California Covid Shutdowns went after Religious Liberty

California church hit with $1.2M COVID fines takes religious liberty case to Supreme Court

What happened in California during COVID wasn’t just about masks—it was a battle over the soul of religious liberty.

Two conservative legal groups have taken up the fight on behalf of Calvary Chapel San Jose, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn $1.2 million in fines slapped on the church for holding in-person worship services during statewide pandemic restrictions, as WND reports.

At the height of COVID shutdowns, Santa Clara County levied heavy financial penalties against the church, despite carving out exceptions for secular venues like restaurants and retail stores.

Now the ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice) and Advocates for Faith and Freedom have brought the case to the Supreme Court, asking it to consider how far government officials can go when it comes to regulating religious expression under the banner of public health.

As stated in an ACLJ report, “This case presents a new frontier: not just whether churches can meet, but whether the government may dictate the manner of worship itself.”

It’s one thing to enforce health guidelines uniformly—it’s something very different to decide which parts of a religious service are acceptable based on a bureaucrat’s checklist.

“We are asking the Supreme Court to affirm that the Constitution protects both the freedom to believe and the freedom to practice those beliefs – without government interference, intimidation, or crushing financial punishment,” the ACLJ said.

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Choice Begins Here

Legal watchdog launches ad campaign in Massachusetts defending pro-life centers from state attacks

CV NEWS FEED // The American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) is launching an ad campaign, “Choice Begins Here,” promoting pregnancy resource centers in Massachusetts after the state published a series of ads targeting these centers.

The Nashville Publicity Group wrote in a press release published by Christian Newswire that the state began a taxpayer-funded advertisement campaign in late 2024 against pregnancy resource centers (PRCs), depicting these life-saving centers as deceptive and dangerous.

“Since the Massachusetts campaign was launched more than six months ago,” the ACLJ writes, “the state hasn’t received a single complaint about PRCs that would back up their claims.”

The ACLJ’s campaign will use outdoor, streaming, and digital advertising to reach out to pregnant women and let them know that abortion is not the only option.

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Using the word "Bible" is prohibited

'Series of attacks on Christians': Apartment complex bans using the word 'Bible'

Managers (must be Democrats) of a seniors apartment complex decided to ban the word "Bible" in their community room announcements, which cover a wide range of topics of interest to residents.

Have you ever heard of anything so absurd in your life? And now they're getting questioned by a religious rights legal team at the American Center for Law and Justice.

The ACLJ has announced it has sent a demand letter to the complex in North Carolina over a decision by managers to violate the religious liberties of a resident.

The applicable law, the ACLJ revealed, is the Fair Housing Act.

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ACLJ files petition to protect kids from porn in school libraries

Petition seeks court order protecting kids from state-promoted pornography in schools

'At no time has the U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment protects the inclusion of this type of sexually explicit material' in libraries.

The American Center for Law and Justice is stepping up its fight to protect kids in New York schools from pornography that leftist librarians are insisting on adding to their collections.

The organization has filed a petition in New York state court asking to overturn a decision from state education officials providing those books to children.

"As we explain in our petition, both federal and state laws emphasize the important role and compelling interest of public schools in protecting children from exposure to lewd and obscene content. Public schools and boards of education owe a duty of care to both parents and students to ensure that the curriculum and other materials provided to students are free of pornography and are age appropriate," the ACLJ reported.

"In fact, the United States Supreme Court has made abundantly clear that schools have a compelling interest in protecting children from inappropriate and lewd content," the ACLJ reported. "Once more, the court has unanimously held that a school board maintains the right and the power to remove such content from its schools."

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SCOTUS responds to Planned Parenthood case

Something MAJOR just happened at the Supreme Court

"Planned Parenthood aborts over 1,000 innocent babies and takes $1.9 million of our tax dollars every single day. It's responsible for about 40% of all abortions in America.

It's been caught selling the body parts of aborted babies. Now a groundbreaking case pending at the U.S. Supreme Court could allow states to defund the abortion industry. It could decimate Planned Parenthood.

At the ACLJ, we are aggressively engaged in numerous cases against the abortion industry – including filing to defund Planned Parenthood at the Supreme Court. We've also filed our own vital case at the Supreme Court that could save countless babies.

A city, which is unnamed, is trying to criminalize the lifesaving work of pro-life sidewalk counselors and throw them in jail to prevent them from saving babies from Planned Parenthood.

Yesterday the city finally responded after being ordered to by the Justices. Now our next Supreme Court deadline is looming.

As we battle the endless taxpayer-funded resources of the Biden-Harris Administration and Planned Parenthood at the Supreme Court, we need YOU."

Jay Sekulow, ACLJ Chief Counsel

ACLJ Defending Israel From Anti-Israel Attacks Across the Globe

Defending Israel

For the first time in history, Iran fired hundreds of suicide drones and ballistic missiles at Israel in a brazen and unprecedented attack on the Jewish state this weekend.

The ACLJ is taking vital legal action in just moments.

Air raid sirens went off all across Israel, including in Jerusalem, as hundreds of missiles and bombs rained down. This is a blatant act of war by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Israel's enemies have united to utterly destroy her. Israel needs you now more than ever.

At the ACLJ, we've mobilized our offices in Jerusalem, at the U.N., and on Capitol Hill. TODAY we are delivering a vital demand letter to the U.N. Secretary-General, demanding he condemn Iran's violent act of war and defend Israel.

Sign the Petition