Liberty Counsel

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Liberty Counsel is a non-profit public interest law firm and ministry that provides free legal assistance in defense of "Christian religious liberty, the sanctity of human life, and the traditional family."[1] Liberty Counsel is headed by attorney Mathew D. Staver, who founded the legal ministry with his wife, Anita, in 1989 and currently serves as its Chairman. Before entering the law, Mat Staver was a pastor of Seventh Day Adventist Churches. Anita L. Staver, his wife, serves as President of Liberty Counsel. A close partnership exists between Liberty University and Liberty Counsel. Liberty University was founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell. Mathew D. Staver serves as the law school's Dean.[1] In 2004 Liberty Counsel became affiliated with Liberty University/Falwell Ministries and Liberty Counsel opened an office at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Liberty Counsel couches its practice as a First Amendment practice, focused on religious liberties, freedom of speech, church/state issues in public schools and in the public square. However, the LC also devotes its time to anti-abortion matters and fighting against same sex marriage / civil unions and against adoption by homosexuals.

Liberty Counsel also provides information, research, and expertise to affect legislation and public policy at the local, state, and national level. In particular, Liberty Counsel operates the Liberty Center for Law and Policy, which monitors and drafts proposed legislation.[2]

Liberty Counsel has established its goals revolving around influencing policy and providing courts with the legal rationale to develop precedent favorable to its mission. Liberty Counsel's central goal is to educate both its membership and public officials about the role of religion in public life.[3]

Contents

[edit] Notable cases

  • McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky[4] defending a Ten Commandments public monument. Liberty Counsel lost this case that challenged the legal test regarding religious displays used by the courts since the 1970s. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia delivered a stinging dissent that challenged prevailing Supreme Court jurisprudence regarding the Establishment Clause of the constitution. [5]
  • Wigg v. Sioux Falls School District 49-6[6] - the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that after school Bible study classes on campus after school hours does not violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, since it constitutes private free-speech.[7]
  • Madsen v. Women's Health Ctr.[8] - the United States Supreme Court defined the limits of injunctive relief available to abortion clinics against pickets and demonstrators. The Court established the Madsen Test for injunctive relief, which is permissible only upon showing that 1) the defendant has violated or imminently will violate some provision of law, 2) there is a discerable danger of recurrent violations, and 3) a following speech restrictive injunction may not burden speech more than necessary to serve a significant government interest.[9]

[edit] Writings

[edit] Criticisms

Liberty Counsel has been criticized for intolerant and excessive tactics in pursuit of their causes[10], including threatening legal action against a public library for awarding certificates involving Harry Potter books, because "the certificate of witchcraft endorsed a particular religion".[11]

In December 2005, Liberty Counsel issued a press release accusing an elementary school in Dodgeville, Wisconsin of changing the lyrics of Christmas songs to make them more "secular" and threatened to sue the school district "if the district does not immediately remedy the situation."[12] In fact, the school was putting on the play "The Little Tree’s Christmas Gift," written by Dwight Elrich, a former church choir director.[13] The Dodgeville school district attempted to seek a retraction and apology from Liberty Counsel, as well as reimbursement of $20,000 spent in personnel, security and attorney fees to fight the accusation. Liberty Counsel's Staver refused, asserting, "There is nothing to apologize for or retract."[14]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Falwell Saw Law School as Tool to Alter Society". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-liberty_finalmay21,1,4880047.story?track=rss&page=2&ctrack=1&cset=true. Retrieved 2007-05-21. 
  2. ^ Liberty Counsel, Take Back America, 2007
  3. ^ Hacker, Hans J. The Culture of Conservative Christian Litigation. 2005. Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
  4. ^ 545 U.S. 844 (2005).
  5. ^ "Liberty Counsel Files Brief With The United States Supreme Court In Kentucky Ten Commandments Case.". Liberty Counsel. http://www.lc.org/pressrelease/2004/nr120804.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-07. 
  6. ^ 382 F.3d 807 (8th Cir. 2004).
  7. ^ "Federal Appeals Court Rules That Public School Teacher May Participate In A Christian After-School Good News Club For Elementary Students". Liberty Counsel. http://www.lc.org/pressrelease/2004/nr090304.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-07. 
  8. ^ 512 U.S. 753 (1994).
  9. ^ Mathew D. Staver, Injunctive Relief and the Madsen Test, 14 ST. LOUIS U. PUB. L. REV. 465, 478 (1995).
  10. ^ "Florida Churches at the Front Lines of Gay Marriage Battle". Edgeboston.com. http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=82099. Retrieved 2008-10-22. 
  11. ^ "Jacksonville Library Drops Harry Potter Certificates". American Library Assoc.. http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2000/september2000/jacksonville.cfm. Retrieved 2008-10-22. 
  12. ^ School Changes "Silent Night" to "Cold in the Night" and Secularizes the Lyrics, Liberty Counsel, Dec. 7, 2005.
  13. ^ "Have a Holly, Jolly Holiday", The Washington Post, Dec. 20, 2005.
  14. ^ "Haven't heard last on 'Silent Night'; Wis. school board is seeking redress from Christian legal group," Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 14, 2006.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Counsel"