"Let everyone who is Godly pray to you while you may be found"  (Psalm 32:6)

PIVOTAL COURT CASES TOMORROW
Pro-Life Protest, Political Free Speech at Stake

[T]hey... commanded them not to speak... nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:18).

The heart of religious and political free speech will be on trial in two Washington, DC courts tomorrow. Christians must urgently pray for righteousness to prevail.

Scheidler v. the National Organization for Women

This case originates back to 1986 when N.O.W. sued Joe Scheidler and his Pro-Life Action League charging they had used force, violence and intimidation to obstruct the entitlement of doctors to perform abortions and the right of women to have abortions. Later N.O.W. added other pro-life protesters to the suit invoking RICO (the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) making them out to be mobsters. Federal district and appeals courts dismissed the case.
But the U.S. Supreme Court later said RICO could apply if a "pattern" of extortion could be shown. So in 1998, a jury found the pro-lifers guilty under RICO and levied penalties and fees of $1.3 million against them. Based upon N.O.W. complaints, a Chicago U.S. District Judge in 1999 issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting sit-ins and other nonviolent acts of civil disobedience outside abortion clinics.
The case before the U.S. Supreme, Scheidler v. the N.O.W., challenges both the RICO penalties and the prohibition of nonviolent acts of civil disobedience. A wrong outcome in this case would effectively end all pro-life protest and counseling at abortion clinics, and give pro-aborts a tool to torture and punish pro-lifers.
--Father, ANOINT those who will argue the Pro-Life case tomorrow. ANOINT also the hearing& understanding of our Justices. Compel them to judge aright. END this gross injustice against Pro-Life Christians (Jer 1:7, 17-19; Acts 4:18; 16:20).
McConnell v. the Federal Election Commission

A three-judge panel of the Federal District Court in Washington will hear this case tomorrow. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002, championed by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), bans the national political parties from accepting large "soft money" contributions from labor unions, corporations and individuals. It also prohibits interest groups from airing ads during the election season that promote or criticize a federal candidate's position on issues - even if they do not suggest how one should vote.
This law is egregiously unconstitutional. That Congress passed and the President signed it is an outrage, evidence of how fragile our civil liberties are and how important citizen action is to their preservation. This case is expected go to the Supreme Court regardless of the decision in this court. (For more information on BCRA see http://www.prayeralert.org/alertarchives/alert-05-01-02.html ).

--LORD, REBUKE all who so insolently disregarded our Constitution by helping to pass this outrageous law. Cause this court & the Supreme Court to jealously protect our freedom to speak out on political issues (Pr 8:15; Is 30:10-13; Jer 5:7-31; Am 2:12; 7:10-13).

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