USA Today failed to properly identify the American Center for Law and Justice -- founded by Pat Robertson -- when the paper described it as an organization that “advocates religious and constitutional freedoms” in a commentary by one of its legal advisers.
USA Today failed to properly identify ACLJ as conservative Christian legal group
Published
In identifying Randy D. Singer, the author of a December 19 commentary defending religious holiday displays, USA Today described the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) as an organization that “advocates religious and constitutional freedoms.” Singer serves on the organization's board of legal advisers. For its description of ACLJ, USA Today used the ACLJ's founding mandate as it appears on the organization's website, printing it without attribution. Also missing from the ACLJ's identification was any indication of what the group apparently means when it says it advocates for “religious and constitutional freedoms.”
Pat Robertson founded the ACLJ in 1990 to function as the legal arm of the Christian Coalition of America. Through lawsuits, legal opinion papers, and position statements, the ACLJ has advocated:
- in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would insert language into the Constitution prohibiting all states from recognizing same-sex marriages
- against the “illegal, unnecessary, and unethical” federal funding of embryonic stem cell research
- for the display of the Ten Commandments in public places, including courts
- for the incorporation of intelligent design into science curricula of public schools
- against abortion “in all circumstances”
The ACLJ's chief legal counsel is Jay Sekulow, who advocates for the organization's positions in frequent media appearances. Singer is the author of The Judge Who Stole Christmas (WaterBrook Press, 2005).