ADF Jon Scruggs / Author Misty Boyd - The Tami Jackson Show
My first guest on the Tami Jackson Show* tonight will be Jonathan Scruggs.
Jonathan Scruggs serves as senior counsel and director of the Center for Conscience Initiatives with Alliance Defending Freedom.
In this role, Scruggs leads the team defending the constitutionally protected freedom of creative professionals to live out their faith in business and professional life without being subjected to government coercion, discrimination, or punishment.
Since joining ADF in 2006, Scruggs has worked on and prevailed in a variety of cases that protect the right of people to freely express their faith in their school, in their business, and in the public square.
In Zamecnik v. Indian Prairie School District No. 20, he secured a key precedent establishing that administrators cannot silence a pro-family message in high schools simply because other people object.
In McGlone v. Bell, Scruggs succeeded in overturning a policy requiring advance notice and disclosure of personal information for speakers on a university campus. Additionally, in Sonnier v. Crain, he successfully argued that it is unconstitutional for universities to charge a security fee to an outside speaker simply because his or her message is considered controversial.
Scruggs earned his J.D. at Harvard Law School in 2006. Before graduating from law school, he completed the Alliance Defending Freedom leadership development program to become a Blackstone Fellow.
A member of the bars of Arizona and Tennessee, he is also admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal district and appellate courts.
Jonathan and I will be talking about the latest harassment of Jack Phillips: Following his stunning 7-2 SCOTUS victory in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Masterpiece owner Jack Phillips was hoping to get back into the wedding cake business.
The Colorado Civil Rights Commission, however, had other plans.
Recently Jack was asked to create a cake celebrating a gender transition for a transexual individual, which Jack refused to create - as he did in the original Masterpiece case - on grounds that it conflicted with his religious beliefs.
The Colorado Civil Rights Commission is now planning a second case against Jack in the hopes that another round of harassment will force Jack to comply.
For six years, Jack suffered. He faced threats and government punishment simply because he runs his business according to his faith. Now this latest round of harassment by the Commission flies directly in the face of Jack's SCOTUS victory and seeks to take him down for following his faith.
ADF and Jack are going on offense and have filed a lawsuit against the relevant state officials. They must put an end to this harassment. Jack is facing a new complaint for declining to create a custom cake that expresses a message he would not communicate for anyone—something Colorado has repeatedly said other cake artists have the freedom to do. It’s almost as if you can decline to create any expressive cake you want, so long as your name isn’t Jack Phillips.
ADF hopes that their lawsuit against the Commission makes the message loud and clear that what the state is doing to Jack is unconstitutional harassment that must be stopped immediately.
Don't miss this timely discussion about a case which is relevant to everyone, but especially any who call themselves a Christian!
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My guest in the second half hour will be Missy Boyd.
Misty Boyd was born in August of 1983 with spina bifida, the same birth defect as her main character, Carissa, in her novel, Carissa's Law.
Upon her arrival, her parents were told she would not live through the night and, if she did, she would be mentally and physically challenged and dependent on others her entire life. They were told she would never walk, talk or feed herself. She would only sit in her wheelchair and be dependent on them for her every need. Her parents were given the option to withhold feeding and let her die. This option was deemed unacceptable and Misty was medically treated at a different local hospital.
Fast forward 34 years…Misty is happy and healthy. There have been obstacles along the way but she walks, talks and is fully independent, with no significant mental challenges. She is married to a supportive husband, and is an incurable lover of Jesus and hedgehogs.
Misty is a Christian, and her relationship with God is very important to her. She can be found in her home church every Sunday, but only the afternoon service! She likes to sleep in past both early services.
She and her husband, James, have been married for 10 years and together for 19. They own a hedgehog named Meatball who is 6 months old. They have no children.
She enjoys both dancing around her apartment, and singing at the top of her lungs in the car, even if she's not very good at either one!
Her favorite food group is Tex-Mex. She can be won over by a good taco 9 out of 10 times!
Listen in as Misty and I talk about her birth and the amazing life she's led in spite of the pessimistic prognosis of the supposedly "learned" physicians and specialists. Life is precious and sacred and Misty is a living testimony to that very fact!
Follow Misty Boyd on Facebook at Misty Boyd Author, and me on Twitter at @tamij AND tweet your questions/comments during the show.
*Sponsored by Camera Security Now, your premier source for surveillance and access control systems for business nationwide and by ROBAR® Companies, a True Custom firearms and firearms finishing shop located in Phoenix, AZ, and found online at RobarGuns.com.
