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Suit Against Reno
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The New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism (Official Baltimore Catechism Series No. 2) Revised Edition This Catechism retains the text of the Revised Baltimore Catechism, Number 2, but adds abundant explanations to help children understand the difficult parts of each lesson along with pictures to aid in understanding. Intended for grades 6-8 Official
Baltimore Catechism Series No. 1 |
Pro-Life Legal Group Sues Janet Reno Over Free Speech Issues Ann Arbor, MIThe Thomas More Center for Law & Justice, a national, not-for-profit, public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, today filed suit in U.S. District Court in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on behalf of two pro-life advocates, a volunteer nurse and a high school teacher against various federal government officials. The suit claims that Congress' effort to restrict their pro-life advocacy is unconstitutional. The suit also claims that their constitutional rights to free speech have been violated. In their lawsuit, the advocates challenge the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE), a law designed to protect access to abortion facilities by providing for severe civil and criminal penalties. The lawsuit alleges that federal agents threatened enforcement of FACE against peaceful sidewalk counselors who hand out literature or speak with people driving into the Kalamazoo abortion facility. According to the complaint, federal agents made the threats because drivers entering the clinic have stopped their cars to speak with, or retrieve information from, the sidewalk counselors, and that the counselors are, therefore, obstructing access to the abortion facility in violation of the statute. "This statute was enacted ostensibly to protect abortionists and their patients,'' observed Richard Thompson, Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Center for Law & Justice. "But it is now being used by the government to harass peaceful demonstrators who are exercising their constitutional right to free speech. The facts of this case show how the federal government uses the FACE statute to trample all over the First Amendment rights of those who protest, pray, and sidewalk-counsel outside abortion facilities.'' The lawsuit is filed against the United States Attorney General, Janet Reno, as well as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, the United States Marshal for the Western District of Michigan, and a federal agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation who is assigned to the Kalamazoo office. The respondents are being sued in their official capacities. The Thomas More Center's clients are seeking a preliminary injunction to prohibit federal agents from unconstitutionally enforcing FACE against peaceful pro-life demonstrators. Additionally, they are seeking a declaration by the federal court that the FACE statute is unconstitutional on both First and Fifth Amendment grounds. They also claim that FACE is unconstitutional because Congress exceeded its authority under the Commerce Clause as well as under the enforcement clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by enacting the law. "The Thomas More Center's clients are not seeking money damages,'' Thompson said. ``They just want to continue their peaceful praying and sidewalk- counseling outside of the Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Kalamazoo, without continued threats from federal authorities.'' The Thomas More Center for Law & Justice is located on the campus of the new Ave Maria School of Law.
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