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Thomas More Law Center Files Its Fourth Court Challenge To the HHS Mandate

March 21, 2013 by

ANN ARBOR, MI – The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national non-profit public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, today announced that it has filed its fourth legal challenge to the HHS Mandate. This fourth case was filed yesterday on behalf of Michael Potter, Chairman and President of Eden Foods and his for-profit company, Eden Foods, Inc. in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

TMLC attorney, Erin Mersino, has been spearheading the Law Center’s legal initiatives against the Federal Government’s HHS Mandate, which requires companies to provide insurance for their employees that cover and promote abortion inducing drugs and contraception. Thus far, Mersino has secured preliminary injunctions against enforcement of the HHS Mandate for two of the employers she is representing. Motions for preliminary injunctions in her other two cases are forthcoming. And more lawsuits are being considered.

Click here to read the Michael Potter’s Federal Lawsuit

According to Richard Thompson, TMLC’s President and Chief Counsel, “The HHS Mandate is a deliberate and direct attack by the Federal Government on religious liberty. The Federal Government ignored the religious beliefs of millions of Americans who oppose abortion causing drugs and chemical contraception. In the final analysis, the HHS Mandate is a violation of fundamental constitutional principles relating to the free exercise of religion and conscience. And it must be stopped.”

Michael Potter is a practicing Roman Catholic. As a Catholic, he strives to follow the teachings of his faith which include the belief that “any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation, whether as an end or means”—including abortifacients and contraception—is wrong. The HHS Mandate coerces Potter to make a choice between violating a foremost tenet of his faith and violating the HHS mandate. If his company violates the HHS Mandate it would face yearly fines of $196,000 plus a yearly tax penalty of over $4.5 million per tax year assessed by the IRS. Potter brought this lawsuit on his behalf and on behalf of his company because he cannot compartmentalize his faith and his business practices.

Eden Foods, co-founded by Potter in the late 1960s, is the oldest natural food company in North America and the largest independent manufacturer of dry grocery organic foods. In 2009 Eden Foods was selected as the best food company in the world by the Better World Shopping Guide, which also acknowledged the company’s outstanding record in social and environmental responsibility. The company employs 128 employees.

Last week, Mersino, assisted by local co-counsel Paul Pizzo and Scott Richards of the Tampa-firm of Fowler, White and Boggs, filed a lawsuit in a Florida federal court challenging the HHS Mandate on behalf of Thomas Beckwith, a Southern Baptist, and his Beckwith Electric Company. Ironically, Thomas Beckwith’s ancestors landed on American shores in 1626 to escape religious persecution in England.

Also last week, Erin Mersino obtained a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the HHS mandate on behalf of Thomas Monaghan, a nationally known Catholic businessman.

Interestingly, for years, Michael Potter was able to exclude from his company’s Blue Cross policy, insurance coverage for contraception and abortion inducing drugs, categorized by Blue Cross as “Life Style” drugs. However, last week Potter discovered that Blue Cross inserted the HHS mandated coverage without his knowledge or consent.

The first paragraph of the lawsuit succinctly sets forth the nature of the case: “This is a case about religious freedom. Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father of our country, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and our third president, when describing the construct of our Constitution proclaimed, ‘No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority.’”

The purpose of the lawsuit is to seek a court ruling that permanently blocks implementation of the HHS Mandate against Michael Potter and his company Eden Foods, Inc.

Named as Defendants in the lawsuit are Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services; Seth D. Harris, Acting Secretary of the Department of Labor; Jack Lew, Secretary of the Department of Treasury; and their respective departments.

The Thomas More Law Center defends and promotes America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and moral values, as well as a strong national defense and an independent and sovereign United States of America. The Law Center accomplishes its mission through litigation, education, and related activities. It does not charge for its services. The Law Center is supported by contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations, and is recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c)(3) organization. You may reach the Thomas More Law Center at (734) 827-2001 or visit our website at www.thomasmore.org.

