{"id":2586,"date":"2023-12-22T17:56:25","date_gmt":"2023-12-23T01:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/?p=2586"},"modified":"2023-12-22T17:56:25","modified_gmt":"2023-12-23T01:56:25","slug":"2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qs.gehenna.ynh.fr\/?p=2586","title":{"rendered":"2023 was a very bad year for The Satanic Temple in court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-accent-background-color has-background\">TST started two new lawsuits in 2023, but they lost eight existing cases and seem to have completely abandoned two others<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet again, the legal performance of The Satanic Temple was disappointing and incompetent at best, but just as likely the worse conclusion is true: it was a needless waste of much-needed resources by attention-seeking malefactors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Temple often utilizes overly credulous liberal media outlets to advertise itself off of the <em>possibility<\/em> that their litigation might one day prove effective. But in 2023, the bill came due on many of those promises, and the result was failure upon failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TST lost two major abortion-ban challenges (&#8220;Ann Doe I&#8221;, &#8220;Indiana&#8221;). TST lost an invocation challenge (&#8220;Boston&#8221;). TST lost a cluster of fruitless appeals for misbehavior in Belle Plaine (&#8220;Minnesota city monument case&#8221;). TST lost its Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation or &#8220;SLAPP&#8221; targeting former members (&#8220;Queer Satanic&#8221;) and had its SLAPP against <em>Newsweek<\/em> whittled down to a single libel claim. A lawsuit against a billboard company (&#8220;Lamar II&#8221;) concluded after the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars, apparently on the same terms as if the lawsuit hadn&#8217;t been filed at all. And two other lawsuits in Texas were seemingly abandoned with no further activity in more than a year (&#8220;Ann Doe II&#8221;, &#8220;the Satanic Housewife&#8221;).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Compare the below chart with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/TheSatanicCirclejerk\/comments\/zab73g\/the_satanic_temple_is_very_bad_at_court_cases\/\">the state of affairs in December 2022<\/a> to grasp at a glance just how badly 2023 went for The Satanic Temple in the most recent year. If it could go wrong, it did for TST in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"jump-to\">Jump to<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-77e2a8d16a7ded8982c0b05dd00678a2 is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#chart\"><strong>Chart<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#the-satanic-temple-inc-court-cases\">The Satanic Temple Inc. court cases<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#v-the-city-of-chicago\">v. the City of Chicago<\/a> (Chicago invocation case)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#v-jessica-snow\">v. Jessica Snow<\/a> (&#8220;the Satanic Housewife&#8221; TikTok libel case)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#v-little\">v. Little<\/a> (&#8220;Idaho abortion-ban challenge&#8221;)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#v-rokita\">v. Rokita<\/a> (&#8220;Indiana abortion-ban challenge&#8221;)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#v-lamar-media-corporation\">v. Lamar Media Corporation<\/a> (&#8220;Lamar II&#8221; billboard ad case)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#v-newsweek-magazine-llc\">v. Newsweek Magazine LLC<\/a> (news article libel case)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#v-young-et-al\">v. Young et al<\/a> (&#8220;Ann Doe II&#8221; Texas abortion-ban state challenge)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#v-hellerstedt-et-al\">v. Hellerstedt et al<\/a> (&#8220;Ann Doe I&#8221; Texas abortion-ban federal challenge)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#v-belle-plaine-city-of\">v. Belle Plaine, City of<\/a> (Minnesota city monument case)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#v-city-of-boston\">v. City of Boston<\/a> (Boston invocation case)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#united-federation-of-churches-llc-court-cases\">United Federation of Churches LLC cases<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#v-johnson-et-al\">v. Johnson et al<\/a> (&#8220;Queer Satanic&#8221; SLAPP suits and appeal)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#cave-et-al-v-thurston\">Cave et al v. Thurston<\/a> (&#8220;Arkansas 10 Commandments challenge&#8221;)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Cases by others involving The Satanic Temple<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#v-saucon-valley-school-district\">The Satanic Temple, Inc. v. Saucon Valley School District<\/a> (&#8220;After School Satan club ban challenge&#8221;)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#v-kenai-peninsula-borough\">Hunt v. Kenai Peninsula Borough<\/a> (&#8220;Alaska city invocation challenge&#8221;)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a more in-depth look at the specific attorneys involved in this failed litigation, see our article from earlier this year looking at Matthew Kezhaya and W. James MacNaughton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-queer-satanic wp-block-embed-queer-satanic\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"okF9S9FBAX\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-satanic-temple-is-very-bad-at-court-cases\/\">The Satanic Temple is very bad at court cases<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;The Satanic Temple is very bad at court cases&#8221; &#8212; Queer Satanic\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-satanic-temple-is-very-bad-at-court-cases\/embed\/#?secret=eZ9kSgOH6D#?secret=okF9S9FBAX\" data-secret=\"okF9S9FBAX\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"chart\">Chart<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/TST-Court-Cases.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/TST-Court-Cases.png\" alt=\"chart of all TST court cases as of December 2023\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide\" id=\"the-satanic-temple-inc-court-cases\"><strong>The Satanic Temple Inc. court cases<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-pale-pink-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-db1ee8c8bcd2e66ce72a942ee4e2027b is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/the.satanic.wiki\/index.php\/The_Satanic_Temple_Inc\">The Satanic Temple, Inc.<\/a>,<\/strong>&nbsp;is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and Chapter 180 Religious Company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Its registered agent is&nbsp;Douglas Misicko, who also serves as its president, treasurer, clerk, and director. Misicko also utilizes the pseudonyms &#8220;Doug Mesner&#8221; and &#8220;Lucien Greaves&#8221;. There are no other officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was initially registered as &#8220;The Satanic Temple&#8221; before having its name changed to &#8220;The Satanic Temple, Inc.&#8221; on May 24, 2019. &#8220;The Satanic Temple, Inc.&#8221; was the original owner of the trademark &#8220;The Satanic Temple&#8221; due to a filing error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is distinct from for-profit corporation&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/the.satanic.wiki\/index.php\/United_Federation_of_Churches,_LLC\">United Federation of Churches, LLC<\/a>, which also does business as &#8220;The Satanic Temple.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Satanic Temple, Inc. was organized Nov. 14, 2017, in Salem, Massachusetts at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/the.satanic.wiki\/index.php\/64_Bridge_Street\">64 Bridge Street<\/a>, a property shared with United Federation of Churches and several other corporations owned by&nbsp;Cevin Soling.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-accent-background-color has-background\" id=\"v-the-city-of-chicago\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/67320005\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-the-city-of-chicago\/?order_by=desc\">v. The City of Chicago<\/a> &#8211; Ongoing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TST started this case this year, and so far they haven&#8217;t lost it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Satanic Temple Inc. and Adam Vavrick, an ordained minister of the Satanic Temple and a leader of TST\u2019s Illinois congregation, sought to deliver an invocation before a Chicago City Council meeting. However, they were not invited after, TST claims, more than three years of asking to deliver an invocation and not being given an explanation for why they were not invited. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TST sued the city in federal court on May 3, 2023, alleging violations of the First Amendment&#8217;s Establishment Clause. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Notably, this case is being led by Chicago-based lawyer <a href=\"https:\/\/adelenicholas.com\/\">Adele D. Nicholas<\/a>, rather than the Temple&#8217;s usual stable of incompetent clowns, so it&#8217;s possible this will be more successful than TST&#8217;s previous failed invocation cases against the cities of Boston and Scottsdale were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That said, it faces some of the same fundamental challenges that cropped up in both of those cities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A religious organization is not <em>owed<\/em> an invitation to deliver an invocation before a city council meeting because there are many more organizations that exist than there are months in the year to invite them. The problem TST runs into when it engages in litigation is that <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/how-the-satanic-temple-controls-the-media-and-your-mind-part-1-satanic-nativity\/#the-satanic-temple-illinois\">the reality of organization is more strictly analyzed<\/a>, and embarrassing things tend to come out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The tricks that work on cub reporters tend not to work on lawyers, and there&#8217;s a very good chance that if this cases progresses to the point of gathering evidence, the evidence gathered will be damaging to the Plaintiffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-accent-background-color has-background\" id=\"v-jessica-snow\"><a href=\"https:\/\/the.satanic.wiki\/index.php\/Satanic_Temple,_Inc_v._Jessica_Snow\">v. Jessica Snow<\/a> &#8211; No Movement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TST started this case in 2022, and so far have done nothing beyond filing a complaint, including serving the Defendant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Satanic Temple has been suing Snow for &#8220;Business Disparagement&#8221; and &#8220;Defamation \u2013 Libel&#8221; over a video posted to TikTok on May 3, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-queer-satanic wp-block-embed-queer-satanic\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"RPJVzzyLOM\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-satanic-housewife-videos-and-legal-threat-by-the-satanic-temple\/\">Footnotes: &#8220;The Satanic Housewife&#8221; videos and legal threat by The Satanic Temple<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Footnotes: &#8220;The Satanic Housewife&#8221; videos and legal threat by The Satanic Temple&#8221; &#8212; Queer Satanic\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-satanic-housewife-videos-and-legal-threat-by-the-satanic-temple\/embed\/#?secret=31U8Pcne2g#?secret=RPJVzzyLOM\" data-secret=\"RPJVzzyLOM\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;ve <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/today-is-a-good-day-for-the-satanic-temple-to-release-its-finances\/\">shown in detail before<\/a> how this is yet another bogus SLAPP action by the Temple, and this year Snow, &#8220;the Satanic Housewife&#8221;, also spoke to the blog <a href=\"https:\/\/sataniceurope.wordpress.com\/2023\/02\/15\/the-satanic-housewife\/\">Satanic Europe<\/a> and the podcast <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xrwggxYvisE\">Hail Satan<\/a> to try to get the word out about her situation. However, since filing the lawsuit in November 2022, there has been <em>absolutely no action <\/em>in the Travis County civil case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is very good news for the Defendant, but it also goes to show how the whole point was just to try to intimidate a person critical of TST with little thought beyond that to what would happen next since even among TST loyalists, the reaction has been overwhelmingly negative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-accent-background-color has-background\" id=\"v-little\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/65392308\/the-satanic-temple-v-little\/?filed_after=&amp;filed_before=&amp;entry_gte=&amp;entry_lte=&amp;order_by=desc\">v. Little<\/a> &#8211; Ongoing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TST started this case in 2022, and so far they haven&#8217;t lost it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This lawsuit against government officials of the state of Idaho is one of two nearly identical abortion challenges the Temple filed in 2022. Both argued that unspecified TST members who can become pregnant suffer financial harm by a hypothetical involuntary pregnancy curtailing their hypothetical desire to rent out their wombs for paid surrogacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Satanic Temple <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/65392308\/15\/the-satanic-temple-v-little\/\">amended their complaint<\/a> late last year because they originally named Idaho Gov. Brad Little and state Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, but the governor had immunity and Wasden had lost the Republican primary to Ra\u00fal Labrador, so Labrador and Ada County prosecutor Jan M. Bennetts replaced the two men as named defendants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Notably, the amended complaint to update and attempt to cure it of its deficiencies included the revelation that <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/what-john-oliver-gets-wrong-about-the-satanic-temple-and-abortion-rights\/\">The Satanic Temple&#8217;s abortion clinic in New Mexico<\/a> would launch in the future, coming several months prior to the official announcement. This was part of an argument that the Temple&#8217;s business interests were harmed by &#8220;a diversion of TST resources from other programs and the corresponding reduction of TST\u2019s ability to promote the TST (<em>sic<\/em>) Tenets by other means.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That indirect argument and claims that \u2014 were it not for this ban \u2014 TST might <em>some<\/em>day, <em>some<\/em>how serve Idaho residents seeking an abortion was not sufficient to establish standing for Indiana, but Trump-appointed Federal District Court Judge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/person\/8615\/david-charles-nye\/\">David Nye<\/a> only heard the oral arguments for the case Dec. 6, 2023, and had yet to issue a ruling by the end of the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-accent-background-color has-background\" id=\"v-rokita\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/65364722\/the-satanic-temple-v-holcomb\">v. Rokita<\/a> &#8211; Failed and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/68071163\/satanic-temple-inc-v-todd-rokita\/?filed_after=&amp;filed_before=&amp;entry_gte=&amp;entry_lte=&amp;order_by=desc\">Appealed<\/a> (Ongoing)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TST started this case in 2022, and they lost it in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the other of two almost identical lawsuits the Temple filed last year, but this abortion-ban challenge was filed against government officials in the state of Indiana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/why-did-the-satanic-temple-lose-its-indiana-abortion-lawsuit\/3\">wrote in detail about the failures of this case<\/a>, which the judge tossed out for its inability to first establish standing for a lawsuit because TST did not have a specific party to represent in the case who could be shown to be suffering some specific harm the court had the power to repair.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-queer-satanic wp-block-embed-queer-satanic\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"u47OT1G3Lu\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/why-did-the-satanic-temple-lose-its-indiana-abortion-lawsuit\/\">Why did The Satanic Temple lose its Indiana abortion lawsuit?<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Why did The Satanic Temple lose its Indiana abortion lawsuit?&#8221; &#8212; Queer Satanic\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/why-did-the-satanic-temple-lose-its-indiana-abortion-lawsuit\/embed\/#?secret=mznMk8vfiy#?secret=u47OT1G3Lu\" data-secret=\"u47OT1G3Lu\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Again, that article went into much more detail, but the person who tossed that case was Federal District Court Judge&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jane_Magnus-Stinson\">Jane Magnus-Stinson<\/a>, an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/obamawhitehouse.archives.gov\/the-press-office\/president-obama-nominates-five-serve-united-states-district-court-bench\">Obama-appointee<\/a>&nbsp;who worked on the staff of Indiana Democratic politician Evan Bayh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are very basic things any litigant needs to do in order to get even a sympathetic court to allow them to progress their lawsuit in the face of an expected preliminary motion to dismiss challenging it, and The Satanic Temple was incapable or unwilling of doing any of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-accent-background-color has-background\" id=\"v-lamar-media-corporation\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/63115599\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-lamar-media-corporation\/?filed_after=&amp;filed_before=&amp;entry_gte=&amp;entry_lte=&amp;order_by=desc\">v. Lamar Media Corporation<\/a> &#8211; Dismissed (Unclear)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TST started this case in 2022, and it finished in 2023, but the exact circumstances of that were not made public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The parties &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/63115599\/79\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-lamar-media-corporation\/\">resolved all issues<\/a>&#8221; in the incomprehensibly one-sided dispute between The Satanic Temple and a billboard company, and TST&#8217;s attorney said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theadvocate.com\/baton_rouge\/news\/business\/satanic-temple-drops-lawsuit-against-lamar-over-billboards\/article_b07b7090-379c-11ee-bb87-2bc2a31c98df.html\">the agreement terms were confidential<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite being accused by TST of anti-Satanist bias, the billboard company only ever refused to run a <a href=\"https:\/\/nitter.net\/QueerSatanic\/status\/1400302377312292864\"><em>particular <\/em>ad campaign<\/a> for TST back in 2020 based on the Temple&#8217;s weird demand that the company&#8217;s let TST make provably false advertising claims about TST&#8217;s abortion ritual; in reality, the Satanic Temple has never helped someone circumvent state abortion restrictions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-queer-satanic wp-block-embed-queer-satanic\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"yrGU7Oam8m\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-satanic-temple-cannot-help-you-get-an-abortion-and-it-does-not-deserve-your-support\/\">The Satanic Temple cannot help you get an abortion, and it does not deserve your support<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;The Satanic Temple cannot help you get an abortion, and it does not deserve your support&#8221; &#8212; Queer Satanic\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-satanic-temple-cannot-help-you-get-an-abortion-and-it-does-not-deserve-your-support\/embed\/#?secret=sa0jFoCQL5#?secret=yrGU7Oam8m\" data-secret=\"yrGU7Oam8m\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While we&#8217;re unlikely to ever get the terms of the settlement released for independent review, this case was an astounding and clearly expensive comedy of errors full of self-inflicted wounds on the part of The Satanic Temple. