July 22, 2005

Office of the President

Steven W. Fitschen

It’s been a wild and eventful Summer so far . . . and it promises to get wilder still.

Dear Friend of Freedom,

Since I last wrote you, an incredible series of events has unfolded:

• On June 27, the Supreme Court announced its opinions in the two Ten Commandments cases . . . unbelievably finding one constitutional and the other unconstitutional.

• On June 30, Spain legalized same-sex marriage.

• On July 1, Justice O’Connor announced her retirement from the Supreme Court

• On July 19, President Bush announced his nomination of John G. Roberts, Jr. to replace Justice O’Connor on the Supreme Court.

• Also on July 19, Canada legalized same-sex marriage.

What an incredible combination of events!

The fact that two nations legalized same-sex marriage in just a few days—now bringing the worldwide total to four—shows just what a serious threat this issue is in America. This really grabbed our attention because while this was happening we were actively working on briefs on this very issue. We are currently writing briefs for cases arising from New York and Nebraska and are getting ready for the next rounds of briefing in California and New Jersey.

One of these days, this issue will make it to the United States Supreme Court . . . unless, of course, we can ever pass a Federal Marriage Amendment. The NLF has been involved in this issue too but right now it doesn’t look very promising.

And if the same-sex marriage issue ever gets to the Supreme Court, the composition of that Court will make an incredible difference.

That became obvious when the Supreme Court issued its Ten commandments decisions!

While we are glad that the Court has at least allowed some Ten Commandments displays, that is as far as the good news goes. The decisions themselves are jokes!

HOWEVER, here is the important news . . . and you probably haven’t heard this anywhere else. In BOTH cases, we were just one vote away from getting rid of the old legal test that is used in Establishment Clause cases. Four justices wanted to adopt the test that we advocated in one of our briefs.

I TRUST YOU UNDERSTAND HOW SIGNIFICANT YOUR SUPPORT OF THIS ORGANIZATION IS! We were just one vote away from the United States Supreme Court adopting the exact test that you helped us advocate by funding all of our work!

If that test is adopted, it will restore sanity to the Supreme Court’s Establishment Clause jurisprudence.

But the same-sex marriage issue and the Establishment Clause issue are not the only ones that will be impacted by a new justice. Virtually every issue you help us fight will likely be restored to position of sanity.

And now, President Bush has nominated John Roberts to fill the vacancy. While some folks are a little nervous about Judge Roberts, most folks on “our side”—including me—are very excited and very optimistic about Judge Roberts.

With the new opportunity for a saner Supreme Court, we need—and I know I can count on—your support like never before.

Thanks for being there,

Steven W. Fitschen
President

P.S. In addition to the briefs on marriage that I mentioned, we also just filed a brief at the United States Supreme Court in the so-called Solomon Amendment case, fighting yet another aspect of the homosexual agenda. We are also working on two more Establishment Clause cases in two different federal Courts of Appeals and on an abortion case at the Supreme Court.

As I often remind you, all of our services are rendered free of charge. We depend on YOU! So, please send your very best gift today. NOW IS THE TIME—LET’S SEIZE THE MOMENT!

	Post Office Box 64427, Virginia Beach, Virginia, 23467-4427 Phone (757) 463.6133; Fax (757) 463.6055; E-mail nlf@nlf.net
*© 2006 by the National Legal Foundation & Minuteman Institute*