The following is a partial list of reported cases in which AFLC Co-Founders and Senior Counsel Robert Muise and/or David Yerushalmi were lead counsel:
American Freedom Defense Initiative v. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, 781 F.3d 571 (1st Cir. 2015) (First Amendment challenge to a government transportation authority’s rejection of pro-Israel advertisement)
American Freedom Defense Initiative v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 880 F. Supp. 2d 456, 467 (S.D.N.Y. 2012) (successfully challenged the government’s restriction of a pro-Israel advertisement on free speech grounds)
American Freedom Defense Initiative v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, No. 2:14-cv-5335, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29571 (E.D. Pa. Mar. 11, 2015) (successfully challenged on First Amendment grounds a government transportation authority’s rejection of an anti-Islam advertisement)
American Freedom Defense Initiative v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 898 F. Supp. 2d 73, 79 (D.D.C. 2012) (successfully challenged the government’s restriction of a pro-Israel advertisement on free speech grounds)
Bible Believers v. Wayne County, 805 F.3d 228 (6th Cir. 2015) (en banc) (successfully defended the constitutional rights of Christian evangelists who were ordered to leave an Arab festival under threat of being cited for disorderly conduct based on the hostile reaction of Muslims who disagreed with the Christians’ speech)
Catholic League for Religious & Civil Rights v. City & County of San Francisco, 624 F.3d 1043 (9th Cir. 2009) (en banc) (constitutional challenge to City’s passage of an anti-Catholic resolution)
Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, Inc. v. City & County of Honolulu, 455 F.3d 910 (9th Cir. 2006) (constitutional challenge to city’s ban on aerial advertising)
Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, Inc. v. City of Springboro, 477 F.3d 807 (6th Cir. 2007) (successfully defended a pro-life group’s free speech rights and its members’ right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures against actions taken by two city police departments and the FBI)
Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, Inc. v. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, 533 F.3d 780 (9th Cir. 2008) (successfully defended a pro-life group’s free speech rights against the sheriff department’s unconstitutional application of a state statute)
Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, Inc. v. Napolitano, 648 F.3d 365 (6th Cir. 2011) (constitutional challenge to Department of Homeland Security’s targeting of so-called “right wing extremists”)
Council on American-Islamic Relations Action Network, Inc. v. Gaubatz, 891 F. Supp. 2d 13 (D.D.C. 2012) (dismissing, in part, lawsuit brought by CAIR)
Cutler v. United States Department of Health & Human Services, 797 F.3d 1173 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (constitutional challenge to Obamacare mandate on First Amendment grounds)
Dixon v. University of Toledo, 702 F.3d 269 (6th Cir. 2012) (constitutional challenge to the firing of a Christian employee for writing an op-ed that expressed the employee’s religious beliefs on homosexuality)
Doyle v. Goodridge, 444 Mass. 1006 (Mass. 2005) (collateral challenge to Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision granting same-sex marriage)Â
Eklund v. Byron Union School District, 154 Fed. Appx. 648 (9th Cir. 2005) (challenge to school district’s pro-Islam curriculum)
Faith Baptist Church v. Waterford Township, 522 Fed. Appx. 322 (6th Cir. 2013) (successfully reversed dismissal of free speech claim advanced by Christian church and its pastor)
Hansen v. Ann Arbor Public Schools, 293 F. Supp. 2d 780, 815 (E.D. Mich. 2003) (successfully challenged the school district’s restriction on a Christian student’s right to express her religious views during the school’s “diversity week”)
Johnson v. Poway Unified School District, 658 F.3d 954 (9th Cir. 2011) (constitutional challenge to school district’s ban of “God” from public school classroom)
Glenn v. Holder, 690 F.3d 417 (6th Cir. 2012) (constitutional challenge to federal hate crimes law on First Amendment grounds)
Largess v. Supreme Judicial Court, 373 F.3d 219 (1st Cir. 2004) (federal constitutional challenge to state court decision granting same-sex marriage)
Miles Christi Religious Order v. Northville Township, 629 F.3d 533 (6th Cir. 2010) (constitutional challenge to township’s zoning restriction as applied to Catholic religious order)
Murray v. Geithner, 624 F. Supp. 2d 667 ( E.D. Mich. 2009) (denying federal government’s motion to dismiss constitutional challenge to AIG bailout on the grounds that the government was using taxpayer funds to support sharia-compliant financing in violation of the Establishment Clause)
Muslim Community Association v. Pittsfield Township, No. 12-cv-10803, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 184684 (E.D. Mich. July 2, 2014) (successfully defended a private citizen’s First Amendment right to be free from burdensome subpoenas issued by CAIR that chilled the citizen’s free speech rights)
Nieto v. Flatau, 715 F. Supp. 2d 650 (E.D.N.C. 2010) (successfully challenged a speech restriction at Marine Corps base which prohibited a retired combat Marine, who was grieving the loss of his son who was killed by Islamic terrorists on the USS Cole, from displaying various decals and signs on his vehicle condemning such acts because officials claimed that the decals and signs would offend Muslims)
Northland Family Planning Clinic, Inc. v. Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, 868 F. Supp. 2d 962 (C.D. Cal. 2012) (successfully defended pro-life group in copyright challenge by abortion provider)
Northland Family Planning Clinic, Inc. v. Cox, 487 F.3d 323 (6th Cir. 2007) (defense of citizen-initiated, anti-abortion law on behalf of public interest group that sponsored the initiative)
Norton v. Ashcroft, 298 F.3d 547 (6th Cir. 2002) (constitutional challenge to the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) on behalf of pro-life demonstrators)
O’Connor v. Washburn University, 416 F.3d 1216 (10th Cir. 2005) (constitutional challenge to university’s anti-Catholic display)
Paulson v. City of San Diego, 475 F.3d 1047, 1048 (9th Cir. 2007) (defense of Mt. Soledad Cross in San Diego, California)Â
Saieg v. City of Dearborn, 641 F.3d 727 (6th Cir. 2011) (successfully challenged the city’s restriction on a Christian pastor’s right to distribute religious literature to Muslims at an Arab festival)
Satawa v. Macomb County Road Commission, 689 F.3d 506 (6th Cir. 2012) (successfully challenged the government’s restriction on the display of a nativity scene on a public median during Christmas, restoring the 60-year holiday tradition)
Skoros v. City of New York, 437 F.3d 1 (2d Cir. 2006) (constitutional challenge to school district’s ban on nativity scene displays during Christmas)
Thomas More Law Ctr. v. Obama, 651 F.3d 529 (6th Cir. 2011) (constitutional challenge to Obamacare)
Stratechuk v. Board of Education, 587 F.3d 597 (3d Cir. 2009) (constitutional challenge to public school district’s ban on Christmas music)
United States v. LtCol. Jeffrey Chessani, USMC, 2009 CCA LEXIS 84 (N-M. Ct. Crim. App. Mar. 17, 2009) (successfully defended a Marine battalion commander from politically-motivated criminal charges arising out of an insurgent attack against his Marines in Haditha, Iraq in November 2005)
Vasquez v. L.A. County, 487 F.3d 1246 (9th Cir. 2007) (constitutional challenge to the removal of a cross from the LA County Seal)