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was the <em>second<\/em> lawsuit TST brought against Lamar after TST gave up on a similar state court action in February 2021, but this one progressed far enough for TST to admit in filings they spent something like $200,000 between an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/63115599\/22\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-lamar-media-corporation\/\">$80,000 billboard in Arizona they bought<\/a>, plus leasing the land it sits on for 18 years at $450 per month, and plus the costs of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/63115599\/2\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-lamar-media-corporation\/\">numerous<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/63115599\/63\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-lamar-media-corporation\/\">sloppy<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/63115599\/36\/1\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-lamar-media-corporation\/\">filings<\/a> as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-satanic-temple-in-the-courts\/#lamar-malcolm-jarry-pseudonym\">embarrassing admissions during the depositions<\/a> of the lawsuit itself. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image-1.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image-1-711x1024.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of Deposition by TST co-owner Cevin Soling as &quot;Malcolm Jarry&quot;\" style=\"width:349px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Exhibit Combined Exhibits&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/63115599\/47\/1\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-lamar-media-corporation\/\">Document #47, Attachment #1<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-1b01d6c2d4055e1e4a220da444bab2fb is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Q. When making this statement, was TST aware of any \u2014 I\u2019m sorry \u2014 The Satanic Temple. Was The Satanic Temple aware of any situation in which a clinic exempted someone from an abortion-related requirement imposed by state law because of their Satanic beliefs in general?<\/em><br><strong>A. No. But we feel that our position is perfectly in line with the law, and I find it impossible to see the law coming to any other conclusion than that this is a valid claim.<\/strong><br><em>Q. When making this statement, was TST aware of any situation in which a court found that someone was exempt from an abortion requirement imposed by state law because they were participating in the Satanic abortion ritual?<\/em><br><strong>A. No. This is \u2014 this is a first.<\/strong><br><em>Q. And is The Satanic Temple aware of any situation in which a court has found that someone was exempt from an abortion requirement imposed by state law because of their Satanic beliefs in general?<\/em><br><strong>A. Not \u2014 not to our awareness.<\/strong><\/p>\n<cite>TST co-owner Cevin Soling as &#8220;Malcolm Jarry&#8221; being deposed Feb. 2, 2023<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All of that to get the same deal from Lamar that Lamar offered TST for free back in fall 2020: &#8220;we will run other ads of yours \u2014 just not this one&#8221;. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">LifeNews.com of all places seemed to confirm this when they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifenews.com\/2023\/08\/10\/satanic-temple-runs-billboard-claiming-killing-babies-in-abortions-saves-lives\/\">reported on a new billboard in Arkansas<\/a> promoting TST&#8217;s abortion clinic in New Mexico immediately after the lawsuit was dismissed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Calling this result &#8220;unclear&#8221; is very generous because if a TST apologist can make an argument for what exactly the Temple <em>won <\/em>in all of this nearly four year odyssey, we&#8217;d love to hear it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-accent-background-color has-background\" id=\"v-newsweek-magazine-llc\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/63011247\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-newsweek-magazine-llc\/\">v. Newsweek Magazine LLC<\/a> &#8211; Ongoing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TST started this case in 2022, and while most of it was dismissed in 2023, what little remains is ongoing as of the end of this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Satanic Temple sued the magazine <em>Newsweek<\/em> and its reporter Julia Duin in 2022 in retaliation for Duin writing and <em>Newsweek<\/em> publishing a critical article about TST in 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The article quoted us and other former members talking about how the Temple and its owners engage in abusive litigation against critics called SLAPPs \u2014 Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-queer-satanic wp-block-embed-queer-satanic\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"39W2oIKSZG\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/footnotes-to-newsweeks-orgies-harassment-fraud-satanic-temple-rocked-by-accusations-lawsuit\/\">Footnotes to Newsweek\u2019s \u201cOrgies, Harassment, Fraud: Satanic Temple Rocked by Accusations, Lawsuit\u201d<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Footnotes to Newsweek\u2019s \u201cOrgies, Harassment, Fraud: Satanic Temple Rocked by Accusations, Lawsuit\u201d&#8221; &#8212; Queer Satanic\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/footnotes-to-newsweeks-orgies-harassment-fraud-satanic-temple-rocked-by-accusations-lawsuit\/embed\/#?secret=m7x6MhlKbP#?secret=39W2oIKSZG\" data-secret=\"39W2oIKSZG\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can only imagine how darkly funny it was to see TST move on to <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-costs-of-defending-yourself-from-the-satanic-temple\/#newsweek\">hitting <em>Newsweek<\/em><\/a> with a SLAPP of its own for talking about this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And in March 2023, Federal District Court Judge <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mary_Kay_Vyskocil\">Mary Kay Vyskocil<\/a>, a Trump appointee, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/63011247\/27\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-newsweek-magazine-llc\/\">dismissed nearly everything<\/a> in The Satanic Temple&#8217;s lawsuit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the whole thing decision is worth reading, one statement in particular stands out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-5f607cd3de4871e94f65e93c38404865 is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If Plaintiff did not want to be associated with the alt-right, the best course of action would be to avoid posing with alt-right media figures. The reporting of such an interaction (the occurrence of which Plaintiff does not dispute) is not defamatory merely because it will disappoint some of Plaintiff\u2019s donors.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simple as.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Somehow it seems only <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/volokh\/2023\/03\/09\/most-libel-claims-by-the-satanic-temple-against-newsweek-dismissed-but-not-claim-over-sexual-abuse-allegations\/\">the Volokh Conspiracy blog<\/a> for Reason.com took notice of this happening at the time, which is unfortunate because SLAPP suit against news orgs <em>ought<\/em> to be relevant to journalists in media even if theirs isn&#8217;t the specific outlet being sued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyway, from TST&#8217;s perspective in terms of their claims surviving, we have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-69c4c0d32a72ea7ba1f1b7ebe4d9f33f is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jurisdiction<\/strong> \u274c (This means reporter Julia Duin is out of this case as an individual Defendant.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For <strong>Merits<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Public figure<\/strong> \u2705  (This means <em>Newsweek<\/em> did not disprove TST\u2019s claim of being a private figure.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under the <strong>Defamation<\/strong> portion of the Merits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Financial Fraud<\/strong> \u274c<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sexual Misconduct<\/strong> (Deviancy) \u274c<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sexual Abuse<\/strong> \u2705<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Misrepresenting Legal proceeding<\/strong> \u274c<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fraudulent Lawsuit<\/strong> \u274c<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Defrauding the Public<\/strong> \u274c<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Harassing Dissenters<\/strong> \u274c<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Other \u201cTerrible\u201d Acts<\/strong> \u274c<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For all of the above, a &#8220;checkmark&#8221; just means TST&#8217;s claim that the court has been treating as true gets to survive a little longer. We have not gotten to the point where the court starts to look at what happens if the Temple&#8217;s claims are <em>not<\/em> assumed to be true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What this left behind is still not particularly good for the Temple.