Breaking: TMLC Obtains Order Enjoining Enforcement of HHS Mandate against Thomas Monaghan and His Domino’s Farms Corporation

March 14, 2013 by

The Thomas More Law Center announced that Federal District Court Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff of the Eastern District of Michigan, today, granted a Motion for a Preliminary Injunction against enforcement of the HHS Mandate filed by TMLC on behalf of Plaintiffs Tom Monaghan and his property management company, Domino’s Farm Corporation. Judge Zatkoff previously ruled in favor of granting an emergency temporary restraining order. The preliminary injunction extends the previous ruling to protect the plaintiffs for the entire pendency of the case.

Judge Zatkoff’s ruling halts enforcement of the HHS mandate against Monaghan and his property management company, Domino’s Farms Corporation of which he is the owner and sole shareholder. Domino’s Farms Corporation manages an Office Complex owned by Monaghan and is not to be confused with Domino’s Pizza. Monaghan sold the Pizza company in 1998 and has no active affiliation with it at this time. The HHS mandate refers to regulations adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services that forces employers, regardless of their religious convictions, to provide insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception under threat of heavy penalties.

Click here to read Judge Zatkoff’s entire opinion.

Judge Zatkoff’s decision protects our freedoms granted under the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The Government argued against the preliminary injunction by claiming that once a business owner chooses to enter into the marketplace, he surrenders his right to exercise his religious beliefs. Erin Mersino, TMLC’s lead counsel on the case, provided for the Court in briefing the quotation from President Ronald Reagan, “To those who cite the First Amendment as reason for excluding God from more and more of our institutions and everyday life, may I just say: The First Amendment of the Constitution was not written to protect the people of this countryfrom religious values;it was written to protect religious values from government tyranny.”

For purposes of the preliminary injunction, Judge Zatkoff focused only on the unconstitutional nature of the HHS Mandate due its infringement on Mr. Monaghan’s exercise of religion. Judge Zatkoff held that he did not need to engage in a separate discussion of Plaintiffs’ Constitutional right to the Free Exercise of Religion since both theories seek to protect the same liberty interest—the free practice of one’s religion.

TMLC’s attorney Erin Mersino, commented, “The HHS Mandate forces our clients to provide abortion causing drugs to their employees when doing so is a direct violation of the teachings of the Catholic Church and our clients’ sincerely held religious beliefs. The Court’s decision today upholds everyone’s freedom of religion and rights protected by the Constitution.”

The Government is expected to appeal Judge Zatkoff’s ruling to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Breaking: Thomas More Law Center Obtains Order Enjoining Enforcement of HHS Mandate against Thomas Monaghan and His Domino’s Farms Corporation

March 14, 2013 by

ANN ARBOR, MI – The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, announced that Federal District Court Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff of the Eastern District of Michigan, today, granted a Motion for a Preliminary Injunction against enforcement of the HHS Mandate filed by TMLC on behalf of Plaintiffs Tom Monaghan and his property management company, Domino’s Farm Corporation. Judge Zatkoff previously ruled in favor of granting an emergency temporary restraining order. The preliminary injunction extends the previous ruling to protect the plaintiffs for the entire pendency of the case.

Click here to read Judge Zatkoff’s entire opinion.

The Government is expected to appeal Judge Zatkoff’s ruling to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Thomas More Law Center defends and promotes America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and moral values, including the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life. It supports a strong national defense and an independent and sovereign United States of America. The Law Center accomplishes its mission through litigation, education, and related activities. It does not charge for its services. The Law Center is supported by contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations, and is recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c)(3) organization. You may reach the Thomas More Law Center at (734) 827-2001 or visit our website at www.thomasmore.org.

His Ancestors Escaped Religious Persecution in 1626; Yesterday He Filed a Federal Lawsuit to Escape Religious Persecution—Under the HHS Mandate

March 13, 2013 by

Thomas Beckwith’s ancestors, enduring the hardships of a storm tossed ocean voyage, landed on American shores in 1626 to escape religious persecution from England. One hundred and fifty years later, one of his ancestors, as a member of the Connecticut militia, fought against the tyrannical British king in the Revolutionary War. Yesterday, Thomas Beckwith, a devout Southern Baptist, and his family-owned Beckwith Electric Company, Inc, filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new form of tyranny and religious persecution—the HHS Mandate.

