Nelson A. Pryor: Guest Columnist
The Christian legal team, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), founded in the 1990s, is riding a streak of Supreme Court victories and is poised to become stronger.
Kristen Waggoner, the legal mind and public face of the ADF, an Arizona-based Christian conservative legal nonprofit, is described in the July 5, 2018, “Washington Post” c1 by the above-entitled article.
Though it is far from a household name, the results of ADF's work are well known. Masterpiece Cakeshop vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission was just one of ADF's cases at the Supreme Court this term. The organization has had nine successful cases before the court in the past seven years, including Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby, which allowed corporations to opt out of covering contraceptives based on religious beliefs. It was ADF that created model legislation for state legislatures to use as terminology for their "bathroom bills," which bar students from using restrooms that don't correlate to their sex at birth.
More Victories
With Donald Trump in the White House, a savvy media strategy boosting donations and a new Supreme Court justice on the way, ADF is poised to become more influential than ever.
This work had long been a family affair for the 45-year old attorney, who grew up in Longview, Wa., as the daughter of a Christian school superintendent. She was put in charge of ADF's legal division in 2014. Mrs. Waggoner credits her father with instilling the values and views that populate the 121 active ADF cases, where there are 63 lawyers operating on a budget of more than $50 million.
Legal Warrior
ADF is fighting for the right of Christians to openly express their faith-and winning. In late June, Mrs. Waggoner expected the Supreme Court to decide the fate of one of her cases, that of a florist of Washington State, Barronelle Stutzman. It had been five years since Mrs. Stutzman had declined to make floral arrangements for the wedding of her client, Rob Ingersoll. The attorney general of Washington State had sued her and the shop she inherited from her mother, Arlene's Flowers.
Mrs. Waggoner's ADF strategy is to publicize her clients and their case. Each big case-the printer who won't make shirts for a homosexual parade; the teen girl who feels unsafe with "a man" in her school bathroom; the pregnancy centers accused of misleading women-gets a mini-documentary about their personal journeys and dedication to their faith.
"If we can't show their souls to people, their constitutional freedoms will falter," Waggoner said. "We have to show what is at stake."
Thanks to organizations like the Alliance Defending Freedom, we can still save America.
Do Over
Come June, as Waggoner was on the steps of the Supreme Court, Stutzman was waiting for the news of her case's future in her shop in Washington State. "GVR," Waggoner shouted into Stutzman's telephone, "GVR!"
Stutman knew what that meant: grant, vacate, remand. The case was going back to Washington State. The State's Attorney General had to make a better case. She still had a chance.
Looking Up
The silent majority is getting their case heard in court, and, thanks to organizations like ADF, our Country can still be saved.