Arkansas Family Council

JCN Takes Sotomayor Fight to the States

Submitted by Kyle on June 5, 2009 - 10:12am

It looks like the Judicial Confirmation Network is taking its battle against the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the state level by teaming up with local activists and state-affiliates of national right-wing groups:

Grassroots Coalition Formed to Mobilize for SCOTUS Hearings

Little Rock -- On Thursday (June 4, 2008), key organizations from around Arkansas announced the formation of a “center-right” coalition, the Arkansas Judicial Network, in preparation for the nomination hearings of Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

The initial coalition will consist of the following individuals and/or organizations:

· Anne Britton – NRA National Volunteer of the Year (2000)
· Jerry Cox – President, Arkansas Family Council
· Betsy Hagan – Chairman, Arkansas Chapter of Eagle Forum
· Doyle Webb -- Chairman, Republican Party of Arkansas
· Brian Vandiver – Attorney and Chairman of the Arkansas Federalist Society
· Cory Cox -- Attorney and former Chairman of the Arkansas Federalist Society
· David Fort – Small Business Owner and Chairman, Arkansas Federation of Young Republicans

This Arkansas Judicial Coalition will partner with the Judicial Confirmation Network (JCN), (www.judicialnetwork.com) to ensure that Arkansans understand the judicial philosophy of Barack Obama’s appointee to the United States Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor.

Let's see, this new groups consists of members of the Federalist Society and the Eagle Forum, NRA volunteers, and the head of a state's Focus on the Family affiliate who took the lead last year in preventing gays and lesbians from being able to adopt children.

Where exactly are those representing the "center" in this "center-right coalition"?

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ADF Riding to the Rescue in Arkansas

Submitted by Kyle on March 6, 2009 - 2:10pm

Last month we mentioned that the Arkansas Family Council was seeking in intervene in the lawsuit challenging the initiative passed last November barring gay couples from adopting children because they did not believe that the state's Attorney General would work hard enough to defend it and demanding that the Alliance Defense Fund be allowed to step in to do so.

Today, a state judge granted the request:

A state judge ruled Friday that a conservative group can intervene in a lawsuit challenging Arkansas' ban on unmarried couples adopting or fostering children.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza on Friday granted the Arkansas Family Council's request to help the state defend Initiated Act 1 that the council worked to put on the November election ballot.

The judge said after an hour-long hearing that his decision was not a reflection of how he felt about Attorney General Dustin McDaniel's ability to handle the case. Piazza said he believed allowing the group to help defend the measure would allow the case to be "fully developed."

"I'm a firm believer that you can't be afraid of what someone is going to say," Piazza said.

Byron Babione, an attorney representing the council, said the conservative group had a unique interest in the case because it had pushed to get the measure on the ballot and had mobilized volunteers during its successful fall campaign.

Babione also noted that McDaniel and Gov. Mike Beebe, both Democrats, had opposed the act. Beebe and McDaniel had both publicly opposed the measure during the election, and McDaniel's political action committee gave $1,000 to a group that campaigned against the new restriction.

"Nobody really likes to have their interests represented by somebody who doesn't believe in their cause," said Babione, who is senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.

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Right Wing Leftovers

Submitted by Kyle on January 26, 2009 - 4:41pm

How cool is Facebook? So cool that even the hipsters over at the American Family Association now have their own page.
John Hagee writes that he is praying "fervently for [Barack Obama's] success" and calls on the Religious Right, when they disagree with the new president, to do so with "the same civility and respect that he has thus far shown to us."
The AP reports that the Arkansas Family Council is trying to intervene in a lawsuit stemming from the recent passage of the law banning gays from adopting children, arguing that the current Attorney General is not supporting of the law and trying to bring in the Alliance Defense Fund to help defend it.
Much like the right-wing criticisms that helped sink Mike Huckabee's presidential aspirations, some commentators are now saying that Gov. Bobby Jindal "doesn't actually walk his conservative talk."
Phill Klein now has his own website called Stand With Truth where he can share his views:

President Obama did not mention abortion once in his inaugural address despite the issue being the most divisive in our nation. Just as President Franklin Pierce did not once mention slavery in his only inaugural address in 1853, less than a decade before the issue plunged the nation to war.

On abortion, politician Obama has survived through political calculation, deception and with gratitude to a self-indulgent culture full of distraction and willful ignorance. And his first actions have been aggressively opposed to this significant civil rights issue. Yet, President Obama will not escape the judgment of history.

Finally, last week we noted that Sen. Orrin Hatch had stepped in to help save Rob Schenck's annual National Service for the Pre-born, allowing it to be held at the new Capitol Visitor Center - now some footage of the event has been put on-line: