Free Republic

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a Christian florist from Washington state fined refusing to make a floral arrangement for a same-sex wedding because she felt it went against her religious beliefs about marriage. In doing so, the Washington Supreme Court ruling against the Christian florist remains intact. Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch each said the court should have taken the case. Though the case dates back to 2013, religious liberty legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom said the fight to defend Barronelle Stutzman, the owner of Arlene’s Flowers and Gifts in Richland, Washington,...

The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to take up the highly publicized case of Barronelle Stutzman, a Washington state florist who declined to participate in a same-sex "wedding," citing her views on traditional marriage. The State of Washington said what Stutzman (pictured), owner of Arlene's Flowers in Richland, did is against the law. Today the Washington Supreme Court upheld that decision again after a six-year legal battle. "While I know this isn't the last word on the case, it pains me to see my own state continue to come after my flower shop, my home, and every penny I...

The Christian owner of a Richland floral shop violated state laws when she refused to make custom arrangements for a longtime customer’s same-sex wedding, an appellate court ruled Thursday. The unanimous decision by the Washington state Supreme Court affirms a Benton County...

Marlin Stutzman is a rare breed. It was January 5, 2015, the day before the Inauguration of the 114th U.S. Congress. U.S. Congressman Marlin Stutzman and I were in Marlin’s D.C. office when another U.S. Congressman came to get Marlin to change his vote on the reelection of John Boehner as U.S. Speaker of the House. This Congressman knew we Republican Hoosiers were not happy with John Boehner. Even though voters had given Speaker Boehner and the U.S. House an uninterrupted Republican majority since 2010, President Obama’s radical leftist agenda was still steamrolling through the country. Time and time again,...

I’ve been a florist in Richmond, Wash., for more than 30 years. In that time, I’ve developed close relationships with many of my clients. One of my favorites was Rob Ingersoll. Ingersoll came in often and we’d talk. Like me, he had an artistic eye. I’d try to create really special arrangements for him. I knew he was gay, but it didn’t matter — I enjoyed his company and his creativity. Then he asked me to create the floral arrangements for his wedding. I love Rob, and I’d always been happy to design for his special days. But there’s something...

"GoFundMe bans anyone accused of ‘discriminatory acts’ from fundraising…like this elderly Christian florist" GoFundMe has again shut down the support page of a beseiged business whose owner believes in Christian morality. A campaign to help Barronelle Stutzman, a Christian florist being sued because she declined to take part in a homosexual “marriage” ceremony, has been canceled by the fund raising website. Stutzman, who owns Arlene’s Flowers, referred a longstanding homosexual customer to nearby florists, because she could not in good conscience create custom arrangements in support of his same-sex “wedding.” The homosexuals sued her, and to help pay mounting costs,...

She’s soft-spoken, has 23 grandkids, professes love for the gay customer who tried to hire her for his wedding and helped him find another florist when she politely declined (it was Washington’s AG, not the customer, who filed the discrimination complaint against her), and stands to lose her business and possibly her home if the state keeps coming after her for this. There may be more sympathetic spokesmen for religious freedom out there but offhand I can’t imagine one. The polling on whether businesses should be required by law to cater to gay weddings is mixed, but I wonder...

If you haven’t been following Barronelle Stutzman’s case in Washington State, you need to be. She is the florist being sued by the state attorney general for refusing to participate in a gay wedding. The attorney general is trying to compel her to ignore her Christian faith and to participate in gay weddings. If she refuses, he is threatening the full coercive power of the state to force her to do it. She stands to lose everything—her home, her savings, her business, her livelihood—if she does not comply. I have an article today at CNN.com explaining the situation. The conclusion...

'You chose to attack my faith … to threaten my very means of eating' A Washington state florist facing “ruin” for her decision not to support same-sex “marriage” through her business has rejected out of hand an offer to settle a state claim of discrimination against her. As WND reported this week, Benton County Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom authorized the state and the homosexual plaintiffs to pursue the business and personal assets of Barronelle Stutzman, including her home, in payment of damages and attorneys’ fees. The Alliance Defending Freedom confirmed Ekstrom granted a summary judgment in the case against...

For a member of Congress to accuse his party leaders of lying to him, and for their aides to return the favor, is about as rare as the drama that surrounded last week’s procedural vote — a vote that led to the passage of the $1.1 trillion spending bill.

