Students Sue North Carolina State University for Regulating Religious Speech

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A student-led Christian group filed a lawsuit against North Carolina State University for allegedly restricting their First Amendment rights by demanding they obtain a speech permit.

The federal court hearing took place Thursday where Tyson Langhofer, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, represented Grace Christian Life, a non-denominational Christian church that organizes services and fellowship activities for students at North Carolina State University. ADF is a conservative legal organization that represents people who claim their religious liberty has been infringed upon.

Hannalee Alrutz, president of Grace Christian Life and a senior at North Carolina State University, told The Daily Signal, “I have witnessed other student groups on campus engaging in conversation freely and not being stopped.”

“Because college campuses are a marketplace of ideas, every student from every belief system and standing should have the right to freely express their ideas,” Alrutz said. “The policy kills our speech. It puts a lot of fear in us so that when we desire to talk to somebody on campus, like a fellow student, there is always, in the back of our mind, a worry that we may be stopped or punished because the policy allows for that.”

Like many groups and clubs across college campuses nationwide, Grace Christian Life used the student union as a place to tell their peers about Grace Christian Life’s mission and to “invite them to attend Grace Christian Life events.”

In order to make students aware of their activities, Grace Christian Life needed to apply for a permit to set up a table and were told that “without a permit, they must stop approaching other students in the Talley Student Union to engage in religious discussions with them,” according to a Wednesday press release by ADF.

“The only permit required for free speech on a public university campus is the First Amendment,” Langhofer said in a statement, adding that the permits are “unconstitutional restrictions on the free speech of students.”

Despite what they see as the questionable legality of the university’s permit policy, Grace Christian Life members applied for and obtained a permit that allowed them to “speak with other students from behind the table or anywhere in the room.”

When the students stepped out from behind their designated table, a member of the Student Involvement Office made them return to their permitted area.

Controversy ensued when Student Involvement members failed to confront other student groups engaging in conversation and “handing out literature either without a permit or outside of the area reserved by their table permit.” This occurred “sometimes in full view of the same officials that stopped Grace Christian Life from doing the same,” according to ADF’s press release.

North Carolina State University said in a statement provided to The Daily Signal that “NC State believes this lawsuit is both frivolous and without merit. The implication that an organization has been treated differently on our campus because it is a religious group is false.”

In response to the accusation that the university’s speech permit policy was “selectively” enforced among student groups, the university said:

Individuals are of course free to engage others in conversations about their faith on campus. That free speech right is protected by the U.S. Constitution, and NC State not only protects but also defends the right of free speech for this group and all groups committed to the open exchange of ideas regardless of viewpoint.

Following the hearing, Langhofer told The Daily Signal, “I believe that the court’s questions today made it very clear that [the judge] did not believe that the lawsuit was frivolous at all and that there were legitimate and appropriate constitutional concerns with the [university’s speech permit] policy.”

North Carolina State University has been granted until 1 p.m. Friday to respond to ADF’s proposed injunction, giving ADF until midnight to respond to any proposals made by the university. Langhofer told The Daily Signal that he expected a decision from the judge by Saturday.

“I am very pleased with the hearing,” Langhofer said. “The judge expressed grave concerns with the breadth of NC State’s policy. He questioned NC State’s policy at length about why the university felt the students need a permit to talk with one another in the student union.” (For more from the author of “Students Sue North Carolina State University for Regulating Religious Speech” please click HERE)

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9-Year-Old Banned From ‘Making America Great Again’

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One local Trump supporter is being banned from wearing a signature Donald Trump hat to school after it began to draw tense conversations.

Logan Autry left Powers-Ginsburg Elementary School early on Thursday because school leaders said something he was wearing is causing a safety concern on campus– his red hat.

“The vice principal came up to me and told me to take my hat off because it brings negative attention from other students. And I said no a few times and then the principal told me again and I still said no and refused,” said Logan Autry.

For three days straight the third grader wore the hat to class. But each day, more and more classmates began confronting him at recess.

“I still want to keep my hat. It’s not the hat that draws attention, it’s just my personality that the other children do not like,” said Autry. (Read more from “9-Year-Old Banned From ‘Making America Great Again'” HERE)

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Bronx Man Beats Wife’s Would-Be Rapist to Death, Faces Manslaughter

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A Bronx man faces manslaughter charges after beating his wife’s would-be rapist to death.

