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Romney Adviser Lobbied for Homosexuality to Be A Crime

Mother Jones has a new article on Romney friend and adviser Jay Sekulow, who engaged in a lobbying campaign to criminalize homosexuality and ban abortion in Africa.

Why is this important? Because Sekulow is an activist lawyer and law professor (at Regent University, a Christian law school) and a religious extremist who has argued 12 cases before the Supreme Court. Prominent court journalist Tony Mauro called him "the leading Supreme Court advocate of the Christian right."

Here is Sekulow in his own words describing his conversion to Jews for Jesus, which evolved into his becoming both a board member and general counsel for the evangelical group. After that, he says he formed a new group to fight for evangelicals:

C.A.S.E: Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism. That is what we've named the new organization which will be defending the legal rights of individuals and organizations who are telling the gospel--specifically in issues relating to access, as in parks, college campuses, street corners, and of course, airports. .... [The public] needs to hear the good news about the Messiah, and we must protect our right to tell them.

From the 2012 report, Colonizing African Values: How the Christian Right is Transforming Sexual Politics in Africa: [More...]

The Pat Robertson-founded American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) recently opened offices in Kenya and Zimbabwe and actively intervenes in those countries’ constitution-making processes.

ACLJ is run by Jay Sekulow, a prominent figure in
anti-gay, -abortion, and -Muslim legal strategies, who advised the George W. Bush administration on judicial nominees and is embraced by presidential
hopeful Mitt Romney.

His bio page states:

He routinely works with Members of Congress, advising them on proposed legislation and representing them in critical legal matters. Jay Sekulow has also testified before Congress on the constitutionality of proposed legislation.

He acts as a coordinator between Romney and the right, setting up meetings.

He's also a media pundit with his own show. He claims to have gathered 70,000 signatures calling for Eric Holder to resign. Is he the source for Romney's false claim Iran is a year away from developing a nuclear weapon?

Sekulow's son Jordan, whose bio says he is the executive director of Sekolow's organization, and the National Youth Director for the Bush-Cheney 2004 presidential campaign and a consultant to Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign, is on record saying his father will be assisting Romney with his Supreme Court picks and "holding his feet to the fire" to appoint conservative justices like Alito:

Green: How important is it for us to recognize that if Romney is president, who has his ear? Who are the people that will consider those judges versus another four years of Obama if he gets another quarter of the judiciary appointed?

[son Jordan]Sekulow: You've already got people who are long-time Romney supporters like my dad, who has argued thirteen cases before the Supreme Court and was very involved with President Bush - he was one of four people that were involved in the nomination process in the Bush White House - and so if you like Alito and Roberts, these are the kind of people. You have Judge Bork, who was filibustered by the Senate, voted down by the Senate actually, and he is on the Romney committee.

...You want Kagan and Sotomayor, and I was at the Supreme Court during the 'Obamacare' oral arguments, you probably don't want more of that, or do you want more Alito and Roberts? And he's made those pledges; I think we need to come to the campaign say "alright, you made these pledges, we're going to keep you honest to them and keep your feet to the fire."

One of the hosts on the show said evangelists should need no convincing Romney would appoint appropriately right-wing justices because of Jay Sekulow:

The reason I never got really worried about Romney was Jay Sekulow. And I tell you he has been very intimately involved in helping get folks like Alito and Roberts on the court. And four years ago, I heard that Sekulow is the guy that Romney has tapped to choose his judges and I said "that's it." I don't have any trouble with Romney because Isaiah 1:26 tells me the righteousness of nation is determined, not by the legislature, but by its judges. And if Romney's got folks like Sekulow picking his judges, I can live with that in a heartbeat.

About Regent University where Sekulow teaches law: In a brief filed in the Supreme Court a few weeks ago, Sekulow describes Regent University as:

Regent University is a private institution of higher learning whose mission is to serve as a center of Christian thought and action to provide excellent education through a Biblical perspective and global context, equipping Christian leaders to change the world.

USA Today reported there have been major questions raised about the finances of Sekulow's "charities."

Since 1998, the two charities have paid out more than $33 million to members of Sekulow's family and businesses they own or co-own, according to the charities' federal tax returns.

One of the charities is controlled by the Sekulow family — tax documents show that all four of CASE's board members are Sekulows and another is an officer — an arrangement criticized by a nonprofit watchdog group.

Here's Sekulow on Obama's "abortion/contraception mandate."

Sekulow expressed grave concern if the mandate survives its legal challenges, noting, "[I]f the government can do this, I shudder to think where it could end up."

We should all "shudder to think" what happens if Romney is elected with an extremist like Sekulow advising him.

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  • Display: Sort:
    Spelling alert, Jeralyn: (none / 0) (#1)
    by Anne on Sat Nov 03, 2012 at 10:36:16 PM EST
    it's Sekulow, not Sekolow.

    He's one of those people who makes the hair on my neck stand up; very dangerous.

    thanks, I changed it (none / 0) (#2)
    by Jeralyn on Sat Nov 03, 2012 at 11:14:01 PM EST
    Jeralyn (none / 0) (#3)
    by The Addams Family on Sun Nov 04, 2012 at 01:45:47 AM EST
    do you really think Romney will be elected?

    I'm not as worried about him being fairly elected (5.00 / 2) (#7)
    by unitron on Sun Nov 04, 2012 at 09:25:16 AM EST
    ...as I am about a sufficient number of "irregularities" occurring in various places (like Ohio and Florida, among others) for him to wind up as President somehow.

    Where electronic voting machines were used there were some very odd results during the primaries that didn't happen where paper ballots were used.

    Guess who benefitted from those odd results?

    Parent

    No, see my latest post (none / 0) (#4)
    by Jeralyn on Sun Nov 04, 2012 at 02:59:19 AM EST
    I think Obama will be. But it's going to be close depending on turnout. And it's not an impossibility yet.

    Parent
    Mitt scares the hell out of me (none / 0) (#5)
    by WJ McCabe on Sun Nov 04, 2012 at 08:36:55 AM EST
    I wish I could say I was surprised. Romney and his minions are very concerning. He is a sociopathic liar and scares the hell out of me. This is no regular politician lying, this is a seriously concerning individual who will do and say anything to be president.

    Always sad to see someone converting (none / 0) (#6)
    by Mr Natural on Sun Nov 04, 2012 at 09:00:45 AM EST
    from a rational to an irrational religion.

    In the closet for Jesus... gotta wonder what else he keeps in that closet.

    Well, as a non-practicing Jew, (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by shoephone on Sun Nov 04, 2012 at 06:29:45 PM EST
    I think all religions are irrational. But the Jews for Jesus nuts are very dangerous, IMO.

    Parent