The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, announced Tuesday, March 12, 2013, it filed a 48-page federal lawsuit in a Florida Federal District Court against the Obama Administration challenging the HHS Mandate. TMLC’s Erin Mersino is lead counsel in the case. She is assisted by local co-counsel Paul Pizzo and Scott Richards of the Tampa firm of Fowler, White and Boggs.

Click here to read the Federal Lawsuit.

Thomas Beckwith is an active member of the First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks, a Southern Baptist congregation located in Largo, Florida. Beckwith Electric founded in 1967 by his parents has 168 full-time employees and provides micro-processor-based technology that protects and controls giant power system generators, transformers, and power lines, and protects the interconnection of alternative energy. The Company also provides energy-saving Volt/VAr optimization strategies and the automation of Conservation Voltage Reduction.

In his management of Beckwith Electric, Thomas Beckwith strives to “lead the company under God’s direction and by God’s principles.” His Faith prompted a business model that includes generous employee benefits, including: medical insurance, pharmacy, dental insurance, vision insurance, group life insurance, voluntary group life insurance, short term disability, long term disability, long term care insurance, Flexible Spending Accounts, Emergency Travel Assistance, Employee Assistance Program, 401(k) Retirement Plan, Profit Sharing, Educational Assistance, Due Time (Paid Time Off), 8 Paid Holidays, and a free-of charge membership at the L.A. Fitness Gym.

The Company also provides a chaplain for those employees who may be facing difficult issues of bereavement, marriage, children, finances, addictions, elder care, and other types of crises. Chaplains visit Plaintiff Beckwith Electric Co., Inc. on a weekly basis to build caring relationships with the employees.

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, called the HHS Mandate “outrageous.” According toLand, the Southern Baptist Convention, with more than 16 million members in the United States, “share[s] the concern of our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters.”

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), by which Beckwith is informed, protects the sanctity of life. According to the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission the Mandate is a threat to religious freedom. The commission stated that, “Government cannot be allowed to tell people of faith when they can live out the values of their faith and when they cannot. We must not render to government what is God’s.”

Should Mr. Beckwith refuse to comply with the HHS Mandate, in addition to the yearly fine of $2,000 per employee amounting to $336,000 per year, the Company could also be charged with violations of the Internal Revenue Code amounting to $100 per employee per day each year totaling over $6 million in fines per year.

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center commented, “By promulgating the HHS Mandate, the Federal Government intentionally declared war on people of Faith. The Law Center is privileged to represent Thomas Beckwith, a man who not only states what his Christian Faith stands for, but takes action to defend it.”

The first paragraph of the lawsuit succinctly sets forth the nature of the case: “This is a case about religious freedom. Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father of our country, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and our third president, when describing the construct of our Constitution proclaimed, ‘No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority.’”

Thomas Beckwith believes that life begins at the moment of conception. His deeply held religious convictions disallow him from providing for, participating in, pay for, training others to engage in, or otherwise supporting emergency contraception, abortion, abortifacients, and any drugs, devices, and service that are designed to kill innocent human life because such activities are sinful and immoral.

The purpose of the lawsuit is to permanently block the implementation of the HHS Mandate requiring employers and individuals to obtain insurance coverage for emergency contraception, abortion, abortifacients, and any drugs, devices, and service that are capable of killing innocent human life.

His Ancestors Escaped Religious Persecution in 1626; Today He Filed a Federal Lawsuit to Escape Religious Persecution—Under the HHS Mandate

March 12, 2013 by

ANN ARBOR, MI – Thomas Beckwith’s ancestors, enduring the hardships of a storm tossed ocean voyage, landed on American shores in 1626 to escape religious persecution from England. One hundred and fifty years later, one of his ancestors, as a member of the Connecticut militia, fought against the tyrannical British king in the Revolutionary War. Today, Thomas Beckwith, a devout Southern Baptist, and his family-owned Beckwith Electric Company, Inc, filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new form of tyranny and religious persecution—the HHS Mandate.

The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, today announced it filed a 48-page federal lawsuit in a Florida Federal District Court against the Obama Administration challenging the HHS Mandate. TMLC’s Erin Mersino is lead counsel in the case. She is assisted by local co-counsel Paul Pizzo and Scott Richards of the Tampa firm of Fowler, White and Boggs.

Click here to read the Federal Lawsuit.

