Pacific Justice Institute

Structure

PJI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It is headquartered in Sacramento and has four other office locations in California, in the cities of Santa Ana, Oakland, Riverside, and San Diego. It was founded in 1997 by its current president, Brad W. Dacus, a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law.

Selected cases

The Pacific Justice Institute has taken on many cases, this section will only cover a few of the more publicly known cases.

Newdow v. Congress, 598 F.3d 638 (9th Cir. 2010) cert. denied 131 S. Ct. 1612 (U.S. 2011). AKA: The "In God We Trust Case": A prominent atheist, Michael Newdow, filed a suit to declare the national motto – In God We Trust – unconstitutional and to have it removed from coins and currency. Pacific Justice Institute intervened as a defendant and defended the against the suit. The case was dismissed by the trial court and the Ninth Circuit affirmed that decision.

In re Jonathan L.,165 Cal.App.4th 1074 (2008): A three justice panel of the California Court of Appeal handed down a ruling on February 28, 2008, that found no constitutional right to homeschool children, and the Court further determined that all home-based instruction is unlawful unless it is performed by a credentialed tutor on a daily basis. A private school, Sunland Christian School was the focus of the case. Sunland provides an independent study program that is taught by parents in the home. The Pacific Justice Institute represented Sunland before the Court of Appeal. The Court vacated and reversed its prior decision.

Newdow v. Roberts, 603 F.3d 1002 (D.C. Cir. 2010) cert. denied 131 S. Ct. 2441 (U.S. 2010) Two prominent clergy, Revs. Rick Warren Joseph Lowery, were personally sued by over 200 atheists, humanists and like-minded organizations, for giving the invocation and benediction at the inauguration of President Obama. (Chief Justice Roberts was also sued for using the phrase, “so help me God” in administering the presidential oath.) Pacific Justice Institute defended Judge Roberts and the clergy.

International Church of the Foursquare Gospel v. City of San Leandro, 634 F.3d 1037 (9th Cir. 2011) cert denied 132 S. Ct. 251 (U.S. 2011): A church grew from 65 to 1,500 and was unable to accommodate its congregation at its current facility, and thus the church purchased a building in an industrially zoned area due to the overcrowding and extreme traffic congestion that it caused at its current mixed residential and business location. The City refused to allow the church to use the new building, resulting in a $33,000 per month mortgage payment for a facility that the Church could not occupy. This case resulted in significant positive legal precedent on several issues in the Ninth Circuit and will likely shift the balance of power toward religious organizations against local governments in the western states in the area of religious land use.

Snatchko v. Galleria Mall: A youth pastor was arrested at the Roseville Galleria Mall in 2007 for striking up a casual conversation with two other shoppers about faith. Although Snatchko had first obtained the shoppers’ permission to broach the subject, a nearby store employee disapproved and called mall security guards, who arrested Snatchko. Criminal charges were later dropped, but attorneys with Pacific Justice Institute filed suit to challenge the mall’s tight restrictions on speech. The trial court ruled in favor of the mall. But, in a unanimous opinion, the Court of Appeal reversed finding no legitimate basis for suppression of the youth pastor’s speech.

Bible Club and R.G., a Minor by and through her Next Friend R.G. v. Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School Dist., 573 F.Supp.2d 1291 (2008): A federal court issued a preliminary injunction against a school district which refused to allow a high school student to start a Christian club at her school. The District soon settled after the court issued its order.

Guaytay v. San Diego County: The Pacific Justice Institute represented a couple in San Juan Capistrano, CA against the city of San Juan Capistrano when city officials fined them $300 for regular Bible study groups that they held at their home because the officials claimed it was a violation of the city’s “zoning laws.” PJI (Pacific Justice Institute) won the case when the city changed their zoning laws to accommodate the Bible study gatherings.

Codding v. Placer Co. Clerk: During the period of time in California after the ban on same-sex marriage was found unconstitutional, and before the passage of Proposition 8, the State of California changed the marriage form from Bride and Groom to Party A and Party B. A man and woman applied for a wedding license and, with the approval of the clerk manning the window, wrote back in the words Bride and Groom. After the couple was married, the officiating minister signed and mailed in the marriage certificate. It was rejected by the County Clerk because of the interlineation. A suit was filed in state court which resulted in significant publicity because of its timing before the general election in which Prop. 8 appeared on the ballot. The case was settled with the State of California when officials agreed to change the form to put back in the words Bride and Groom.

Jesus Christ Prison Ministry v. CA Dept. of Corrections, 456 F.Supp.2d 1188 (E.D. CA 2006): Prison authorities restricted inmate access to receiving religious CDs and literature, including declaring the Bible contraband. The plaintiffs won on summary judgment on all causes of action.

K.D. v. GUHSD: A high school student shared his faith in private conversations with other students. He was warned by a teacher not to do this because of the separation of church and state. Further, the student was directed not to take his Bible to school and had it confiscated by the teacher. The student was eventually suspended for two days. The suspension notice stated: “Student was told to stop preaching at school. Student continued after being warned several times.” The teacher further wrote on the suspension form, “Student will not bring Bible to school.” Suit was brought in federal court, Southern District of California. The District settled.

The Murrieta Red-light case: There was an effort to repeal a law in Murrieta that mandated that all traffic lights be installed with cameras in order to catch the license plates of people who blew red-lights and the effort to repeal the law came in the form of a private petition in order to put it on the ballot for the next election. However, a lawsuit was levied against the private petition claiming that “residents don’t have the authority to change traffic laws, and thus remove the cameras.” PJI felt that the suit violated the people’s right “to petition and put measures on the ballot” and decided to represent the petitioners in court.

Armitage v. CSUN: PJI represented an electron microscope technician who said he was fired from a university biology lab in 2013 for holding young Earth creationist beliefs. In 2012, the technician had discovered soft tissue on a dinosaur fossil.

Media and outreach

Pacific Justice Institute's outreach projects include Faith in the Workplace, the Legal Edge radio podcasts, and the PJI Attorneys’ Blog. The projects primarily explain what religious rights people have and what regulations they have to abide by. Brad Dacus has also appeared on radio and television programs including ABC’s “Good Morning America,” “The Today Show,” “CNN,” “Hannity and Colmes,” “News Talk TV,” “MSNBC,” “NBC News,” NBC’s “Dateline” and many times on the “O'Reilly Factor.”

Involvement in other issues

PJI has also been involved in a number of other specific legal issues and cases where they have written amicus curiae and/or have testified in the houses of both state and federal legislatures.