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2591\" style=\"width:489px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-c3d89c4602c73a9ee77970e549608c04 is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Newsweek anticipates deposing Lucien Greaves regarding his knowledge of any allegations of sexual abuse within The Satanic Temple, and others as revealed through discovery. Newsweek also plans to request the production of emails and office messaging from The Satanic Temple regarding knowledge of any allegations of sexual abuse within the organization. Newsweek will also seek discovery regarding The Satanic Temple\u2019s reputation and alleged damages.<\/p>\n<cite>Letter&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/courtlistener.com\/docket\/63011247\/31\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-newsweek-magazine-llc\/\">Document #31<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Satanic Temple&#8217;s issues with sexual harassment and abuse are <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/today-is-a-good-day-for-the-satanic-temple-to-release-its-finances\/3\/\">much worse than any one person&#8217;s experience or incident<\/a>. Of course, the fact that TST&#8217;s go-to response is to threaten lawsuits over talking about it tells you a lot in itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In August, the Temple&#8217;s lawyers began seeking to depose all of the members of Queer Satanic; that is, the four former members TST has been suing since April 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-queer-satanic wp-block-embed-queer-satanic\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"FsG47nSwwg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/wait-why-is-the-satanic-temple-still-suing-you\/\">Wait, why is The Satanic Temple (still) suing you?<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Wait, why is The Satanic Temple (still) suing you?&#8221; &#8212; Queer Satanic\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/wait-why-is-the-satanic-temple-still-suing-you\/embed\/#?secret=vsZPHkh7zm#?secret=FsG47nSwwg\" data-secret=\"FsG47nSwwg\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ultimately, only David Johnson and Nathan Sullivan had to schlep over to Mercer Island to get deposed by the Temple&#8217;s lawyers, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/63011247\/58\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-newsweek-magazine-llc\/\">only narrowly<\/a> about our knowledge of allegations of sexual harassment and abuse within the Temple since we (rightly) worried TST would use the deposition as an end-around to pursue their goals in their existing lawsuits against us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Evaluated in the abstract on the standards of the litigation, the whole thing has been a failure so far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But judged as a weapon to try to intimidate other critical former TST members and journalists by raising the specter of needing to prepare for an expensive legal defense or for doxing in retaliation, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/footnotes-to-the-atlantics-a-satanic-rebellion-social-justice-collides-with-the-satanic-temple\/\">Scientology for mall goths<\/a>&#8221; might consider this lawsuit working as intended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-accent-background-color has-background\" id=\"v-young-et-al\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/QueerSatanic\/status\/1512172713133047820\">The Satanic Temple, Inc., et al v. Young et al<\/a>&nbsp;<br>(&#8220;Ann Doe II&#8221;) &#8211; No Movement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TST started this case in 2022, and since June 2022, there has been no movement in the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is a <em>peculiar <\/em>case even grading on the curve of The Satanic Temple&#8217;s litigation history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The good news is that \u2014 unlike the Temple&#8217;s more recent Indiana and Idaho abortion ban challenges \u2014 TST does have an actual, specific pregnant person they can represent as having been harmed by abortion restrictions in the state of Texas, and this allows them to pass one of the first hurdles of establishing standing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bad news is that The Satanic Temple utilizes the same TST member from their federal abortion-ban lawsuit the year prior; <a href=\"https:\/\/the.satanic.wiki\/images\/a\/a2\/D-1-GN-22-000560-Plaintiffs-Original-Petition-with-Exhibits-2022-02-01.pdf\">the complaint states<\/a>  the &#8220;Ann Doe&#8221; had her last period in December 2020 and discovered she was pregnant in January 2021, seeking an abortion in February 2021. While this was partially sufficient for establishing standing for the federal lawsuit filed in February 2021, that would no longer be true a year later. At least as it comes to initiating a lawsuit, the court needs a specific and redressable harm; having been pregnant in the past doesn&#8217;t cut it in terms of overturning a law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/the.satanic.wiki\/index.php\/The_Satanic_Temple,_Inc.,_et_al_v._Young_et_al\">most recent activity<\/a> in this case was an &#8220;attorney vacation notification&#8221; on June 3, 2022, so TST has nothing at all to show for 2023 regarding their state-level challenge of the abortion ban in Texas, and that&#8217;s actually probably the best they could hope for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-accent-background-color has-background\" id=\"v-hellerstedt-et-al\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/59182019\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-hellerstedt\/\">The Satanic Temple, Inc. et al v. Hellerstedt et al<\/a>&nbsp;<br>(&#8220;Ann Doe I&#8221;) &#8211; Failed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TST started this case in 2021, and they lost it in 2023 then (apparently) also abandoned their appeal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This was the Temple&#8217;s first abortion-restriction challenge in a while, and it attempted to make use of religious liberty arguments, which liberal media always loves for its &#8220;dog-bites-man quality&#8221;. When SB8, the Texas &#8220;bounty bill&#8221;, was signed into law in September 2021, it led to a huge new influx of attention for TST and many breathless articles like &#8220;Why Satanists may be the last, best hope to save abortion rights in Texas.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-32.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2259\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210904222545\/https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2021\/09\/04\/why-satanists-may-be-the-last-best-hope-to-save-abortion-rights-in-texas\/\"><em>Salon<\/em>&nbsp;headline<\/a>&nbsp;from Sep. 4, 2021: \u201cWhy Satanists may be the last, best hope to save abortion rights in Texas: The \u2018nontheistic\u2019 organization joins the fray with a last-ditch legal maneuver to save abortion rights in Texas\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TST literally raised <a href=\"https:\/\/nitter.net\/QueerSatanic\/status\/1445636542551117829\">hundreds of thousands of dollars<\/a> off of credulous articles just like this one that treated this specific lawsuit as the &#8220;one weird trick&#8221; that could save abortion rights for tens of millions of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then the lawsuit was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/59182019\/34\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-hellerstedt\/\">paused in December 2021<\/a> pending the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision in <em>Dobbs v Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization<\/em>, and when the high court allowed Missouri&#8217;s abortion ban to go through in June 2022, the case was given a chance to start over. TST did, and it lost completely and utterly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is really difficult to convey just how much of a clusterfuck this case was on behalf of The Satanic Temple and its legal team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before we get there, though, let&#8217;s try to make some excuses for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As stated above, the Temple did the bare minimum here of identifying an actual TST member in Texas who was pregnant in 2021, who did not want to be, and who sought an abortion but faced barriers established by state law. TST called this person &#8220;Ann Doe&#8221; following in the previous examples of ultimately <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-devil-is-in-the-details-fact-checking-the-satanic-temples-2021-year-in-review\/#Resolution-of-Judy-Doe-Supreme-Court-Case\">failed Missouri abortion-ban challenges<\/a> representing involuntarily pregnant TST members &#8220;Mary Doe&#8221; and &#8220;Judy Doe&#8221;; so far, so good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But you&#8217;ve heard us say before, <strong>&#8220;It&#8217;s a legal system, not a justice system<\/strong>.