First Amendment Archives

ACRU Asks Court to Use 'Coercion Test' in Freedom to Pray Case

By ACRU Staff|2020-04-23T21:53:57-04:00August 8th, 2013|

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Aug. 6, 2013) — Is allowing prayer at public meetings an example of the free exercise of religion as guaranteed by the First Amendment or an illegal governmental establishment of religion?

To assist courts in threading this needle, the ACRU is promoting a unique, new doctrine called the Coercion Test.

In a brief filed on Aug. 2 at the U.S. Supreme Court in Town of Greece v. Susan Galloway and Linda Stevens, ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara defends the upstate New York town’s practice of allowing rotating, voluntary prayers before council meetings and explains the Coercion Test:

“At the time the First […]

Military Censors Christian Chaplain, Atheists Call for Punishment

By ACRU Staff|2020-04-23T21:52:42-04:00July 26th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published July 24, 2013 on Breitbart.com.

A Christian chaplain in the military is being officially censored for engaging in free speech, and anti-Christian activists are demanding he be punished.

Lt. Col. Kenneth Reyes is a Christian chaplain currently serving in the U.S. Air Force. He is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska. As an ordained clergyman whose duties are to provide religious instruction and spiritual counseling, he has a page on the base’s website called “Chaplain’s Corner.”

Reyes recently wrote an essay entitled, “No Atheists in Foxholes: Chaplains Gave […]

Silver Linings in the Ruling on Obamacare

By ACRU Staff|2020-04-23T21:52:42-04:00July 15th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published July 15, 2013 on The Washington Times website.

In the latest court ruling upholding Obamacare, a three-judge federal panel in Richmond, Va, last Thursday rejected Liberty University’s challenge to both the individual mandate and the employer mandate to provide health insurance.

There are silver linings here, and we’ll get to them in a minute. First, let’s look at the case.

Eyebrows were raised a few months ago when Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s Justice Department said it had no problem with the U.S. Supreme Court sending Liberty’s challenge to […]

Homeowners Sue Police for Violating the Little-Known Third Amendment

By ACRU Staff|2020-04-23T21:53:45-04:00July 8th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published July 7, 2013 on Breitbart.com.

Police arrested the Mitchell family in Nevada when the family refused to let the police take over their houses to observe the Mitchells’ neighbors. The Mitchells have sued the City of Henderson and various police officials, claiming among other things that the police violated their rights under the Third Amendment to the Constitution.

Anthony Mitchell lives on the same street as his parents Michael and Linda Mitchell in a suburb of Las Vegas. On July 10, 2011, police contacted Anthony to say they were investigating […]

Obamacare's California Insurance Premiums Are Soaring – This Is Fact

By ACRU Staff|2020-04-23T21:52:42-04:00June 10th, 2013|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Senior Fellow for the Carleson Center for Welfare Reform (CCWR) Peter Ferrara was published June 7, 2013 on Forbes.com.

The great American experiment in democracy is currently failing. In proof of that, I give you Exhibit A: We cannot even agree on the basic fact of whether health insurance premiums are rising or falling under Obamacare. Note, this is not a matter even of opinion. It is a matter of simple fact, right or wrong. But if we can’t agree on what the basic facts are, we cannot analyze Obamacare, or even discuss it intelligently.

Amendments Protecting Soldiers' Religious Rights Approved by Committee

By ACRU Staff|2020-04-23T21:53:45-04:00June 10th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published June 7, 2013 on Breitbart.com.

Congress is taking action on religious liberty in the military, a story that was originally reported by Breitbart News. New legal language passed a key committee this week and next goes to the full House and then the Senate; it could become federal law later this year.

On June 5, the House Armed Services Committee adopted two amendments for the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014, which governs the Department of Defense during the next fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2013.

The first amendment […]

Drilled by the Quill

By ACRU Staff|2020-04-23T21:52:43-04:00June 4th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published June 3, 2013 on The Washington Times website.

As a longtime, ink-stained wretch, I’m actually glad that some of the Obama administration’s bombs targeting our essential liberties found their way out of the Tea Party kill zone and were dropped instead on the Fourth Estate.

Most of the media are the Obama administration’s most loyal constituents. In fact, they may be the most loyal constituents after the reliable voters in Chicago’s cemeteries.

A liberal administration targeting the media? It’s like giving the dog that’s been biting your opponents a swift […]

Pentagon Denies Relationship with Anti-Christian Extremist; Instantly Complies with His Demands

By ACRU Staff|2020-04-23T21:52:43-04:00June 3rd, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published June 2, 2013 on Breitbart.com.

One month ago the Pentagon assured the public it was not being advised by anti-Christian extremist Mikey Weinstein. Yet two days ago Weinstein called the Pentagon demanding that a Christian painting be removed from a dining hall in an Idaho Air Force base, and the Pentagon complied with his demand–in less than one hour.

On Apr. 28, Breitbart News reported that Pentagon brass met with Weinstein and his Military Religious Freedom Foundation. That was shortly after Weinstein published an article in which he called observant […]

Holder's Defense: Diminished Capacity?

By ACRU Staff|2020-04-23T21:52:43-04:00June 3rd, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Jan LaRue was published June 2, 2013 on Townhall.com.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, a former prosecutor and judge, is pleading ignorance of the law as his excuse for criminally accusing a journalist of being a journalist. Holder wants Congress to pass a law to shield the press from him.

There are some laws that the nation’s top law enforcement agent ought to have written on his heart. Take the First Amendment, for example. It’s included in that oath Holder swore to God to uphold.

Holder swore another oath on May 15 when […]

Striking a Sour Note on the Boardwalk

By ACRU Staff|2020-04-23T21:52:43-04:00May 28th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published May 28, 2013 on The Washington Times website.

What do you do if you’re a street fiddler who wants to play as loud as you want, and the cops tell you to pipe down?

Well, you could make a federal case of it.

On April 10, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Maryland against Ocean City, Md., on behalf of William F. Hassay Jr., who has earned money playing his violin on the boardwalk seasonally since 1995, according to the suit.