According to reports, a 51 year old woman was hit over the head with a chair inside her Washington Avenue apartment at about 10:15pm Monday (May 30). The attacker, 43-year-old Earl Nash, illegally entered the building and forcibly removed her clothes. The woman fought him off and was able to dial her husband, 61-year-old Mamadou Diallo who was outside and rushed in.

Surveillance video shows Nash with no shirt on after the attack and Diallo getting off the elevator where his wife screamed “That’s him!” At this time, Diallo, a taxi driver, attacked Nash with a tire iron. Nash was taken to Lincoln Hospital in critical condition where he later died from his injuries. Hour before the attack Nash can be seen lurking in the hallways.

Diallo was taken into custody and charged with manslaughter, but he is expected to be released on his own recognizance. Diallo’s case will eventually go before a grand jury. (Read more from “Bronx Man Beats Wife’s Would-Be Rapist to Death, Faces Manslaughter” HERE)

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Medical Examiner Reveals the Cause of Prince’s Death

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Prince died of an accidental overdose of the powerful painkiller fentanyl, autopsy results released Thursday show . . .

According to a one-page report released by the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office, Prince administered the drug himself, but the date he took it was unknown. The office said it has completed its death investigation and had no further comment.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, 50 times more potent than heroin, that’s partly responsible for a recent surge in overdose deaths in some parts of the country. It also has legitimate medical uses. More than 700 fentanyl-related overdose deaths were reported to the Drug Enforcement Administration in late 2013 and 2014. (Read more from “Medical Examiner Reveals the Cause of Prince’s Death” HERE)

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Limbaugh Explains Why Many Believe a Gorilla’s Life More Valuable Than a Boy’s

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Rush Limbaugh believes he has put his finger on why many people would struggle to see that a young boy’s life is more valuable than a gorilla’s.

The conservative radio talk show host dedicated a large segment of his Tuesday program to discussing the controversy created at the Cincinnati Zoo after the staff made the decision to shoot the 400-pound gorilla, named Harambe, in order to save the boy, who had fallen into its habitat area.

Video of the incident shows Harambe both appearing to care for the boy and treating him very roughly, dragging him around the enclosure.

Limbaugh points out that the gorilla did nothing wrong: It was not his fault the young child managed to fall into the animal’s space. The boy cannot be held at fault either, so neither was to blame.

The commentator explained an unmistakable fact seen in the video is that no zookeeper was going to be able to take the boy away from the gorilla, and the longer the child stayed in the animal’s area, the more likely he would be seriously hurt or killed.

The zoo’s staff feared firing a tranquilizer dart into Harambe would likely anger the animal and take a period of time to take effect, putting the boy in even more jeopardy.

The choice, however disconcerting, was clear: put the gorilla down. Limbaugh observed that this decision should not be difficult for people to grasp, but based on the strong response online to killing the animal, it was.

The talk show host offered a reason why some people found such a moral dilemma in the choice, acknowledging it may make some “uncomfortable to hear it.”

“But in this case there are people who think that gorilla’s life mattered more. In a country with whatever million number of abortions every year, I mean, you can’t factor that out in understanding how people would have problems placing value on which life counts most here,” he said.

Limbaugh also pointed out that for many on the left, “humans are the cause of everything going wrong on earth,” from climate change to animal suffering.

“By definition, these people cannot be familiar with Genesis, and if they were, they would dissociate themselves from it,” stated Limbaugh. “They have absolutely no such training, foundation, or awareness of the primacy of humanity on planet Earth as created by God. Such a mindset does not exist with them. It’s the exact opposite. Humanity is the problem.” (For more from the author of “Limbaugh Explains Why Many Believe a Gorilla’s Life More Valuable Than a Boy’s” please click HERE)

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Your Money Is Going to Planned Parenthood Whether You Like It or Not

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Whether you’re a painter, pastor, lawyer, or laborer (pro-life or pro-abortion), you work for Planned Parenthood. A portion of every paycheck goes to the world’s leading abortion business through the federal and state taxes allocated by your elected representatives and the unelected bureaucrats they empower.

For the fiscal year ending in June 2015 (just before the Center for Medical Progress videos were released), over $550 million of your hard-earned tax dollars went to Planned Parenthood.

But the states are taking the lead to end this forced partnership with “Big Abortion” and redirecting those funds to providers that better serve women and families.

Since the authenticated Center for Medical Progress videos were released showing Planned Parenthood officials bartering over the prices of baby body parts, 15 states have taken action to end or limit its taxpayer subsidies.

Here are just a few examples of what state legislatures and governors have done:

New Hampshire canceled over $600,000 in annual state grants to Planned Parenthood.

Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas moved to exclude Planned Parenthood from the states’ Medicaid programs “for cause,” citing its waste, abuse, and potential fraud and the evidence of violations of the law and ethics demonstrated in the Center for Medical Progress videos.

Wisconsin and Arizona have slashed the Medicaid reimbursement for certain drugs for entities like Planned Parenthood that receive them at artificially low rates under a federal government program, denying them windfall profits and making those funds available to more women and families.

Ohio, Florida, Utah, and Wisconsin have also eliminated Planned Parenthood from other federal and state grant programs administered by the state.

These actions have potentially eliminated tens of millions in annual taxpayer subsidies going to Planned Parenthood. This represents a small part of the hundreds of millions that it receives, but it is a solid start. And these efforts may at least cut into the $59 million in “excess revenue” the abortion outfit reported last year alone.

States have fought to defund the abortion industry before, but never has the effort to rid American taxpayers of their compelled support of Planned Parenthood been more purposeful and effective than the past several months.

Even Congress has heard the call to stop the flow of taxpayer funds to Planned Parenthood. Just five years ago, an effort to defund Planned Parenthood garnered only 42 votes in the Senate. But moved by the evidence against Planned Parenthood and the fact that other providers are simply better public health options for women and families, in January, Congress actually placed a bill on the president’s desk slashing Planned Parenthood’s access to our tax dollars.

The bill wasn’t perfect, and it was of course vetoed by President Barack Obama, but the progress is real. A different president, one not beholden to an entity that alone has spent tens of millions of dollars to elect him and others who will defend their access to the public trough, would make the difference.

But just as the states are not waiting on Congress to pass laws limiting abortions after five months, when the unborn child can feel pain, they are also not content to wait on Congress to finally stop their citizens’ tax dollars from going to the abortion industry. Governors and state legislators have worked to redirect our tax dollars away from the abortion industry before, but in the last 10 months they have shown a new leadership that should encourage pro-lifers and any advocate of federalism.

No one ever said that eliminating taxpayer subsidies to the abortion market leader and a key political friend to Democratic candidates would be easy. Planned Parenthood has sued several states, and the ultimate success of some states in defunding it may rest on the election of a pro-life president who will support their authority to make their own decisions about their state Medicaid programs.

But the results of the last 10 months should give us hope that this is a fight we can win. We don’t have to keep sending our hard-earned tax dollars to support a billion dollar abortion business. And the leaders in that fight are outside the beltway. (For more from the author of “Your Money Is Going to Planned Parenthood Whether You Like It or Not” please click HERE)

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Murder-Suicide Stuns Students and Faculty at UCLA

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Police have confirmed that a murder-suicide occurred when one man shot and killed another, then turned the gun on himself on the campus of UCLA Wednesday.

“It appears it is entirely contained,” said LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck during a press conference. “We believe there are no suspects outstanding and no continuing threat to the UCLA campus.”

Fox News reports the LAPD was on a citywide tactical alert following the shooting, which happened just after 10 a.m. The campus was placed on lockdown.

Beck said the shooting happened in a small office and both men were found dead at the scene. Students reported hearing loud noises and gun casings dropping, according to UCLA’s campus newspaper. The identities of the men have not yet been made public and their relationship to each other is thus far unknown.

A gun and what Beck said “could be” a suicide note were found at the scene.

With the realization that the shooter was dead and the campus was safe, the LAPD released the students from lockdown.

Students at nearby Fairburn Elementary School, Warner Elementary School and Emerson Community Charter Middle School had also been put on lockdown as a precautioniary measure due to police activity in the vicinity. Much like the UCLA students, they, too, were released from lockdown

The shooting occurred just two days before the final day of classes at the university. (For more from the author of “Murder-Suicide Stuns Students and Faculty at UCLA” please click HERE)

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Obama Touts Transgender Restrooms, Blasts ‘Harmful Practice of Conversion Therapy’

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In an official White House statement, President Obama denounced the “harmful practice of conversion therapy,” a therapeutic method designed to help people overcome unwanted same-sex attraction.

“My administration is striving to better understand the needs of LGBT adults and to provide affordable, welcoming, and supportive housing to aging LGBT Americans,” the president writes in his Presidential Proclamation for LGBT Pride Month, a declaration that has become an annual tradition. “It is also why we oppose subjecting minors to the harmful practice of conversion therapy, and why we are continuing to promote equality and foster safe and supportive learning environments for all students.”

The latter is an apparent reference to his controversial federal guidance that all public schools and universities must allow members of one sex to use the restrooms, showers, and overnight accommodations (including dorm rooms) of the opposite biological sex or lose federal funding.

