As we celebrate the blessed birth of Jesus, I am reminded that, amidst the many challenges Advocates faced in 2019, God also provided us with many important victories. I think it’s important to pause for a moment to reflect on these victories and express gratitude for the dedicated work of our Advocates legal team.
Victory in Vision Church v. City of San Diego
Advocates successfully defended Vision Church when a marijuana dispensary joined forces with the City of San Diego to drive the church out of the community. The federal lawsuit we filed against the City resulted in Pastor Andy Ballon and Vision Church being permitted to stay in the building and continue to serve the community they’ve called home for nearly a decade.
Victories in Upholding the Janus Decision
Our Advocates lawyers were thrilled when the Supreme Court handed down a momentous decision in Janus v. AFCME last June. The Janus case effectively ended the First Amendment violation of forced union dues for public employees. Since the Janus Decision, Advocates has already filed three federal lawsuits on behalf of public employees after their coercive public union declined to let them opt-out of the union. Two cases have settled within six months and we were able to secure the employees’ rights to freedom of association.
Public Schools and Religious Liberty
We were also successful in enforcing the religious rights of more than one public school student. In this specific situation, a high school Christian student club was told it could not have the same privileges as other clubs because of its religious nature. However, after we sent the school a letter reminding them that the Equal Access Act established through Congress in 1984 requires that what is allowed for one club, must be allowed for all, the school relented and allowed the Christian student group equal privileges.
Education - Beyond Lawsuits
Advocates has been hard at work, educating community leaders and citizens about their constitutional rights and threats to those rights. We have traveled the state, teaching school districts and parents about the law concerning sexual health education and parental rights. We successfully exposed the sexualization of children in public schools through public records requests. We are actively meeting with pastors, parents, teachers, and school board members to advise and guide them through legal options to protect their children from government-sanctioned over-sexualization. With the upcoming election year, I have also been educating pastors and ministry leaders about their First Amendment right to preach from the pulpit and discuss political issues. We have had an amazing response with countless pastors planning biblical voter forums and get-out-the-vote drives for the 2020 election year.
In His Service,
Robert H. Tyler
General Counsel
P.S. We are grateful for the blessings of your generous financial donations which allow us to pay for the costly legal research and extensive court battles we are certain to face against Vimeo, Freedom From Religion Foundation, and possibly even the state of California.