New York — Having collaborated for over four years on many high-profile cases, attorneys David Yerushalmi and Robert J. Muise have decided to formalize their working relationship by together launching the American Freedom Law Center (AFLC). Yerushalmi, an orthodox Jew, and Muise, an orthodox Catholic, describe AFLC as the Nation’s first truly authentic Judeo-Christian, public interest law firm.
According to Yerushalmi and Muise, they formed AFLC because they share the firm conviction that the strength of our Nation lies in its commitment to a Judeo-Christian heritage and moral foundation and to an enduring faith and trust in God and His Providence. This intersection between our Judeo-Christian values and the preservation and security of our Nation has garnered the interest and support from several prominent leaders, including former CIA Director R. James Woolsey; former Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan and current President of the Center for Security Policy Frank Gaffney; Notre Dame law professor Charles Rice; former Inspector General for the Department of Defense Joseph Schmitz; and former Assistant U.S. Attorney and current contributing editor to National Review Andy McCarthy, all of whom will be serving on the AFLC Advisory Board.
Through AFLC, Yerushalmi and Muise seek a return to what they describe as “America’s founding commitment to receive God’s continued blessing for America.” Yerushalmi commented, “AFLC will fight for faith and freedom by advancing and defending America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and moral foundation through litigation, education, and public policy programs. Fighting for our Judeo-Christian values is more than simply defending religious liberty; it is fighting for the very survival of our Nation.” He added, “Throughout history, great nations have fallen from within. Make no mistake, America is a blessed Nation, but only so long as it remains faithful to the Judeo-Christian values upon which it was founded.”
Yerushalmi and Muise have pledged to aggressively fight those who seek to undermine and destroy our Nation’s founding principles. They view secular progressives and organizations such as the ACLU and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as domestic enemies to the Judeo-Christian values reflected in our Constitution and Declaration of Independence. They vow to fight the “civilization jihad” being waged by the Muslim Brotherhood and other sharia-driven Muslims operating within the United States, including CAIR.
What is AFLC? It is first and foremost a public interest litigation firm. Muise explained the pressing need for an organization like AFLC: “To great effect, elite secular progressives are systematically assailing and destroying our Nation’s moral foundation. Driven by a transnational world view that is hostile to our Nation’s Judeo-Christian values, progressives are zealously sweeping religion from the public square, foisting sharia law and other harmful international precedents into our courts and Constitution, assaulting the traditional family, and weakening our national defense by — among other things — undermining the strength of our military through social engineering and political correctness. Our traditional liberties hang in balance. And for good or ill, this battle for America’s soul is being waged in the courtrooms across the country.”
AFLC will aggressively advance and defend our Nation’s Judeo-Christian moral foundation by prosecuting cases to advance and defend religious liberty, the freedom of speech, the sanctity of human life, and the traditional family. They will craft litigation to promote limited government, a renewed federalism, and a strong national defense, which includes the right of private citizens to bear arms. And they will engage the enemy with what Yerushalmi and Muise describe as offensive “lawfare” to defend our national sovereignty and to fight stealth jihad in all of its forms, including the “civilization jihad” being waged by CAIR and others.
According to Yerushalmi and Muise, there is no other public interest law firm as uniquely qualified to fight this battle. Indeed, Yerushalmi and Muise make a formidable team. Both are accomplished lawyers with many decades of litigation experience in state and federal trial and appellate courts all across the country.
Yerushalmi specializes in litigation and risk analysis, especially as it relates to geo-strategic policy, national security, international business relations, securities law, and disclosure and due diligence requirements for domestic and international concerns. He is an expert in constitutional law, with an emphasis on the First Amendment. He has been involved in international legal and constitutional matters for over 25 years. And he is today considered an expert on Islamic law and its intersection with Islamic terrorism and national security.
In this capacity, he has published widely on the subject including the principal critical scholarship on sharia-compliant finance published in the Utah Law Review (2008, Issue 3). Yerushalmi also designed and co-authored a ground-breaking peer reviewed empirical investigation on sharia-adherence and the promotion of violent jihadist literature in U.S. mosques published in the Middle East Quarterly (Summer 2011) and then republished in a more detailed format in Perspectives on Terrorism, the journal of the prestigious Terrorism Research Initiative. This research and scholarship on sharia was earlier the focus of a 2008 monograph published by the McCormick Foundation and the Center for Security Policy entitled, “Shariah, Law and ‘Financial Jihad’: How Should America Respond?” Just recently, Yerushalmi was listed by Forward Magazine as one of the top 50 Jewish leaders in 2011 for his work shaping the policy initiatives countering the threat from sharia.
Muise, a former Marine infantry officer, brings to the legal team a tough, no-nonsense attitude. Prior to beginning his constitutional law practice in 2000, Muise served 13 years in the Marine Corps. He first served as an infantry officer for 9 years, during which time he participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the first Persian Gulf War. He then attended law school at the University of Notre Dame while he was a Captain on active duty. He graduated summa cum laude from Notre Dame Law School in 1997, and served several years as a Marine Judge Advocate. Muise attained the rank of Major prior to resigning his commission in 2000. According to Muise, he is still fulfilling the oath he took in the Marine Corps: “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” He has been fighting this battle his entire adult life. Last August, Muise was named the “Appellate Lawyer of the Week” by the National Law Journal.
As Yerushalmi and Muise note, they are no strangers to this fight. Over the past decade, they have appeared on many local, national and international radio and television programs, including the O’Reilly Factor, Hannity & Colmes, Fox & Friends, Freedom Watch, and others, to discuss their cases. They frequently appear on conservative talk radio stations across the Nation. And their work has been covered by major national publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times, National Review, American Thinker, WorldNetDaily, and others. By joining forces and forming AFLC, they are convinced that AFLC will quickly become the Nation’s premier, public interest law firm engaged in this critical battle for America.
The American Freedom Law Center is a Judeo-Christian law firm that fights for faith and freedom. It accomplishes its mission through litigation, public policy initiatives, 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.
Press Release--Lawyers Join Forces to Create AFLC