&#8221; There&#8217;s nothing fair about any of this. To successfully utilize legal challenges to effect policy change, you need to pick the right example to represent and you need the right facts for your case, but you also need to make sure you initiate your challenge in the right circumstances, draw the right judge, and have a reasonable path to success through the partisan supra-legislatures that judicial panels represent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rightwing movement in the United States has spent decades making their work much easier in the federal courts by investing in organs like the Federalist Society that will tip odds in the favor of their causes at the levels of district, appellate, and supreme courts. That&#8217;s not fair, but that&#8217;s how the game works if you elect to play it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Satanic Temple filed this case in the Southern District of Texas, and they drew a Trump appointee: Charles Eskridge III. There <em>were<\/em> some Clinton and Obama judges in the mix, but overall, Republican presidents nominated the vast majority of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Southern_District_of_Texas#Current_judges\">federal judges in this district<\/a>. If you are going to blame judicial bias for your failures, as the Temple and its apologists are wont to do, this is very much a self-inflicted injury to your lawsuit&#8217;s chances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Worse, Texas lies within the jurisdiction of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals; the Fifth Circuit is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/policy-and-politics\/2022\/12\/27\/23496264\/supreme-court-fifth-circuit-trump-court-immigration-housing-sexual-harrassment\">famously<\/a> the most reactionary appellate court in the entire country. No matter how good your performance and draw at the district court, this reality looms ahead of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, due to the Trump regime, the US Supreme Court holds a 6-3 Republican majority composition. Cases that might have succeeded in 2015 have no chance after 2020 purely because of who now sits on the high court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So is successful litigation in this environment <em>hard<\/em> for ostensibly progressive causes? Yes, it is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But none of that actually matters for The Satanic Temple, because it and its lawyers are so grossly incompetent, the venue they argue in is completely irrelevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Again, we covered a lot of this in more detail in <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-satanic-temple-is-very-bad-at-court-cases\/#matthew-kezhaya\">our previous article from January<\/a> and especially in our <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/why-did-tst-lose-its-federal-abortion-case-in-texas\/3\/\">analysis of the dismissal in July<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-queer-satanic wp-block-embed-queer-satanic\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"asP8WqduV0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/why-did-tst-lose-its-federal-abortion-case-in-texas\/\">Why did TST lose its federal abortion case in Texas?<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Why did TST lose its federal abortion case in Texas?&#8221; &#8212; Queer Satanic\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/why-did-tst-lose-its-federal-abortion-case-in-texas\/embed\/#?secret=FQEuibuy0s#?secret=asP8WqduV0\" data-secret=\"asP8WqduV0\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But when Judge Eskridge officially admonished TST lawyer Matt Kezhaya and The Satanic Temple for their conduct in this case, he was not being an unreasonable MAGA justice. Eskridge pointed to two previous examples of Kezhaya being sanctioned in other jurisdictions (by Obama- and Biden-appointed federal judges) before moving on to review Kezhaya&#8217;s conduct in the present case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-36f3bd3cd42f5642b683766146085552 is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This Court is similarly concerned about Attorney Kezhaya\u2019s ability to practice in federal court in a professional and reasonable manner.<\/strong> For example, when initiating this action, he filed a motion for a temporary restraining order on February 5, 2021, with respect to an abortion scheduled the next day for Ann Doe\u2014when his filings made clear that he could and should have sought such relief much earlier, if it was sincerely sought. See Dkts <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841.2.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2<\/a> (motion for TRO) &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841.9.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">9<\/a> (order denying relief). Following decision in <em>Dobbs v Jackson Women\u2019s Health<\/em>, 142 S Ct 2228 (2022), he was granted leave to amend his complaint. <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841.38.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dkt 38<\/a>. <strong>The amended complaint he filed is, charitably stated, cryptic<\/strong>. <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841.39.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dkt 39<\/a>. <strong>He then filed a second motion for TRO containing negligible legal analysis, with six pages of the main analysis dedicated to presentation of what\u2019s purported to be a five-act play.<\/strong> See <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841.40.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dkt 40<\/a> (motion). That motion itself was filed in a manner and on a schedule at odds with a briefing schedule on which Attorney Kezhaya had been consulted and to which he had agreed. See <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841.42.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dkt 42<\/a> (order). Worse still, he followed that motion up with an intemperate letter demanding instanter ruling, while threatening to seek mandamus relief from the Fifth Circuit. See <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841.41.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dkt 41<\/a>. <strong>And most recently, as to a pending motion to dismiss, his response included a photograph apparently intended to shock the reader<\/strong>. See <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841.52.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dkt 52<\/a> at 6; see also Federal Rule of Evidence 403.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The &#8220;motion for TRO&#8221; or &#8220;Temporary Restraining Order&#8221; was denied at the federal district court level by Eskridge, and that ruling was appealed as &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/66693942\/satanic-temple-v-tx-hlth-and-human-svc\/?filed_after=&amp;filed_before=&amp;entry_gte=&amp;entry_lte=&amp;order_by=desc\">Satanic Temple v. TX Hlth and Human Service Commission<\/a>&#8220;, which also was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/66693942\/69\/1\/satanic-temple-v-tx-hlth-and-human\/\">dismissed<\/a> when it reached the Fifth Circuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You really <em>have<\/em> to read the actual documents filed by The Satanic Temple in this case to appreciate how unforgivably sloppy this was. A &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841\/gov.uscourts.txsd.1813841.40.0.pdf\">play in five acts<\/a>&#8221; consisting of a series Venn Diagrams, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/59182019\/41\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-hellerstedt\/\">demanding a ruling within days<\/a> after a year and a half of ongoing litigation, a filing consisting of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/59182019\/40\/1\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-hellerstedt\/\">nothing but testimonials from pseudonymous TST members<\/a> \u2014 not pregnant TST members, just people willing to write something under a fake name in support of the Temple. The judge was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/59182019\/42\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-hellerstedt\/\">not amused<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On July 3, 2023, the district court judge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/59182019\/67\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-hellerstedt\/\">dismissed the case<\/a> for its failure to state &#8220;factual allegations either to support Plaintiffs\u2019 standing or to overcome [Texas Health and Human Services Commissioner Cecile Young\u2019s] immunity to suit.&#8221; The judge felt the behavior of TST&#8217;s lawyers had been so woeful in its most recent amended complaint, he did not allow them the chance to amend the suit again but (strangely) the order did say the dismissal was without prejudice. In September 2023, the Fifth Circuit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/67601012\/18\/satanic-temple-v-young\/\">granted a motion by TST to dismiss TST&#8217;s appeal<\/a>, referencing TST&#8217;s &#8220;desire to avail themselves of the right to replead.&#8221; However, so far, that seems to be the end of the case, and if the Temple were to restart it, it&#8217;s not obvious what their path forward would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For all of the attention that this hope-grift lawsuit got when people were at their most fretful and worried, its end got virtually no attention, and no one learned any lessons except maybe TST in again proving they didn&#8217;t have to actually <em>do<\/em> anything to get all of the attention and credit as if they had. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-accent-background-color has-background\" id=\"v-belle-plaine-city-of\">v. Belle Plaine, City of &#8211; Failed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TST started this case in 2019, then started the same case again in 2021, lost both in 2021 and got sanctioned for it, then in 2023, lost their appeal of the sanctioning and its fees, as well as losing the appeal for the main case(s).