Thomas More Society

2024 Marks 30th Anniversary of Federal Law Now Being Used to Jail Pro-Life Advocates

Retrieved on: 
Friday, January 19, 2024

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- As the national March for Life takes place in Washington, DC, January 17-19, 2024, Thomas More Society attorneys are bringing their legal expertise on the FACE Act to life advocates from across the nation. The year 2024 marks 30 years since the FACE Act, or Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, was enacted and signed by President Bill Clinton in reaction to national attention focused on a wave of pro-life protests and sit-ins at abortion venues.

Key Points: 
  • Thomas More Society attorneys successfully achieved the acquittal of pro-life dad Mark Houck in January 2023 [United States v. Houck, CRIMINAL ACTION 22-323 (E.D.
  • Thomas More Society is currently representing Vaughn in federal court on charges of violating the FACE Act.
  • The FACE Act turned that into a federal crime, which is a great shame as there are local laws to deal with trespassing."
  • Lawyers from Thomas More Society will comprise a legal panel at the prestigious Law of Life Summit, presented on January 18, 2024, at the March for Life Expo.

Ballot Proposal 2 Would Institutionalize Vote Fraud in Michigan

Retrieved on: 
Friday, November 4, 2022

LANSING, Mich., Nov. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Approval of a far-reaching amendment to Michigan's constitution governing voter policies is a recipe for vote fraud, observed a nationally known constitutional and voting rights attorney who has argued voting rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Michigan Supreme Court. Thor Hearne, who served as legal counsel and advisor to the bipartisan Carter-Baker Commission, chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and Secretary of State James A. Baker III, says Proposal 2, the Voting Policies in Constitution Amendment, would compromise election security and lead to ballot harvesting and election funding by out-of-state special interest groups.

Key Points: 
  • Misrepresented as a means to expand voting rights in Michigan, Proposal 2 includes measures that would undermine the integrity of Michigan elections disenfranchise ballots cast by lawful Michigan voters.
  • "The Carter-Baker Commission also found that ballot harvesting and vote buying schemes are much more difficult to detect when citizens vote by mail," Hearne noted.
  • Proposal 2 would also allow billionaires and special interests to pay Michigan election officials and direct how election officials conduct Michigan elections.
  • "Every eligible citizen's access to the ballot must be protected, and Michigan elections must be conducted in a manner that guarantees every lawful vote is counted," Hearne said.

ELECTION WATCHDOG RESPONDS TO SENATE ELECTION PLAN

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, July 21, 2022

AMHERST, Va., July 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Phill Kline, director of The Amistad Project, sent a letter to Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), reacting to their bipartisan proposal to reform the Electoral Count Act.

Key Points: 
  • The proposal has much to commend it, including its express statement that the Vice-President does not have unilateral authority to accept or reject electors.
  • The authority to determine the electors rests with the state legislatures under our Constitution.
  • "I believe we are all in agreement that the majority vote of the people within a state should determine that state's electors.
  • A simple amendment to the proposal would resolve this issue and, I believe, be consistent with its objectives.

PA COURT UPHOLDS RIGHT TO INSPECT VOTING MACHINES

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, May 24, 2022

AMHERST, Va., May 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Litigation supported by The Amistad Project won a significant ruling by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upholding the right of Pennsylvania counties to exercise the authority granted to them by the state legislature to inspect electronic voting equipment. The court sided with a brief filed by The Amistad Project on behalf of Fulton County, Pennsylvania.

Key Points: 
  • The court sided with a brief filed by The Amistad Project on behalf of Fulton County, Pennsylvania.
  • "The court not only overturned the Secretary of the Commonwealth's unlawful decertification of Fulton County's voting machines, but also affirmed that the Secretary cannot prevent counties from exercising their statutory authority to inspect voting machines as part of their duty to ensure 'safe and honest conduct of elections,'" explained Phill Kline, director of The Amistad Project.
  • The case began after Fulton County conducted an inspection of one of its two Dominion voting machines to determine whether they functioned properly during the 2020 election.
  • The Secretary of the Commonwealth then issued an order retroactively banning the practice, while also decertifying both of the county's voting machines and denying the county state funding to replace them.

U.S. ELECTION CRISIS ADDRESSED IN NEW MODEL LEGISLATION

Retrieved on: 
Monday, May 23, 2022

AMHERST, Va., May 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Election experts today released model legislation to address unprecedented voting irregularities in the 2020 election in an effort to ensure transparent, inclusive, and accountable elections and to restore public trust in elections.

