List of court cases involving Alliance Defending Freedom

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Pro-life and pro-choice activists demonstrate on the steps of the United States Supreme Court building during Gonzales v. Carhart. Gonzales v carhart protest.jpg
Pro-life and pro-choice activists demonstrate on the steps of the United States Supreme Court building during Gonzales v. Carhart.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is an advocacy organization whose goal is advocating, training, and funding legal cases on the issues of "religious freedom, sanctity of life, and marriage and family." [1] In 2012 the organization shifted its mission of funding allied attorneys to direct representation of clients though litigation. [2] Founded in 1993, ADF has been described as "the largest legal force of the religious right arguing hundreds of pro bono cases across the country. [3]

Contents

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has been involved in several landmark United States Supreme Court cases, including Rosenberger v. University of Virginia , Good News Club v. Milford Central School , and Town of Greece v. Galloway . Rosenberger was described by law professor Marci Hamilton as a "fork in the road" with respect to judicial review of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. [4] [ better source needed ]Good News Club and Town of Greece established precedents relating to free speech and the establishment clauses of the First Amendment respectively. ADF also litigated a 2014 case challenging the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. , the Court ruled that the birth control mandate in employee-funded health plans was unconstitutional, since there existed a less restrictive means of furthering the law’s interest. [5] The case set a precedent for evaluating legal questions relating to religious liberty. [6] ADF also played a role in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization , writing model legislation for the Mississippi abortion ban, but did not represent either party in court. [7] [8]

List of cases

Following are legal cases in which the ADF has played a role, either by representing a party, filing an amicus brief, or otherwise participating:

1995

2001

2004

2006

2007

2011

2012

2014

2015

2016

Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado. Masterpiece Cakeshop (Lakewood, Colorado).JPG
Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado.
Audio recording of oral argument at Masterpiece Cakeshop.

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

See also

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Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 573 U.S. 682 (2014), is a landmark decision in United States corporate law by the United States Supreme Court allowing privately held for-profit corporations to be exempt from a regulation that its owners religiously object to, if there is a less restrictive means of furthering the law's interest, according to the provisions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. It is the first time that the Court has recognized a for-profit corporation's claim of religious belief, but it is limited to privately held corporations. The decision does not address whether such corporations are protected by the free exercise of religion clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution.

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Kristen Kellie Waggoner is an American attorney. She has been president, CEO, and General Counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom since 2022.

Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania, 591 U.S. ___ (2020), was a United States Supreme Court case involving ongoing conflicts between the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) over the ACA's contraceptive mandate. The ACA exempts nonprofit religious organizations from complying with the mandate, to which for-profit religious organizations objected.

Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski, 592 U.S (2021), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, dealing with nominal damages to be awarded to individuals whose right to freedom of speech has been suppressed by an entity but subsequently rendered moot due to intervening circumstances. In an 8–1 decision, the Court held that such nominal damages satisfy the Article Three requirement of redressability, when awarded for a past violation of a legal rights.

303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, 600 U.S. 570 (2023), is a United States Supreme Court decision that dealt with the intersection of anti-discrimination law in public accommodations with the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In a 6–3 decision, the Court found for a website designer, ruling that the state of Colorado cannot compel the designer to create work that violates her values. The case follows from Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 584 U.S. 617 (2018), which had dealt with similar conflict between free speech rights and Colorado's anti-discrimination laws but had been decided on narrower grounds.

References

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