HS Alliance
The Christian legal group that defended the Downtown Hope Center in Anchorage from the intrusion of a drunken transgender has been branded a hate group by a senior US Department of Justice official. And that did not sit well with two Republican members of the US Senate.
“Alliance Defending Freedom is one of the strongest advocates for religious freedom and the constitutional rights of all Americans,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a statement provided to The daily signal. “It is appalling that a staff member of the Ministry of Justice considers this mission as odious. I am proud to stand with the ADF in its fight for religious freedom. Attorney General Merrick Garland must ensure that the DOJ faithfully executes justice for all, and he should investigate this incident.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the Justice Department official’s comment “outrageous” and criticized the agency’s credibility, The Signal reported.
“A DOJ attorney slandering law-abiding, honest Americans as members of a ‘hate group’ simply because of their Christian faith is outrageous,” Rubio told the Daily Signal. “Attorney General Garland has promised to uphold the rule of law without fear or favour. His department’s credibility continues to be shattered.
The comments that disparaged the Alliance Defending Freedom were made by Eric P. Bruskin, Deputy Director of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. The context of the comment was in response to a social media post by Jason Weida, a former assistant United States attorney in Washington who is now a state health official in Florida. Weida shared that he was “honored to speak with Matt Sharp at Alliance Defending Freedom about the work we are doing in Florida to protect children from experimental medical interventions and to advocate for parental rights, all thanks to the leadership of Governor DeSantis.”
Bruskin wrote in response, “Jason, this is a hate group. You’re speaking at a conference for a hate group. Are these the beliefs you hold? If so, it’s time to end our professional association.
Read: Transgender sues faith-based women’s shelter
Alliance Defending Freedom has taken on some of the most high-profile culture wars cases in recent years. Wikipedia states that the group “is an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group that supports the restriction of rights and protections for LGBTQ people; expand Christian practices in public schools and in government and prevent access to abortion. In fact, the group supports the rights of people to practice their religious beliefs and supports the humanity of unborn children.
The group’s recent victories include the US Supreme Court ruling Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta in 2021, in which the ADF argued that nonprofits should not be required to disclose the identity of their donors on California state tax returns. The court declared the disclosure law unconstitutional.
In 2008, in Coorod vs. Alaska State, an Alaska court ruled that a property tax exemption for religious schools violates neither the state constitution nor the federal constitution. Several groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, filed suit after the state legislature determined that “an educator’s residence in a private religious or parochial school” is considered “property used exclusively for religious purposes”. The Superior Court of the State of Alaska in the Third Judicial Circuit in Anchorage has determined that such tax exemptions are not unlawfully improper, as Alliance Defending Freedom had explained.
In 2019, Anchorage officials dropped a complaint filed with the Anchorage Equal Rights Commission against the faith-based women’s shelter Downtown Hope Center. The city has agreed with lawyers from the Alliance Defending Freedom to make the court’s temporary order against the city permanent.
The complaint came from an intoxicated man who the Downtown Hope Center referred to a hospital to get the treatment he needed for visible injuries sustained in a fight, and the faith group paid for his fare in taxi to the hospital. The man then filed a complaint that the center did not let him stay at the centre, where the group houses abused and homeless women.
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the center.
“Many of the women the Downtown Hope Center serves have experienced rape, physical abuse and domestic violence. They should not be forced to sleep or undress in the same room as a man. Abused women need a safe place to stay, but incredibly, some officials in Anchorage are trying to take that place away from them. said Ryan Tucker, lead attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom.
“All Americans should be free to live their faith and serve their neighbors — especially homeless women who have experienced sexual abuse or domestic violence — without being targeted or harassed by the government,” he said at the time. ADF lead counsel Kate Anderson. “This is the right outcome. Downtown Hope Center serves everyone, but women deserve a safe place to spend the night. No woman, especially not a survivor of abuse, should be forced to sleep or undress at side of a man.
In The Downtown Soup Kitchen dba Downtown Hope Center c. Municipality of AnchorageThe U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska issued an order declaring that Anchorage’s public housing law does not apply to the center’s women’s shelter.