However, the president took the opportunity of his last pride month proclamation to reiterate his support for a federal ban on reparative therapy for minors, a position he shares with Hillary Clinton.

Their real agenda may have nothing to do with concern over the safety of LGBT youth, an expert tells LifeSiteNews. (Read more from “Obama Touts Transgender Restrooms, Blasts ‘Harmful Practice of Conversion Therapy'” HERE)

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Planned Parenthood Wants to Make Pro-Life Undercover Investigations Illegal in California

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Abortion supporters and opponents are attacking a bill Planned Parenthood claims is needed to protect abortionists and their patients from harm, but which its critics claim is an unconstitutional restriction on freedom of speech. Describing the Center for Medical Progress’s expose of the abortion industry as a “series of reckless and malicious videos as part of a national smear campaign to spread lies about Planned Parenthood,” the head of California’s Planned Parenthood chapters claimed the new bill would close the legal “loophole” that allows it.

The bill, called AB [Assembly Bill] 1671, does not mention abortion or abortionists but covers “health care providers,” which it defines broadly. It seems tailored to prevent pro-life investigators from engaging in the same tactics taken by undercover investigators of all stripes, including journalists investigating other industries. It passed a state committee 14-6, with all Democrats on the committee in support.

Sponsored by Los Angeles assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, a prominent Planned Parenthood supporter, AB 1671 adds to the existing law against eavesdropping a law making it illegal to “disclose or distribute the contents of the confidential communication without the consent of all parties to the confidential communication unless specified conditions are met” — including the consent of the person being recorded. It would also “make it a crime for any person to aid or abet any person in the commission of those offenses.”

The punishment for a first offense would be a fine of up to $2,500 and/or imprisonment for up to 3 years.

The Less Transparent Planned Parenthood

“For years, undercover journalists have documented Planned Parenthood employees covering up for sex traffickers, failing to report child sexual abusers and trafficking in baby body parts,” said Live Action founder Lila Rose, who has herself gone undercover to investigate abortion providers. “Rather than be more transparent with the public, Planned Parenthood wants to make it a crime for the media to publish evidence that it might be doing something illegal.”

AB 1671 is opposed by multiple media groups, with the California Newspaper Publishers Association (CNPA) calling it “an unconstitutional restriction on speech.” CNPA has been joined by California Broadcasters and the Motion Picture Association in its opposition. A pro-abortion investigative reporter described the bill as “an attack on all First Amendment rights.”

Rose said that since taxpayers provide nearly half of Planned Parenthood’s annual revenues, the organization should be subject to more, not less, transparency. The public “has a right to know that its money isn’t being used to break the law or commit abuses,” she declared. “This bill puts Planned Parenthood’s interests ahead of the First Amendment, its clients, and the public, and it would keep evidence of illegal or abusive activity hidden from nearly everyone’s view.” (For more from the author of “Planned Parenthood Wants to Make Pro-Life Undercover Investigations Illegal in California” please click HERE)

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First Baby Born With Zika-Linked Microcephaly in New York Tri-State Area

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Doctors at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey confirmed Tuesday the birth of a child suffering from Zika-linked microcephaly, a condition wherein the child’s brain and head are partially developed.

The mother, who is 31 but whose name was not disclosed, contracted the Zika virus while in Honduras and was admitted to the emergency room at Hackensack on Friday while vacationing in the United States. Tuesday, doctors delivered her baby girl, who was born also with intestinal and visual issues. Reports indicate she is the first child born with Zika-linked complications in the New York tri-state area.

The child’s mother, who developed a rash for two days in Honduras but had no other symptoms until arriving in the U.S., was under the care of a surgical team led by Dr. Abdulla Al-Khan and Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing health editor at FoxNews.com and chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Hackensack. A neonatologist and pediatric infectious disease specialist, as well as nursing personnel, were on hand for the birth.

Doctors in Honduras suspected intracranial complications with the child in utero, but it was not until she was admitted to the high-risk unit at Hackensack University Medical Center that doctors confirmed the microcephaly diagnosis. The patient’s aunt told FoxNews.com the mother is not doing well emotionally after the birth of her child.

While this is the first birth of a child with Zika-linked complications at Hackensack, it is not the first such case in the U.S. In February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed that a woman delivered a baby who suffered from severe microcephaly as a result of Zika infection. (Read more from “First Baby Born With Zika-Linked Microcephaly in New York Tri-State Area” HERE)

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