Key Points: 
  • AMHERST, Va., May 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Election experts today released model legislation to address unprecedented voting irregularities in the 2020 election in an effort to ensure transparent, inclusive, and accountable elections and to restore public trust in elections.
  • The model legislation creates bipartisan election oversight committees, expands transparency requirements to the USPS, requires voter marked paper ballots, creates penalties for ballot larceny, requires equal treatment of voters' and ballots, and prohibits private monies from being used in government election offices.
  • "Our model legislation makes legislators accountable through a joint-standing committee which must issue a public report after each election identifying all violations of law and irregularities after each election."
  • "Nobody has done a comprehensive model law like this until now," explained John Loudon, a former Missouri state representative and state senator who helped devise the model legislation.

VICTORY: Supreme Court strikes down PA school mask mandate

Retrieved on: 
Friday, December 10, 2021

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed that this must stop.

Key Points: 
  • The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed that this must stop.
  • "The decision to require masks in schools is one that properly belongs with individual school boards in consultation with parents.
  • State officials bypassed the normal democratic process to put this order in place, and this court is doing its duty by striking down their executive overreach.
  • We're going to continue to work to protect those rights and have them vindicated in other courts and jurisdictions."

VICTORY: Court strikes down PA school mask mandate

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, November 10, 2021

HARRISBURG, Penn., Nov. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled in favor of The Amistad Project's lawsuit today and voided the statewide school mask mandate issued by Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam.

Key Points: 
  • HARRISBURG, Penn., Nov. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled in favor of The Amistad Project's lawsuit today and voided the statewide school mask mandate issued by Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam.
  • "This is a victory for the rule of law in Pennsylvania," said Tom King, lead attorney for Dillon, McCandless, King, Coulter, & Graham LLP.
  • "The Secretary of Health never had the authority to enter this order to begin with, and that's exactly what the court recognized with this ruling."
  • The court ruled that the order was void ab initio, meaning it was invalid from the moment it was issued.

School Children Call on PA Officials to Drop Mask Mandate

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, October 21, 2021

"This is another example of government abuse of police powers, which has been rampant throughout the pandemic," said Phill Kline, director of The Amistad Project.

Key Points: 
  • "This is another example of government abuse of police powers, which has been rampant throughout the pandemic," said Phill Kline, director of The Amistad Project.
  • Judges repeatedly pressed the government's counsel about this argument, at one point asserting that the department's mandate "meets all the criteria of what is a regulation."
  • The mandate was issued shortly after the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year after most Pennsylvania school districts elected not to impose universal masking policies.
  • "School districts made their choices, and Acting Secretary Beam didn't like their choices, so she took it upon herself to overrule them."

Amistad Project reveals proof of glaring flaw in ballot design for CA recall election

Retrieved on: 
Monday, August 23, 2021

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A California voter is calling attention to a glaring flaw in the design of absentee ballot envelopes being used in the recall election of California Governor Gavin Newsome.

Key Points: 
  • LOS ANGELES, Aug. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A California voter is calling attention to a glaring flaw in the design of absentee ballot envelopes being used in the recall election of California Governor Gavin Newsome.
  • "When I saw this ballot envelope, I was shocked to see that it could reveal someone's actual vote," said Amy Cox.
  • "A voter should never be forced to reveal their vote by negligent design," said Phill Kline, director of The Amistad Project, the nation's leading election integrity watchdog.
  • The Amistad Project and the American Voter's Alliance are actively investigating the apparent ballot envelope design flaw.

Salem Podcast Network Adds Jenna Ellis to the Lineup

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, August 12, 2021

Salem Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SALM) announced today that the Salem Podcast Network (SPN) is adding former Trump Campaign Attorney Jenna Ellis to the lineup beginning September 13th.

Key Points: 
  • Salem Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SALM) announced today that the Salem Podcast Network (SPN) is adding former Trump Campaign Attorney Jenna Ellis to the lineup beginning September 13th.
  • "I am so excited to join the Salem Podcast Network Family and add to their incredible lineup of voices for biblical truth and conservative policy, said Jenna.
  • The Salem Podcast Network launched in January with Charlie Kirk and Dinesh DSouza.
  • SPN is already ranked #12 on the Triton Digital national podcast network rankings, doing 12-13 million downloads per month.