LOVE IN ACTION SUING THE STATE OF TENNESSEE

The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian right powerhouse law firm is defending Love In Action in a law suit claiming:

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund will defend the Christian ministry Love in Action International against claims by the State of Tennessee that it must obtain a license in order to continue operations. ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit on the ministry's behalf today in federal court.

"This is harassment, pure and simple," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Nate Kellum. "There is no legitimate state interest here. There's no health or safety violation, and there's no fire code or overcrowding concern. Love in Action's ministry has nothing to do whatsoever with mental health as defined by law, but the Department of Mental Health wants to regulate it anyway."

Love in Action (www.loveinaction.org), a private 501(c)3 organization, exists to be a Christ-centered ministry for the prevention or remediation of unhealthy and destructive behaviors facing families, adults, and adolescents.

Last month, the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities deemed Love in Action a "mental health supportive living facility" and informed the ministry that it must cease operations by Sept. 30 if it doesn't apply for a license or comply with the department's demands.

"The state is trying to turn a Christian ministry into a state-regulated mental hospital," Kellum explained. "By the state's reasoning, a homeless shelter would become a medical clinic if a homeless person were taking antibiotics for some minor infection. Do we want the state to shut down private organizations that are helping people who are struggling?"

The ADF is notorious for combating the ACLU, claiming:

we work to preserve and defend religious freedom throughout the year and throughout the country...in the areas of religious freedom, sanctity of human life, and traditional family values....we work to combat present threats to religious freedom, we are constantly alerted to issues on the horizon.

We were notified about this today by reporters, first giving an interview in studio at Fox 13, and then being alerted that a spokesperson from the ADF was giving a statement downtown at the Federal Courthouse, where we caught the tailend of his statement and then having every news station in Memphis turn their camera's around and ask questions...tonight every local News will lead the story.

The full text of the complaint and motion for preliminary injunction filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Tennessee, Memphis Division, in the case Love in Action International v. Bredesen can be in a read HERE