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If that short description seems confusing, fair enough, but basically The Satanic Temple is very bad at taking &#8220;no&#8221; for an answer or respecting decisions they don&#8217;t like, and when it comes to the courts, that tends to get them in even more trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are all the relevant court cases relating to the Temple&#8217;s proposed veterans&#8217; memorial monument in the city of Belle Plaine, Minn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-ea7a052a0edbc03c50616ceb9a5c4c4c is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Federal District court<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/15064653\/satanic-temple-the-v-belle-plaine-city-of\/\">&#8220;Satanic Temple I&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/59240138\/satanic-temple-inc-the-v-city-of-belle-plaine-mn\/\">&#8220;Satanic Temple II&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Appeal<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/66651784\/the-satanic-temple-v-city-of-belle-plaine\/\">21-3079<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/66806077\/the-satanic-temple-v-city-of-belle-plaine\/\">21-3081<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/66806046\/matthew-kezhaya-v-city-of-belle-plaine\/\">Matthew Kezhaya v. City of Belle Plaine<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ostensibly the Temple&#8217;s monument was intended to stand in contrast to a Christian veterans&#8217; monument endorsed by the city, but the fundraising campaign ended up <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/this-invoice-reveals-the-inner-workings-of-the-satanic-temples-finances\/\">getting more donation money than TST spent on the monument itself<\/a> and which never left TST&#8217;s for-profit headquarters, where the Temple further sold admission tickets for the right to come inside and view it.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image-4.png\" alt=\"receipt of $16,943.40 sanctioning fine paid by Kezhaya Law LLC\" style=\"width:337px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/59240138\/69\/satanic-temple-inc-the-v-city-of-belle-plaine-mn\/\">Document #69<\/a>, Satanic Temple, Inc., The<em>&nbsp;v.&nbsp;<\/em>City of Belle Plaine, MN<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Satanic Temple (and its attorneys) got in trouble with the federal district court judge, Obama-appointee <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wilhelmina_Wright\">Wilhelmina Wright<\/a>, after they responded to Wright dismissing their claims and disallowing them from repleading the same issues in the first case by trying to replead the same issues in a <em>new <\/em>case before a different judge. Instead, Wright was handed back the new case and ruled against TST in September 2021, further applying <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/59240138\/69\/satanic-temple-inc-the-v-city-of-belle-plaine-mn\/\">almost $17,000 in penalties<\/a> against TST lawyer Matt Kezhaya to recompense the city of Belle Plaine for having to pay the city&#8217;s lawyers for time spent dealing with a second, frivolous litigation TST should not have pursued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Well, in August 2023, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/opinion\/9423439\/the-satanic-temple-v-city-of-belle-plaine\/?\">affirmed the district court dismissal<\/a> and also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/59240138\/72\/satanic-temple-inc-the-v-city-of-belle-plaine-mn\/\">upheld the sanctions on Kezhaya<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(Sad trombone noises intensify.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Taking a step back, by all rights, this whole situation <em>should<\/em> have been a rare victory for The Satanic Temple and its owners to point to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There was an example of religious favoritism in a city that did not think through its policies; TST came in to challenge it, had a successful fundraising campaign, produced an actual, physical monument that could counter to Christian one already present; and the city was so put off by the idea of this coming to pass that they revoked their OK for the Christian monument in such a way to belatedly but undeniably re-establish secular principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the Temple&#8217;s owners were too arrogant to just take a win, so they incompetently pursued a lawsuit that embarrassed them, revealed they paid one TST owner about a third of all the fundraiser revenue while another third disappeared entirely, got caught lying about doing this, and also got caught using fake names on official documents multiple times. Plus however much donor money was spent fruitlessly over four years pursuing a failed and unnecessary cluster of sloppy lawsuits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s hard to pick a &#8220;worst&#8221; anything with The Satanic Temple, but given how <em>easy<\/em> this was for them to just quit while they were ahead yet electing to do the exact opposite until failures compounded on failures, this might just be it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-accent-background-color has-background\" id=\"v-city-of-boston\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/31223191\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-city-of-boston\/\">v. City of Boston<\/a> &#8211; Failed and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/67667225\/satanic-temple-inc-v-city-of-boston\/?filed_after=&amp;filed_before=&amp;entry_gte=&amp;entry_lte=&amp;order_by=desc\">Appealed<\/a> (Ongoing)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TST started this case in 2019, and they lost it in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unlike most of the lawsuits on this list, this one was actually steadily covered by media outlets throughout its lifetime, particularly by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.universalhub.com\/satanists\">Universal Hub<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For that reason, we&#8217;re just going to include the August 2023 article about TST&#8217;s appeal in full since it saves us some work concisely includes the whole saga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-93caad583b7bbc782a6a54c0d57effb3 is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-primary-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">The Satanic Temple said today it plans to appeal a federal judge&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.universalhub.com\/2023\/judge-rules-boston-city-council-doesnt-have-let\">decision on Monday<\/a> to toss <a href=\"https:\/\/www.universalhub.com\/2021\/satanists-allowed-continue-press-claim-way-city\">its suit<\/a> against the City Council for not letting one of its practitioners start a council meeting with an invocation.<br><br>But beyond US District Court Judge Angel Kelley&#8217;s ruling, the Salem-based organization says it plans to appeal &#8211; to the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston &#8211; a whole raft of rulings Kelley and another judge had earlier made in the case<br><br>They include Kelley&#8217;s refusal to take herself off the case because she was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.universalhub.com\/2022\/satanic-lawyer-threatens-have-wu-arrested-ongoing\">allegedly biased<\/a>, her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.universalhub.com\/2022\/third-time-federal-judge-tells-satanists-they\">repeated rejections<\/a> of the group&#8217;s attempts to force Michelle Wu to spend several hours in its Salem lair answering questions &#8211; after first sitting through a candle-lit Satanic Temple invocation &#8211; a ruling by a magistrate judge that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.universalhub.com\/2023\/devil-you-say-judge-orders-satanic-group-pay\">the group had to pay Boston $8,228.25<\/a> for its lawyers&#8217; time fending off those attempts and Kelley&#8217;s refusal to let the group immediately appeal one of her orders rejecting its attempt to &#8220;depose&#8221; Wu in Salem, in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.universalhub.com\/2022\/federal-judge-satanists-who-tried-force-michelle\">an order<\/a> in which she tore into its lawyer&#8217;s &#8220;impermissible antics and abusive tactics.<br><br>The Satanic Temple sued the council in 2021, alleging that the way it chooses local clergy members to start its Wednesday meetings with invocations violated the First Amendment, and the Satanic Temple&#8217;s right to practice religion, because no councilors were willing to give any of its practitioners an invocation slot and the clergy members who got them were overwhelmingly Christian.<br><br>In her ruling this week, Kelley concluded nobody&#8217;s rights were being violated, that the council was not attempting to foist any particular religion on Boston residents, that councilors selected members of the clergy based on their community work in Boston, that non-Christian clergy and at least one layperson were also asked to give invocations and that the invocations did nothing to stop the Satanists from continuing to practice whatever it is they practice. The fact that councilors may not have been aware of either the Satanic Temple&#8217;s very existence, let alone its supposed charity drives, at least not until the group sued, is hardly proof of religious discrimination, she held.<\/p>\n<cite>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.universalhub.com\/2023\/oh-hell-satanists-appeal-dismissal-their\">Oh, hell: Satanists to appeal dismissal of their invocation suit against Boston City Council and all the other ways they say judges in the case did them wrong<\/a>&#8221; by Adam Gaffin (Aug. 2, 2023)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The appeal is ongoing, but so far The Satanic Temple&#8217;s owners, lawyers, and advocates don&#8217;t have a better explanation for their failures than that TST is the victim of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/31223191\/57\/5\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-city-of-boston\/\">conspiracy between the city of Boston and federal judiciary against them<\/a>, so it&#8217;s hard to see how the First Circuit is likely to give them a better answer than the magistrate and district judges Kelley did at district court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide\" id=\"united-federation-of-churches-llc-court-cases\"><strong>United Federation of Churches LLC court cases<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-pale-pink-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-b9db8f585d04d741aece678cf9e3e48a is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/the.satanic.wiki\/index.php\/United_Federation_of_Churches,_LLC\">United Federation of Churches, LLC<\/a><\/strong>,&nbsp;is a Domestic Limited Liability Company doing business as and holding the trademarks for&nbsp;<em>The Satanic Temple<\/em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>Lucien Greaves<\/em>.