Podcast: Interview with Richard Thompson; Thomas More Law

I wrote a piece 9 months ago asking the question:

Should Michigan citizens be put into a Michigan run hate and bias database which will record incidents that don’t rise to the level of a crime but they believe are part of a group that expose’s hate?

Michigan Attorney General and Michigan Department of Civil Rights Director Agustin Arbulu believe so.

Last week I interviewed Richard Thompson, the President and Chief Counsel of Thomas More Law Center which filed a lawsuit on behalf of their client against Michigan's Attorney General Dana Nessel.

The Thomas More Law Center has filed a lawsuit in the Michigan Court of Claims on January 9, 2020, against Nessel for her refusal to comply with Michigan’s FOIA.

In a press release Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of Thomas More Law Center, which currently represents Church Militant and its Founder and President Michael Voris, commented:

“This lawsuit is about the right of the people to know what their public officials are doing. We believe that Attorney General Nessel targeted Church Militant because of its stance on traditional marriage as she had done in the case involving St. Vincent...The combination of actions by the Attorney General Nessel, the Department of Civil Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center have a chilling effect on the freedom of speech and religion not only of Church Militant, but every religious group in Michigan that stands for traditional marriage.”

The press release went on to inform us:

Astonishingly, Nessel’s office admitted in its response to Thomas More Law Center’s FOIA request that:

It had no policies in place to safeguard the constitutional rights of individuals who committed no crime but are being investigated for espousing traditional marriage.
It has no clear definitions of “bias incidents” or “hate crimes” against LGBT persons that are backed up by Michigan statutes or court decisions.
The AG’s Office failed in its FOIA response to provide any clear policies or parameters governing the prosecution of hate crimes. Nor does it have a clear definition of what constitutes a “hate group.”

The Thomas More Law Center, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, defends and promotes America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and moral values, including the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life.

I spoke with Richard Thompson on my show on January 23rd, 2020 to discuss this issue and their lawsuit. The following is what he had to say about the lawsuit and the hate and bias database that Michigan's Attorney General discussed about creating.