Liberty Counsel

EDUCATION: (See Schedule O for description.)EDUCATION:LC advances its educational mission through publications, radio, television, the internet and other media, public speaking, conferences, internships, and other programs. Events: Organized The Awakening 2015: Rebuilding the Wall conference with over 40 renowned speakers, including Franklin Graham, Governor Mike Huckabee, Senator Rick Santorum, James Robison, and more. Through LC's Pastors and Patriots outreach, we conducted scores of Who Will Stand? rallies in churches and pastor mobilization meetings in 2014 to encourage people to engage in responsible biblical citizenship. LC sent over 150,000 churches a DVD called Silence is NOT an Option, in which Mat Staver informs pastors about how they can be involved in local, state, and national issues in addition to vetting political candidates without fearing the IRS. Promoted the annual Day of Purity, an event that has involved 37 nations and nearly 1,000 schools supporting sexual purity. The video encourages young people to look past casual sex to lifetime intimacy. Hosted a training and educational tour of Israel as part of our Liberty Ambassador Counsel program, with the goal of strengthening participants' Christian faith and equipping them to be goodwill ambassadors for Israel. Participants also met with high-ranking Israeli political, military, academic, business, and religious leaders, including members of the Knesset (Israel legislature). Organized the first pilot tour of Covenant Journey for college students in which, for only $500, they participate in a life-changing experience in Israel designed to strengthen their Christian faith and equip them to be goodwill ambassadors for Israel. Cosponsored the fourteenth annual Israel Solidarity Event at the Israeli Embassy, celebrating Christian support of Israel and participating in the historic announcing of Covenant Journey that will take thousands of college students to Israel. Hosted law student and college interns in Washington, D.C. as part of a 10-week program to train a new generation of Christian legal advocates through internship, externship, and constitutional litigation clinic programs. Participated in the seventh annual TeenPact Judicial Program at Liberty University School of Law, a week-long program that instructs motivated teenagers in the rule of law and the importance of a Christian worldview. Cosponsored the annual Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., with thousands of Christian activists in attendance. Conducted many conferences to educate teachers and public school administrators on how to integrate Christian values and history into their curricula and informed them of students' rights to religious liberty. Hosted and addressed many pastors' conferences to educate and mobilize pastors to speak on biblical values. Inspired and participated in national prayer intercession through collaborating with our extensive group of friends and supporters of Liberty Prayer Network, led by International Director Maureen Bravo. Christians in Defense of Israel and the Liberty Ambassador Counsel connect hundreds of thousands of Americans with the nation of Israel, including tours of biblical sites, special briefings by leading Israeli leaders, and teleconferences with Israeli officials. Christians in Defense of Israel became a ministry of LC, making our combined Christian pro-Israel outreach one of the largest in America with about 250,000 supporters.Publications: Distributed over 1,122,000 pieces of printed materials. Provided free copies of many materials on LC websites through which countless downloads were completed. Published and mailed bi-weekly updates to more than 55,000 active subscribers. Sent materials to more than 445,000 individuals and organizations through periodic email delivery. Sent more than 142 million educational emails. LC distributed over 30,000 copies of Silence Is Not An Option, a DVD message informing pastors and church leaders what they can do regarding biblical and moral issues. LC also distributed many tens of thousands of several booklets, pamphlets, flyers, bumper stickers, and yard signs to concerned Americans in every state of the union. New Revolution Publishers produces books and educational materials on American history, the Founding Fathers, first principles, and Christian citizen activism. Co-drafted the Marriage Pledge and led a broad coalition of Evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Jewish leaders and individuals to pledge to defend marriage. Radio, Television and Other Media & Recognition: LC attorneys responded to 295 media inquiries for interviews, and its reach in national and international news stories is growing. LC attorneys wrote commentaries that were published in various online periodicals. LC sends Liberty Alert email updates and news releases to 29,753 subscribers several times per week. LC's 15-minute weekday program, Faith & Freedom, and 60-second weekday radio program, Freedom's Call, are broadcast on more than 500 radio stations each weekday. In addition, Llamada de Libertad, the only Hispanic conservative public-policy radio show in the United States, is heard in 10 of the largest Hispanic-populated cities. A weekly, 30-minute version of Faith & Freedom is aired on Kaliki, an on-demand, audio news and information platform. LC radio programs are placed online for rebroadcast by interested stations at no cost to the media. We are also educating the public using new media, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The Freedom Federation Social 2.0 Internet platform supports events, blogging, and social networking. The FF Mobile smart phone application, with GPS capability, helps the user locate and create events. LifeUnited.org is a project of LC, bringing together other pro-life organizations to create a comprehensive pro-life website with educational resources. The annual Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign has grown in success each