&nbsp;A listing without the &#8220;LLC&#8221; also holds a trademark for &#8220;TST&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was organized Feb. 14, 2014, in Salem, Massachusetts at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/the.satanic.wiki\/index.php\/64_Bridge_Street\">64 Bridge Street<\/a>, a property shared by several other corporations owned by&nbsp;Cevin Soling, including&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/the.satanic.wiki\/index.php\/64_Bridge_LLC\">64 Bridge LLC<\/a>, which owns the location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The registered agent of United Federation of Churches is&nbsp;Douglas Misicko, while its manager is&nbsp;Cevin Soling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is distinct from the tax-exempt church <a href=\"https:\/\/the.satanic.wiki\/index.php\/The_Satanic_Temple_Inc\">The Satanic Temple, Inc<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-accent-background-color has-background\" id=\"v-johnson-et-al\">v. Johnson et al &#8211; Ongoing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TST started this case in 2020, and they lost it in 2023 but unfortunately, that wasn&#8217;t the end of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here&#8217;s the four cases involved (so far):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-primary-background-color has-background is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/the.satanic.wiki\/index.php\/United_Federation_of_Churches_DBA_v._Johnson_AKA_et_al\">v. Johnson AKA et al<\/a>&nbsp;(&#8220;Queer Satanic II&#8221; &#8211; state court)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/17042463\/united-federation-of-churches-llc-v-johnson\/\">v. Johnson et al<\/a>&nbsp;(&#8220;Queer Satanic I&#8221; &#8211; federal court)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/66805454\/united-federation-of-churches-llc-v-david-johnson\">TST appeal<\/a>&nbsp;&#8211; 23-35060<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/66817545\/united-federation-of-churches-llc-v-david-johnson\">Defendants&#8217; Cross Appeal<\/a>&nbsp;&#8211; 23-35105 (<em>withdrawn<\/em>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more specifics, we have a whole article on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-queer-satanic wp-block-embed-queer-satanic\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"FsG47nSwwg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/wait-why-is-the-satanic-temple-still-suing-you\/\">Wait, why is The Satanic Temple (still) suing you?<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Wait, why is The Satanic Temple (still) suing you?&#8221; &#8212; Queer Satanic\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/wait-why-is-the-satanic-temple-still-suing-you\/embed\/#?secret=vsZPHkh7zm#?secret=FsG47nSwwg\" data-secret=\"FsG47nSwwg\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More broadly, this suit, its appeals, and re-filings are just a SLAPP suit against former members where all of the frivolous activity makes complete sense given that the goal of litigation is to force the Defendants to answer everything and exhaust our limited resources when our assailants can call upon so much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first time a judge dismissed the federal district court case was in February 2021;  TST re-filed the same year and the federal district court judge <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/to-shame-the-devil-satanic-temples-lawsuit-against-ex-members-fails-again\/\">dismissed it again in January 2023<\/a>; TST quickly appealed part of the case in federal court in January 2023 and re-filed a new case in Washington state court in April 2023. The state court appeal has been stayed awaiting the outcome of the federal court proceedings, which the Ninth Circuit has allowed to be revived on the issue of defamation back at federal district court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-queer-satanic wp-block-embed-queer-satanic\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"1A5YJvVUo2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/ninth-circuit-gives-satanic-temples-slapp-suit-mixed-response\/\">Ninth Circuit gives Satanic Temple&#8217;s SLAPP suit mixed response<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Ninth Circuit gives Satanic Temple&#8217;s SLAPP suit mixed response&#8221; &#8212; Queer Satanic\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/ninth-circuit-gives-satanic-temples-slapp-suit-mixed-response\/embed\/#?secret=ROrsZe2IOk#?secret=1A5YJvVUo2\" data-secret=\"1A5YJvVUo2\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you were someone who cared about how The Satanic Temple&#8217;s owners are stewarding the collective resources provided to them by TST&#8217;s members and donors, a really good question would be demanding to know how much they&#8217;ve spent trying to hurt us over these past few years and what that has actually gained any of TST&#8217;s members or the people the Temple claims to be helping. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What does victory look like for The Satanic Temple here, and in what way does that advance the interests of Satanists more broadly?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-accent-background-color has-background\" id=\"cave-et-al-v-thurston\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/cave-v-thurston\/?filed_after=&amp;filed_before=&amp;entry_gte=&amp;entry_lte=&amp;order_by=desc\">Cave et al v. Thurston<\/a> &#8211; Ongoing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TST joined this case as an Intervenor in 2018, and as of 2023 they haven&#8217;t lost yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The saga of the ACLU&#8217;s challenge to a 10 Commandments monument in Arkansas is about to hit year six <em>without a trial<\/em>, and much of that delay can be placed squarely at the feet of The Satanic Temple and its owner Doug &#8220;Lucien Greaves&#8221; Misicko, who seems to have pursued this originally out of an ongoing personal feud with former Arkansas State Sen. Jason Rapert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">November 2023 saw the 317th filing in the case which has gone on so long one of the original Plaintiffs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arkansasonline.com\/obituaries\/2021\/nov\/03\/susan-russell-2021-11-03\/\">died two years ago<\/a>, and late last year, the ACLU found themselves on the same side as the Defendants in urging the court to &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/nitter.net\/QueerSatanic\/status\/1610791130978988033\">get on with it<\/a>&#8220;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This has also been an expensive, unnecessary, and counterproductive legal action for The Satanic Temple that the ACLU was more than capable of handling on its own and which further has produced some of the absolutely <em>worst<\/em> moments for Misicko and the Temple when he was put under deposition and questioned about things he couldn&#8217;t wriggle out of as if it were a news interview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-queer-satanic wp-block-embed-queer-satanic\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"r6PBTmWXW8\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-satanic-temple-in-the-courts\/\">Footnotes: The Satanic Temple in the courts<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Footnotes: The Satanic Temple in the courts&#8221; &#8212; Queer Satanic\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-satanic-temple-in-the-courts\/embed\/#?secret=Ib6KmWB4Ub#?secret=r6PBTmWXW8\" data-secret=\"r6PBTmWXW8\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Much of the last two years have also involved the Temple dealing with information that Misicko&#8217;s former good friend and early TST collaborator <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/why-you-havent-left-the-satanic-temple\/#shane-bugbee-2013\">Shane Bugbee<\/a> dropped in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/188\/2\/cave-v-thurston\/\">a declaration<\/a>, including old email correspondence that confirmed what had long been rumored: Misicko hadn&#8217;t actually changed that much from <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/lucien-greaves-and-the-satanic-temple-have-a-lot-to-answer-for\/\">their Internet radio shows 10 years before<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"satanic-temple-summary\">In March 2023, the case also produced perhaps the best, most concise, and thoroughly documented <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/258\/cave-v-thurston\/\">summary of TST&#8217;s entire history<\/a> up to that point as the state of Arkansas tried to untangle the &#8220;constellation of affiliate entities&#8221; that is the Temple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-949208dc6fdc3783a506cf013f214864 is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Satanic Temple. <\/em>The intervenor labeled the \u201cSatanic Temple\u201d is a shifting constellation<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#6\">6<\/a><\/sup> of entities created, owned, and run by Massachusetts residents Doug Misicko (a.k.a. Doug Mesner, a.k.a. Lucien Greaves) and Cevin Soling (a.k.a. Malcolm Jarry). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 26<\/a>, TST Dep., at 148-49, 183, 187, 228. These entities include the for-profit commercial enterprise United Federation of Churches, LLC, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">id<\/a><\/em>. at 137, 157-59, 228; the fundraising nonprofit Reason Alliance, Ltd., <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">id<\/a><\/em>. at 160-69; the nonprofit The Satanic Temple, Inc., <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">id<\/a><\/em>. at 170-79; and another for-profit commercial enterprise, Cinephobia, LLC. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Id<\/a><\/em>. at 180-84. These disparate entities purport to be \u201call part of the larger\u2014The Satanic Temple Organization.