Update: 7th Circuit Refuses Rehearing on "Choose Life" Plates, TMS Will Petition the United States Supreme Court to Resolve the Case

Thomas More Society is "putting the band back together" for another U.S. Supreme Court appeal, this time to defend Americans' rights to express their pro-adoption "Choose Life" views in public square

The Thomas More Society's petition for rehearing en banc has been denied by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. While the petition highlighted "questions of exceptional importance" involving conflicts between the panel's ruling and rulings of other courts approving such plates, the 7th Circuit refused to reconsider or rehear the case. Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of Thomas More Society, said that an appeal to the United States Supreme Court is now being prepared.

"We are committed to fight this battle to the finish," said Brejcha, "It makes no sense that suppression of the 'Choose Life' specialty plate in Arizona was condemned by the Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals as 'viewpoint discrimination' in violation of the First Amendment rights of Arizona's citizens, whereas that same suppression in Illinois was held a valid exercise of state power."

For more information on the "Choose Life" license plate litigation, please click here.

Incredible Success! First-Ever Catholic Mass on Federal Plaza in Chicago Celebrated for Overflow Crowd by Bishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller -- in wind chill of 5 degrees!

Over 400 hundred people attended an outdoor Catholic Mass on Federal Plaza in Chicago at noon on Friday, December 12, 2008. The Thomas More Society provided legal and technical assistance to the event as part of its "Religion in the Public Square Project."

Security was tight because of the nearby presence of President-Elect Obama. You see, when the Thomas More Society secured permits back in June for Bishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, M.Sp.S., to celebrate the first-ever Catholic Mass on the site, little did we know that Federal Plaza would become the home of the Transition Office for President-Elect Barack Obama!

The Thomas More Society "Religion in the Public Square Project" drives us to provide legal assistance to religious groups to express their Faith in our nations' public squares. And, after doing some research, we realized that the President-Elect himself has stated that, "Secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering the public square."

We can all agree on this point: the First Amendment demands that, if a political group can have a rally on a public square, people of Faith can have a religious observance on that same public square.

The Thomas More Society stands ready to assist religious groups in defending their First Amendment right to express their Faith in the Public Square.

Thomas More Society Defends Right of Citizens to Express Religious Faith in Public Through Nativity Scenes

First-Ever Nativity Scene to be Erected inside Illinois State Capitol this Christmas

Update: The Secretary of State has moved the Nativity Scene from its original location -- in an alcove -- to the very center of the Capitol dome, immediately next to the Governor's "Holiday Tree"

Update 2: Missing the point that Faith is not something to be kept quiet or under wraps in our homes and churches, Newsweek/Washington Post asks, "Why make Jesus, Mary and Joseph share a stage on the road when they can star in so many places at home?" [Editor's note: by their nature, stars are meant to shine brightly for all to see!]

In the last few years, groups like the ACLU have successfully intimidated many villages, cities and municipalities into thinking expressions of faith displayed on public property are unconstitutional. Now, the Thomas More Society is striking back to defend Americans' rights to express their religious faith in the public square. For years, TMS has defended the right of Chicagoans to place an Easter Cross in Daley Plaza, and this year TMS is representing a local group to place a Nativity Scene inside the Illinois State Capitol -- for the first time in the Capitol's recorded history!

Click here to read more about this holy and historic event.

Baby Born Alive And Killed After Botched Abortion Laid to Rest in Miami

Thomas More Society Seeks Justice for Baby Shanice

Shanice Denise Osbourne was laid to rest this week, nearly 27 months after she was killed following a botched abortion. She was stuffed into a medical waste bag filled with chlorine bleach just after she was delivered alive by abortion clinic owner Belkis Gozalez in Hialeah, Fla. While the Miami-Dade County district attorney vacillated, the Thomas More Society intervened to seek justice for Baby Shanice.

So far, a Thomas More Society investigator has surfaced essential facts and witnesses, consulted with police, and prodded prosecutors. An expert pathologist, retained by the Thomas More Society, found that A Gyn Diagnostics' unlicensed staff played a causative role in the infant's death. Now, the Thomas More Society has retained Tom Pennekamp, Esq., a former president of the Dade County Bar Association and an expert in major personal injury cases, as its co-counsel for the purpose of bringing a lawsuit for "wrongful death" of Baby Shanice.

For more information about this shocking case, read the press release, along with articles from World Net Daily, LifeNews, and LifeSiteNews.

Special Note about the "St. Thomas More Society" of Philadelphia:

We have received a number of calls about the "St. Thomas More Society" of Philadelphia, which is honoring Sen. Robert Casey with its "Thomas More Award." Please know that we are not affiliated in any way with this group or its award.

Our guiding principles at the Thomas More Society, Pro-Life Law Center are the same as those of our namesake, Thomas More, who refused to compromise his conscience - even to the point of death - in favor of what was popular or what his sovereign, King Henry VIII, unjustly demanded. Like him, we stand firm in defense of human life, at all its stages, without hesitation and without apology.

Special Counsel Paul Linton's New Book, Abortion Under State Constitutions, Featured by Time Magazine Online - "Infinitely More Finely Argued" Than Existing Scholarship

The Thomas More Society is proud to announce the publication of Paul Linton's new masterwork, Abortion Under State Constitutions. The book is due to become the seminal work in the study of the abortion jurisprudence of the 50 states. Linton's "careful analysis reveals a darker picture for pro-choice advocates." Read more from Time.com.

Tom Brejcha Defends Pharmacists' Rights of Conscience on Page 1 of the Washington Post: "The United States was founded on the idea that people act on their conscience."

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Legal Analysis: Eighth Circuit Court Lifts Preliminary Injunction against South Dakota Informed Consent Law

"We're not surprised that the 8th Circuit sent this informed consent law back to the district court for a full review.  It's vitally important that women know the full extent of the risks of and alternatives to abortion," said Thomas Brejcha, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Society.  "What is surprising is the statement of one of the dissenting judges:  'The philosophical or religious question of when a human life comes into existence is distinct from the scientific question of whether a fetus is biologically a member of the species.'  Claiming that you can be a member of the human race without being a human being is more than ridiculous.   It is a retreat for human rights and sounds a lot like the arguments made to support slavery 150 years ago.  It shows how far some judges will go to protect abortion."

Click here for Special Counsel Paul Linton's incisive analysis of Planned Parenthood et al. v. Rounds et al.

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