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, called the HHS Mandate “outrageous.” According to Land, the Southern Baptist Convention, with more than 16 million members in the United States, “share[s] the concern of our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters.”

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center commented, “By promulgating the HHS Mandate, the Federal Government intentionally declared war on people of Faith. The Law Center is privileged to represent Thomas Beckwith, a man who not only states what his Christian Faith stands for, but takes action to defend it.”

The first paragraph of the lawsuit succinctly sets forth the nature of the case: “This is a case about religious freedom. Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father of our country, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and our third president, when describing the construct of our Constitution proclaimed, ‘No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority.’”

In one Texas School, Students have the Right to Opt-Out of Reciting the American Pledge of Allegiance . . . but Not the Mexican Pledge; Lawsuit Filed

February 27, 2013 by

ANN ARBOR, MI – Just as the 2011 school year began, Brenda Brinsdon, then a 15 year-old sophomore at Achieve Early College High School (AECHS) in McAllen Texas, was thrust into the national spotlight after she refused to stand up, extend her arms straight out with palms down and recite the Mexican Pledge of Allegiance and sing the Mexican National Anthem. Reyna Santos, the Spanish 3 teacher, required all her students to recite this allegiance to Mexico. Click here to see local news coverage.

When the time came for the students to stand up and recite the Mexican pledge, Brenda Brinsdon refused. Brenda, born in the United States, is the daughter of a Mexican immigrant and an American father. Brenda is fluent in Spanish and English and is proud of her Mexican heritage, but she is a true blooded American. So to Brenda, the words of the pledge have a deep meaning. Her conscience and patriotism would not allow her to participate in the assignment. She believed it was ‘un-American’ and she was exercising her constitutional right not to be forced to pledge allegiance to Mexico. The school punished her for her refusal.

As a result, the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, along with local Texas attorney Jerad Najvar, filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Brenda and her father William Brinsdon claiming that school officials violated Brenda’s constitutional rights. Click here to read the federal lawsuit.

Ironically, the assignment to recite the Mexican pledge was given during the school’s celebration of Freedom Week, marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks and also on U.S. Constitution Day. According to the McAllen School District policy for Special Programs, social studies classes during Freedom Week were required to recite the text of the Declaration of Independence. However, excusals from recitation are granted for students who have a conscientious objection.

The longstanding Supreme Court decision, West Virginia State Bd. of Educ. v. Barnette, (1943), and the school district’s own policy prohibit a school from compelling students to recite the American Pledge of Allegiance. However, the School District ignored those rules when Brenda Brinsdon refused to recite the Mexican pledge.

Brenda’s refusal was not well received by her teacher, Reyna Santos, or the school principal, Yvette Cavasos. Both tried to coerce her to recite the Mexican pledge, saying this was just an assignment. Brenda attempted to discuss reasons for her refusal to pledge allegiance to a country other than the United States with both Santos and Cavasos. When Brenda did not back down, she was punished.

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), commented, “Too many Americans—including those of Mexican descent—have suffered and died protecting our nation. It’s astonishing that this Texas school would deny Brenda her right of conscience and free speech not to pledge allegiance to a foreign country. There is a sad trend in public schools across our nation to undermine American patriotism. But it’s encouraging to see students like Brenda stand up for America despite pressure from school officials.”

Santos gave Brenda an alternate assignment; write an essay on the Independence of Mexico. While performing above average on all previous assignments in the class, Brenda completed this assignment on time but was given a failing grade. She was also required to sit in class over the next several days and listen to student after student reciting the Mexican pledge.

Following the incident, Brenda was involuntarily removed from her Spanish class. She spent the class hour in the school’s office, even though she requested to return to the classroom. Brenda was also given a failing grade on her report card, which was later corrected.

Brenda videotaped the class on her cell phone and brought it home to show her father. Click here to see Brenda’s cell phone video. Mr. Brinsdon attempted to contact several school officials but he never received a return call.

The lawsuit claims the school district and school officials deprived Brenda of her right to freedom of speech and equal protection of the law by discriminating against and unjustly punishing her because of her viewpoint. The lawsuit names the McAllen Independent School District, AECHS Principal, and Spanish teacher Reyna Santos as defendants.