The Chicago Tribune concluded that the ACLJ has "led the way" in Christian legal advocacy. TIME Magazine named Jay Sekulow one of the "25 Most Influential Evangelicals" in America and called the ACLJ "a powerful counterweight" to the ACLU.
ACLJ generally pursues constitutional issues and conservative Christian ideals in courts of law. The leaders of the ACLJ also occasionally engage in public debates to present their perspective on legal and constitutional issues.
In 2018, ACLJ attorney Jay Sekulow was serving on President Donald Trump 's personal legal team. Another Sekulow client at the time was the American Christian pastor Andrew Brunson, in detention and facing charges in Turkey.
History. The ACLJ arose in part as a right-leaning political answer to the American Civil Liberties Union. The name and acronym, ACLJ, was chosen to contrast with the ACLU. It has attracted much media attention for its lawsuits, such as its campaign to oppose changes to the constitution of Kenya that, according to the group,...
American Center for Law & JusticeFormation1990HeadquartersWashington, D.C., United StatesFounderPat RobertsonKey peopleJay Sekulow, Jordan SekulowWebsiteaclj.org1 more row
This charity's score is 61.79, earning it a 1-Star rating. Charity Navigator believes donors can "Give with Confidence" to charities with 3- and 4-Star ratings. This score is calculated from two sub-scores: Finance: 77.22 View details.
Though the 69-year-old ACLU is bigger than the upstart ACLJ and has a wider agenda, both are groups of lawyers and opinion-shapers who, supplemented by a network of affiliates, fight for what they see as fundamental liberties under the United States Constitution.
AS A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION, THE ACLJ DOES NOT CHARGE FOR ITS SERVICES AND IS DEPENDENT UPON GOD AND THE RESOURCES HE PROVIDES THROUGH THE TIME, TALENT, AND GIFTS OF PEOPLE WHO SHARE OUR CONCERNS AND DESIRE TO PROTECT OUR RELIGIOUS AND CONSTITUTIONAL FREEDOMS.
Sekulow's youngest brother Scott was the founder and Rabbi of the Messianic Jewish Congregation Beth Adonai in Atlanta, Georgia, until his death in August 2021 of Covid-19.
501(c)(3)American Center for Law & Justice / Tax deductibility code
The ACLJ is one of several American Christian groups that are promoting conservative Christian laws in Africa, supporting controversial movements regarding LGBT rights, including support in Uganda for criminalizing homosexuality.
The ACLJ has been criticized by the ACLU for its stance on putting prayer in public school and by Americans United for conflating support of separation of church and state with being anti-religious. The Human Rights Campaign is critical of the ACLJ's finances citing that the organization does not meet "10 out of 20 of the Better Business Bureau ’s standards for charity accountability" and that ACLJ obfuscates how much Sekulow earns from the organization.
In November 2010, the ACLJ asked that the U.S. Justice Department investigate the Congressional Muslim Staffer Association 's weekly prayer session on Capitol Hill, alleging that the organization demonstrated "a pattern of inviting Islamic extremists with ties to terrorism to participate in these events".
ACLJ's and CASE's tax returns show that between 1998 and 2011 they paid more than $33 million to Sekulow, members of his family, and businesses owned or co-owned by them. from 2011 to 2015, the two charities paid $5.5 million to Sekulow and members of his family, and $23 million to their businesses.
It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and associated with Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia . The ACLJ was founded in 1990 by law school graduate and evangelical minister Pat Robertson with the stated "mandate to protect religious and constitutional freedoms".
Both organizations on the European mainland have a full-time staff of religious rights attorneys. The ECLJ is active in the United Nations Organization and in the Council of Europe, and represents the interests of some Christians in the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
For over five years, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has been representing a former board member of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) in a lawsuit involving Planned Parenthood. The case was filed in 2016 by Planned Parenthood after CMP exposed some of Planned Parenthood’s...
The ACLJ is officially suing the Biden Administration. This Administration has not been responsive to our FOIA requests in any capacity. We just filed a FOIA lawsuit pertaining to the Biden Administration using aborted babies’ body parts for experimentation. It’s hard to even put that into words.
As Chief Counsel of the ECLJ, Jay Sekulow helped that international non-governmental organization obtain Special Consultative Status with the United Nations (U.N.) in 2007. He has led the ECLJ in litigation before the European Court of Human Rights and works with the U.N. and European Union legislative bodies.
The SCLJ is a well-respected defender of religious rights and freedoms in the former Soviet region. In 2010, Jay Sekulow established the East African Centre for Law and Justice in Kenya and the African Centre for Law and Justice in Zimbabwe.
Jay Sekulow successfully argued that official school recognition of student religious clubs was not an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause; and in fact, by denying the group official recognition and privileges as a club, it violated the students’ free speech rights.
Jay Sekulow’s Education & Early Legal Career. After graduating cum laude from Mercer University with a bachelor’s degree, Jay Sekulow went on to earn a doctor of jurisprudence from Mercer Law School, graduating in the top 5% of his class.
Jay Sekulow defended the right of public school students to publicly pray at school sporting events. The public school district had expressly authorized student-led prayer at sporting events by a student chaplain who was elected by the student body.
Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 ( 1992) Jay Sekulow served as co-counsel representing school officials who wished to invite clergy to deliver invocations at school ceremonies. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court concluded that the school in that case violated the Establishment Clause.
Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, 496 U.S. 226 ( 1990) Jay Sekulow represented Bridget Mergens and a group of students who were denied the right to form a Christian Bible club at Westside High School, a public school.
The American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) is a politically conservative, Christian-based social activist organization in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and associated with Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The ACLJ was founded in 1990 by law school graduate and evangelical minister Pat …
The ACLJ arose in part as a right-leaning political answer to the left-leaning American Civil Liberties Union. The name and acronym, ACLJ, was chosen to contrast with the ACLU. It has attracted much media attention for its lawsuits, such as its campaign to oppose changes to the constitution of Kenya that, according to the group, would permit abortion and Islamic law, and its attempts to block the construction of an Islamic cultural center near the former site of the World …
Since 2011, donations to ACLJ are routed through Sekulow's family-run Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism (CASE), and many "transactions that benefit members of the Sekulow family are disclosed on the CASE returns, but not the ACLJ's." ACLJ's and CASE's tax returns show that between 1998 and 2011 they paid more than $33 million to Sekulow, members of his family, and businesses owned or co-owned by them. from 2011 to 2015, the two charities paid $5.5 million t…
In 1997 Jay Sekulow and Thomas Patrick Monaghan, Chief Counsel and Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, respectively, set up the European Center for Law and Justice (ECLJ) in Strasbourg as part of the ACLJ's international strategy. Sekulow serves as Chief Counsel for the ECLJ. The following year the ACLJ set up the Slavic Center for Law and Justice (SCLJ) in Moscow. Both organizations on the European mainland have a full-time staff of religious rights attorneys. The ECLJ is active i…
The ACLJ is one of several American Christian groups that are promoting conservative Christian laws in Africa, supporting controversial movements regarding LGBT rights, including support in Uganda for criminalizing homosexuality.
The ACLJ has been criticized by the ACLU for its stance on putting prayer in public school and by Americans United for conflating support of separation of church and state with being anti-religious. The Human Rights Campaign is critical of the ACLJ's finances citing that the organization does not meet "10 out of 20 of the Better Business Bureau’s standards for charity accountability" and that ACLJ obfuscates how much Sekulow earns from the organization.
• Karen Brauer
• American Center for Law & Justice
• ACLJ's official YouTube page