year. In addition to education and litigation activities, it involves partnering with churches to educate the public regarding legally celebrating the religious aspects of Christmas. Designed a newspaper advertisement for use by churches and fielded the resulting telephone inquiries. Partnered with the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference-CONELA, the largest Hispanic organization in the country comprised of 40,118 evangelical Hispanic churches and about 500,000 Hispanic churches in Latin America and Spain. Mat Staver serves as the Vice President of the NHCLC-CONELA Board of Directors and as Chief Legal Counsel.Internship and Training Programs: In 2011, LC's Founder and President met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and launched the Liberty Ambassador Counsel (LAC), taking people to Israel with the goal of strengthening their Christian faith and equipping them to be goodwill ambassadors for Israel. LAC educates and connects thousands of Americans with Israel. LAC completed two dynamic trips with visits to Biblical sites and special briefings by leading Israeli political, military, and academic leaders. A former advisor to Prime Minister Netanyahu works in Israel to develop LC's Israel-related programs, including LAC and Covenant Journey, a program to take college student leaders to the Holy Land. New Revolution Institute provides training to educate and mobilize citizen activists in order to advance our nation's core values and celebrate its first principles. In 2015, NRI launched two online training modules addressing the Christian worldview, the purpose and role of government, and citizen activism. LC continued its successful legal training program at a litigation and training office in Lynchburg, Virginia. The organization continued its year-round Legal Internship/Clerkship Program to train law students. During the past fiscal year LC trained law clerks and law student interns, which are either paid or participate for course credit. Legal interns and law clerks have the opportunity to assist with litigated cases. LC hosted law student interns at the U.S. Supreme Court, as part of a ten-week summer internship and constitutional litigation program, which includes components for law students and undergraduate students. Some students intern in the organization's Washington, D.C., office where they learn about national and state legislative and policy matters. LC also provides internships for college students interested in the intersection of law and media. LC's Pastors and Patriots outreach conducted scores of Who Will Stand? rallies in churches and pastor mobilization meetings in 2014 to encourage people to engage in responsible biblical citizenship. LC sent over 150,000 churches a DVD called Silence is NOT an Option, in which Mat Staver informs pastors about how they can be involved in local, state, and national issues.

LITIGATION: (See Schedule O for description.)LITIGATION:LC staff includes attorneys who assist individuals, organizations, and churches on a pro bono basis with legal issues regarding religious liberty, the sanctity of human life, and the family. LC is committed to representing clients without regard to their ability to pay. Without assistance, most clients could not afford to assert their constitutional rights in court. LC handled more than 800 telephone calls and many hundreds of additional emails and letters requesting legal assistance during the past fiscal year. A total of 149 cases were in active litigation in state or federal courts or had pre-suit status under LC management. Although the vast majority of legal situations brought to LC are resolved without filing lawsuits, litigation that is publicized through our media outreach serves an educational purpose by informing the public regarding constitutional law. Quality in litigation is of paramount importance to LC, especially since most of the cases falling within its mission are likely to create important legal precedent for future cases. In a well-documented doctoral dissertation, Professor Hans Hacker concluded that LC accomplishes more with its resources than any other similar legal organization. The following brief synopsis of the hundreds of cases and other legal actions LC undertook for the fiscal year is a small sample of actual activities. The highlights listed below illustrate the motto: Restoring the Culture by Advancing Religious Freedom, the Sanctity of Human Life, and the Family.Advancing Religious Freedom:Successfully defended a student in Nassau County, Florida, after he faced wrongful persecution following a complaint by an atheist organization for stating "God bless America" while delivering a school public announcement. The school district apologized and said it will now welcome such messages from students. Stopped Lake Worth, Florida, zoning officials from harassing churches with threats and videotaping services in an effort to force churches to obtain a business license or close. The churches were being targeted for harassment by a homosexual city council member. Presented oral argument at a federal court of appeals and resolved many cases involving Child Evangelism Fellowship Good News Clubs in multiple states where school districts formerly discriminated against the Christian clubs in terms of use of the facilities, time of use, fees, and announcements or advertisements. Filed an important brief at the U.S. Supreme Court urging the Court to return to the original intent of the First Amendment Establishment Clause and abandon its confused line of cases that allow an "offended" observer power to censor religious words or displays. Continued to fight against the ObamaCare law and the HHS Employer Mandate, which requires that employers provide contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs and devices. Filed briefs at the Supreme Court and other federal courts of appeal challenging the contraceptive and abortion mandate and the federal subsidies. Defended the constitutional rights of students who are members of Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Lake County, Florida, where the school district was seeking to restrict access and limit the right to meet on campus. Filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court, which subsequently ruled in Town of Greece v. Galloway that opening a town meeting in prayer does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Defended the Allegheny County Council after an atheist organization opposed the display of the national motto, "In God We Trust." Successfully defended homeowners in Kissimmee, Florida, when they faced religious discrimination from their homeowner's association that tried to stop the couple from displaying two small statues of Mary and Jesus while allowing other homeowners to display human skulls and topless Greek statues. Filed an important brief at the U.S. Supreme Court to defend the right of a church to advertise like other businesses. Defended pastors in Houston when the openly lesbian Mayor subpoenaed their sermons and tried to silence them from speaking out about a radical gender-identity ordinance. Finally got a 14-year lawsuit dismissed against Jews for Jesus, in which an attorney who had a bitter vendetta against Christians sought to silence a Christian ministry. The courts sanctioned the attorney and required that he pay about $120,000 to LC. Successfully defended against and got a baseless lawsuit dismissed that challenged a ministry's voter guide, in which the losing candidate was forced to dismiss the fraudulent suit and pay damages. Stood by the Collier County, Florida, School Board when the ACLU tried to force the school to not use a church as the venue for a choir presentation open to the public. Conducted the twelfth annual "Friend or Foe" Christmas Campaign designed to educate and, if necessary, litigate to ensure that Christ and Christian viewpoints are not excluded from Christmas. Conducted the thirteenth annual "Friend or Foe" Graduation Prayer Campaign designed to educate and, if necessary, litigate to ensure that prayer and religious viewpoints are not suppressed during graduation ceremonies and all through the year. Filed a federal lawsuit against a North Carolina public library that denied LC the right to use a public meeting room because the presentation on the role of religion and Christianity in the founding of America was deemed religious, in violation of the library's policy banning religious speech. Defended a 16-year-old, dual-enrolled college student when her professor at Polk State College gave the straight-A student four zeros because she would not succumb to his militant atheist insults against Christianity and Jesus Christ.Advancing the Sanctity of Human Life: Successfully defended a pastor's right to speak out on abortion after he was arrested and jailed for four hours simply for holding a sign stating that abortion kills children.Continued to defend pro-lifers and filed a brief at the Florida Court of Appeals on behalf of a peaceful sidewalk counselor who received a "stalking" injunction merely because the abortion clinic disagreed with his peaceful message against abortion. Joined several hundred thousand pro-life Americans at the March for Life in Washington, DC. Worked with legislators and pro-life groups in Arkansas in the defense of Arkansas's twelve-week abortion ban. Filed an important brief at the Alabama Supreme Court which has now ruled that the word "child" in the chemical endangerment law includes unborn children. Filed an important brief with federal court of appeals stating that abortion viability standards should be revisited in light of modern advancements in medicine and understanding of children in the womb. Filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in McCullen v. Coakley, a case challenging a Massachusetts law that creates a 35-foot "buffer zone" around abortion clinics, in which the Court ruled that the "buffer zone" is unconstitutional. Obtained a preliminary injunction which blocked the Obama administration from enforcing the ObamaCare contraception and abortion mandate against Ave Maria School of Law, a Catholic law school in Florida. Launched Liberty Relief International to support persecuted Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere.Advancing Family Values: Submitted a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court defending marriage and exposing the statistically and scientifically fraudulent report of Alfred Kinsey, which he derived from serial child rapists, sex offenders, prisoners, prostitutes, pedophiles, and pederasts for the purpose of destroying marriage and Judeo-Christian morality. Presented oral argument at a federal court of appeals on behalf of counselors and families challenging a New Jersey law, which bans counselors from offering, and minors from receiving, counseling to diminish or eliminate same-sex attractions, behavior, or identity. Filed an appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court challenging a New Jersey law which bans counselors from offering, and minors from receiving, counseling to diminish or eliminate same-sex attractions, behavior, or identity. Successfully aided a grassroots effort that led to the citizen repeal of a law passed by the Fayetteville, Arkansas, City Council requiring churches, Christian schools, and other para-church ministries to hire homosexuals for "secular" jobs, allowing men to use women's restrooms and locker rooms, and requiring Christian business owners to service "same-sex weddings" under the threat of criminal prosecution of those who refused to comply. Filed suit on behalf of magistrates in North Carolina who were pressured to officiate same-sex "weddings" or face suspension, termination, fines, or prosecution. Filed briefs in Florida and argued two cases to defend the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment that affirms marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Filed suit in Florida to block sta