimp, to break laws including tax laws and underage prostitution. Since the release of the videos, ACORN and two of its former employees filed a $5 million lawsuit against Hannah, James, and Andrew Breitbart, who helped popularize the videos through his BigGovernment.com website. After the suit was dismissed, a third ACORN official, this one in Philadelphia, filed suit. This case is just starting in Federal Court in Philadelphia. Liberty Institute represents Hannah to protect the free speech of citizen journalists, and has established www.DefendHannah.com as her legal defense fund.
Shatkin, et al. v. University of Texas at Arlington
Two women were fired from their jobs at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) because they privately prayed after work for an absent co-worker. Represented by Liberty Institute, the women filed suit against UTA for religious discrimination after UTA denied all administrative appeals of such termination. The case is currently in litigation.
Morgan, et al. v. Plano I.S.D.
A 3rd grade boy was told by school officials that he could not include a religious message in his goodie bags that he was bringing to the "Winter Party" to share with his classmates. The student wanted to include the story of the candy cane along with candy cane pens in the goodie bags he and his classmates were encouraged to bring to the school party. However, school officials prohibited anything that was religious from being in the goodie bags, including the story of the candy cane. Liberty Institute filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Morgans, other students and parents suffering religious discrimination at the hands of the district. A federal judge issued a Temporary Restraining Order against Plano ISD to allow students to bring religious items to the "Winter Party." Currently, we are awaiting a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on whether they will accept this case. This ongoing case will impact the freedoms of millions of students nationwide.
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