Several members of Congress on Thursday afternoon took to the floor of the House of representatives to expose the horrors abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell has committed and to decry the lack of media attention to them. Congressman Marlin Stutzman, an Indiana Republican, was one of the members who spoke on the House floor this afternoon to call attention to the horrific crimes Gosnell engaged in at his Philadelphia, Pennsylvania abortion clinic. The following is the speech he delivered and a video of it: “My heart is torn as I stand on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives as...

A little over a year ago, I wrote about Matt Stutzman, a young man in his late twenties, born with no arms. Matt never let his handicap slow him down, and could do most things as good or better than a person with arms. Matt does everything with his feet, and I mean everything — eat, drive a car, ride a motorcycle. snip Matt Stutzman has qualified for the National U.S. Olympic team in archery! Not the Special Olympics. The Olympic Team.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R) announced his support for state Sen. Marlin Stutzman in Indiana's Senate race this morning, the latest in a series of endorsements by the South Carolina Republican that have run counter to the wishes of his party establishment. DeMint praised Stutzman as a "conservative outsider" and "exactly the kind of leader Americans are looking for this year" in a statement announcing his support. DeMint's endorsement of Stutzman comes just days after he waded into the Colorado Senate race to back Weld County prosecutor Ken Buck against establishment favorite Jane Norton, a former lieutenant governor. DeMint has also...

A notable buzz surrounded youthful Indiana State Sen. Marlin Stutzman as he was escorted around this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) by activist Donna Weisner. “Back in Indiana, they say he’s our Scott Brown,” she said proudly. Stutzman supporters elatedly boasted news of a Rasmussen poll that gives Stutzman a ten-point lead over the likely Democrat nominee for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Evan Bayh. All this is a stunning development for the young farmer and businessman who only four years ago was the youngest member of the Indiana legislature. In Washington power circles former Sen. Dan...

The GOP needs to change its public image that voters have. It should not be using retired Senators who moved out of the state and become a lobbyist to do that. We need younger faces and fresher voices. We need guys like Marco Rubio. And we need guys like Marlin Stutzman. Marlin is pro-life. He supports the second amendment. He will be right on spending. He is a perfect fit for Indiana. His farming background is compelling. He’s voted conservatively in the Indiana legislature.

Last spring, after the governor all but declared war on union leaders and other Democratic interests, Republicans sat and watched as the unions led an offensive that helped drag down the governor's poll ratings, and doom his special election agenda. Under the watch of new campaign manager Steve Schmidt and communications director Katie Levinson, both fresh off the plane from the Bush White House, Team Schwarzenegger is determined not to make the same mistake again. "For California Republicans who were frustrated last year by the lack of an aggressive response out of the governor's operation, they'll be very pleasantly surprised...

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is installing a Republican campaign and public relations strategist as his new communications director, part of a broader staff shake-up. Adam Mendelsohn will succeed Rob Stutzman, an influential advisor who will leave government to open a private political consulting business and to work on Schwarzenegger's reelection. (snip) Mendelsohn comes from the DCI Group, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying and public affairs firm. He was press secretary to Bruce McPherson, then a Republican state senator, in McPherson's losing bid for the lieutenant governor's seat in 2002. McPherson is now secretary of state. Mendelsohn also worked for Republican...

Too bad there’s never an egg timer around when you need one. Arnold Schwarzenegger cooked his political future some more this week, recklessly endorsing the anti-illegal-immigrant Minuteman Project vigilantes and helplessly watching as a public poll showed him losing a third of his popularity in three months. Maria Shriver was on the warpath about her husband’s downward spiral, urging wholesale firings at the top of Team Arnold and consulting such unlikely counselors about saving her husband’s career as Dick Morris, the Republican who engineered Bill Clinton’s revival before becoming Fox’s favorite Clinton hater. The wily Morris made his national reputation...

<p>I have just witnessed one of the strangest events I have ever seen on the political campaign trail.</p> <p>It began shortly after the conclusion of Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign rally in downtown Modesto. As the press was filing out, several reporters suddenly surrounded a woman standing in the pedestrian mall near the rally site. Only a few reporters could hear what she was saying. Soon the word spread: "She's looking for Arnold," one reporter told another, who told another. More reporters gathered around. Cameras and tape recorders were thrust toward her face.</p>