All Posts in Category "Court Filings"

The Motion for Rehearing filed by The Local Church et al with the Texas Court of Appeals after the court’s decision in the libel case over the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions.

An amicus brief filed by cult experts who appealed to the United States Supreme Court to review The Local Church et al v. Harvest House et al on the grounds that Texas Court of Appeals decision set a dangerous precedent for protecting defamation by the use of the term cult when it is used in a secular sense, as the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions did.

An amicus brief filed by six people with extensive experience in publishing, broadcasting, and religion asking the United States Supreme Court to review The Local Church et al v. Harvest House et al from the perspective of balancing protection of freedom of speech and of the press with the rights of religious organizations to seek protection from libel.

An amicus brief filed by six international experts (including three former ambassadors), attesting to the danger of the Texas Court of Appeals decision inThe Local Church et al v. Harvest House et al to Christians residing in religiously restrictive countries and asking the United States Supreme Court to review that decision.

An amicus brief from ten prominent scholars in the fields of religion and the social sciences asking the United States Supreme Court to review the Texas Court of Appeals decision in The Local Church et al v. Harvest House et

al on the basis of the “detrimental effect this ruling may have on religious freedom in America.”

The petition by The Local Church et al to the United States Supreme Court.

An amicus brief filed by libel law expert Dr. Rodney Smolla with the Texas Supreme Court pointing out several flaws in the application of libel law by the Texas Court of Appeals in The Local Church et al v. Harvest House et al.

The Response to Petition for Review filed with the Texas Supreme Court in response to a filing by Harvest House et al asking the court to not review the case.

An amicus letter brief by apologist Gretchen Passantino filed with the Texas Supreme Court concurring with Hank Hanegraaff’s amicus brief on the dangers of protecting the word cult from defamatory meaning.

An amicus brief filed with the Texas Supreme Court signed by scholars in the fields of religion and the social sciences arguing that the Court of Appeals had failed its obligation to balance First Amendment rights against the social values underlying defamation law.

An amicus brief signed by seven men with extensive experience in publishing and broadcasting, urging the Texas Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals decision in The Local Church et al v. Harvest House et al to balance First Amendment rights and “the right of religious organizations to be free of unsubstantiated denigration of their reputations.”

An amicus brief submitted by eight individuals to the Texas Supreme Court regarding the danger posed by Court of Appeals’ decision to ignore the book’s use of the secular definition of the term cult in parts of the world with repressive governments.

An amicus brief filed with the Texas Supreme Court by Hank Hanegraaff asking the court to review the Texas Court of Appeals decision in The Local Church et al v. Harvest House et al based on the danger posed by that decision’s protection of the word cult from defamatory meaning.

The Petition for Review filed by The Local Church et al with the Texas Supreme Court, asking it to review the Texas Court of Appeals decision in the libel case over the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions.

An index of court filings and major court rulings in The Local Church et al v. Harvest House et al, the libel litigation concerning the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions.