![]() ![]() Just as interest groups had successfully used grassroots lobbying to advance the interests of Christian conservatives at the ballot box, so too would groups like ADF advance these interests through the courts.Īs its original name suggests, ADF was initially organized to help fund the Christian legal movement. It was to be centered on building coalitions within the Christian community and, just as importantly, contributing financial resources to legal advocacy and engagement supportive of ADF’s broad mission. While a handful of other legal interest groups with missions similar to ADF already existed, the leaders behind ADF envisioned a broader role for the new organization. And if the past few years are any indication, this influence should continue for the foreseeable future.įounded in 1994 as Alliance Defense Fund, ADF was established and supported by a broad group of evangelical leaders, including James Dobson, D. No matter the perspective, this much is clear: In little more than two decades, ADF has become one of the most influential legal interest groups in the United States. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has lauded ADF’s work in remarks to the organization, while the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled ADF an extremist group for its work opposing same-sex marriage and LGBT rights. All of this has enabled ADF to do its job-in its words, to “Advocate for Your Right to Freely Live out Your Faith”-very effectively.Īs a result of its advocacy, ADF has garnered its fair share of both praise and criticism from actors on both sides of the culture wars. In addition to Scottsdale, it maintains offices in Washington, D.C., and Vienna, Austria, and has a presence on all six inhabitable continents. ![]() Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, in a nondescript office building, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) regularly reports annual revenue in the tens of millions of dollars, boasts a team of several dozen attorneys along with a vast network of affiliated attorneys, funds training programs for law students and established lawyers, and operates a sophisticated media outreach strategy. They are also connected by the legal interest group representing each petitioner: Alliance Defending Freedom. This is one of several cases exposing tensions between First Amendment protections for free exercise and free speech on the one hand, and Fourteenth Amendment guarantees of equal protection on the other.īoth Trinity Lutheran and Masterpiece Cakeshop involve big questions tied to the First Amendment’s treatment of religion. Here, a baker declined a same-sex couple’s request to make a cake for their wedding. ![]() The court held that Missouri had violated the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause in denying funding to a private school solely because of its religious identity in his opinion for the court, Chief Justice John Roberts blasted Missouri’s actions as “odious to our Constitution.” Just days later, the justices announced they would review Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Supreme Court issued its decision in Trinity Lutheran Church v. (AP Photo/Mike Groll) An attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom argues before justices in the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division in 2015. ![]()
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