\u201d<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#7\">7<\/a><\/sup> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Id<\/a><\/em>. at 183.<br><br>TST is an antireligious group founded in 2013 with the goal of suppressing religious expression. Indeed, Intervenors\u2019 Second Amended Complaint links to and cites an article that explains that TST cofounder Soling originally conceived TST as a way to undermine President George W. Bush\u2019s White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. DE 89 at 4 \u00b6 8; see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 26<\/a>, TST Dep., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/24\/1\/cave-v-thurston\/\">dep. ex. 55<\/a> at 4 (Mark Oppenheimer, \u201cA Mischievous Thorn in the Side of Conservative Christianity,\u201d <em>New York Times<\/em>, July 10, 2015). \u201cThere should be some kind of counter,\u201d Soling thought, and he came up with \u201cthe idea of starting a faith-based organization that met all the Bush administration\u2019s criteria for receiving funds, but was repugnant to them.\u201d <em>Id<\/em>. He believed that \u201cif a Satanic organization applied for funds . . . [i]t would sink the whole program.\u201d <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/24\/1\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Id<\/a><\/em>.<br><br>Misicko and Soling met in 2012 and immediately \u201cbonded over a shared distaste for organized religion and an inclination to fight back with mischief.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 26<\/a>, TST Dep., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/24\/1\/cave-v-thurston\/\">dep. ex. 55<\/a> at 4. They formed TST and conceived what they acknowledge to be its first \u201ccampaign,\u201d the so-called \u201cRally for Governor Rick Scott.\u201d <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Id<\/a><\/em>. at 77; <em>see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">id<\/a><\/em>. at 65-72; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/63\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 45<\/a>, Mock Scott Rally. TST \u201ccreated this mock rally . . . where we were coming out to say how happy we were because now our Satanic children could pray to Satan in school\u201d after Gov. Scott signed a bill authorizing students to give inspirational messages at school assemblies. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 26<\/a>, TST Dep., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/24\/1\/cave-v-thurston\/\">dep. ex. 55<\/a> at 4. A casting call was posted to the website Actor\u2019s Access to find actors to play Satanic \u201cminions\u201d at the \u201crally.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/50\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 32<\/a>, Misicko Dep., at 15. The second \u201ccampaign\u201d was a so-called \u201cpink mass\u201d on top of the grave of a deceased woman, Ms. Catherine Johnson. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 26<\/a>, TST Dep., at 72-79. TST claimed that the contrived ritual \u201cchange[d] [Ms. Johnson\u2019s] sexual orientation . . . in the afterlife.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 26<\/a>, TST Dep., at 73 &amp; dep. exs. 11, 13. It involved two (ostensibly) same-sex couples kissing over the top of the gravestone and Misicko placing his genitals on it. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\"><em>Id<\/em>.<\/a> at 72-79 &amp; dep. ex. 11, 13. This stunt resulted in a warrant being issued for Misicko\u2019s arrest for grave desecration. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\"><em>Id<\/em>.<\/a> at 78.<br><br>TST\u2019s modus operandi is to use threats of litigation to suppress expression with religious significance. For example, shortly after the Supreme Court upheld the Town of Greece\u2019s practice of prayer at town board meetings in <em>Town of Greece, N.Y. v. Galloway<\/em>, 572 U.S. 565 (2014), TST sought to deliver an invocation there in hopes of stopping the practice. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 26<\/a>, TST Dep., at 85-87 &amp; dep. ex. 16. Indeed, TST frequently trolls municipalities that have such invocation practices. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">See id<\/a><\/em>. at 198 (effort to give invocation in Scottsdale, Arizona, city council meeting); <em>Satanic Temple v. City of Boston<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/31223191\/the-satanic-temple-inc-v-city-of-boston\/\">No. 1:2021-cv-10102<\/a> (D. Mass.) (effort to give invocation in Boston city council meeting).<br><br>As a counter to the Supreme Court\u2019s decision in <em>Good News Club v. Milford Central School<\/em>, 533 U.S. 98 (2001), TST announced that it would sponsor what it called an \u201cAfter School Satan\u201d (not coincidentally: \u201cASS\u201d) Club in public schools\u2014but <em>only <\/em>in schools where there was already a Good News Club (i.e., an evangelical-Christian after-school group). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 26<\/a>, TST Dep., at 90-100. Misicko admitted, \u201c[W]e only offer our club in schools where the evangelical presence already exists.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/50\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 32<\/a>, Misicko Dep., dep. ex. 12 at 5. Misicko created a disturbing video purportedly to promote the After School Satan Club, incorporating devil-worship tropes. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/63\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 46<\/a>, After School Satan Video; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 26<\/a>, TST Dep., at 94-100. TST wanted people who \u201cfreaked out\u201d at the video to rethink giving permission to the Good News Club to meet in their school so they would not be forced to allow an After School Satan Club as well.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#8\">8<\/a><\/sup> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Id<\/a><\/em>. at 99-100.<br><br>This lawsuit is not TST\u2019s first effort to remove a Ten Commandments monument by presenting a Baphomet monument as its foil. After Oklahoma installed a Ten Commandments monument on its Capitol grounds, the local ACLU sued to remove it. <em>Prescott v. Okla. Capitol Pres. Comm\u2019n<\/em>, 2015 OK 54, 373 P.3d 1032 (Okla. Sup. Ct. 2015) (per curiam). Wanting to appear to be in on the action, TST courted media attention by applying to erect its Baphomet monument. <em>See id<\/em>. at 1045 n.8; Ex. 27, Okla. Records, at 7-16. TST \u201cmeticulously contrived a legal argument for the inclusion of the Baphomet on the Oklahoma Capitol grounds\u201d that it believed \u201cparalleled the 10 Commandments\u2019 Bill in every way.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/50\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 32<\/a>, Misicko Dep., at 132 &amp; dep. ex. 12 at 13. It expressly sought to place the Baphomet monument only \u201cwhere there is a pre-existing 10 Commandments monument.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/50\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 32<\/a>, Misicko Dep., dep. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/212\/12\/cave-v-thurston\/\">ex. 12<\/a> at 4; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 26<\/a>, TST Dep., at 130. Therefore, when, in July 2015, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered the removal of the Ten Commandments monument on state-law grounds, see <em>Prescott<\/em>, 2015 OK 54, at \u00b6 6, 373 P.3d at 1034, TST withdrew its request to place the Baphomet monument in Oklahoma and instead set its sights on Arkansas. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/260\/41\/cave-v-thurston\/\">Ex. 26<\/a>, TST Dep., at 131.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-0b4f6567b8e60b712c8a2c48cdce9e80 is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-primary-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"6\"><sup>6<\/sup> TST has claimed that \u201c\u2018[t]he Satanic Temple\u2019 is an umbrella term for a religion which is given legal structure by a constellation of affiliate entities. There is no entity named \u2018The Satanic Temple\u2019 . . . .\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/217\/cave-v-thurston\/\">DE 217<\/a> at 19.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-691e38b7c671c9eeb05febf208fb6643 is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-primary-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"7\"><sup>7<\/sup> It\u2019s unclear which entity, if any, is Intervenor the \u201cSatanic Temple.\u201d TST has never filed a corporate disclosure statement under Rule 7.1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Further, TST\u2019s filings and responses to Defendant\u2019s discovery requests provide wildly conflicting information. <em>Compare <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/25\/1\/cave-v-thurston\/\">DE 25-1<\/a> at 1 (identifying itself as \u201cThe Satanic Temple, LLC\u201d), <em>with <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/93\/2\/cave-v-thurston\/\">DE 93-2<\/a> at 20 (\u201cOn information and belief, the full legal name of the organization is still United Federation of Churches, LLC.\u201d), <em>and with<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/93\/4\/cave-v-thurston\/\">DE 93-4<\/a> at 8 (TST \u201cis given corporate structure by \u2018The Satanic Temple, Inc.\u2019 which is a Massachusetts non-profit corporation.\u201d); <em>see also<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/24\/cave-v-thurston\/\">DE 24<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/29\/cave-v-thurston\/\">DE 29<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7274697\/124\/cave-v-thurston\/\">DE 124<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-afc00c1b24adf6bef419301f0c1119e9 is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-primary-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"8\"><sup>8<\/sup> In 2015, TST members similarly sought to protest high-school football coach Joe Kennedy\u2019s practice of praying after football games by requesting to conduct an invocation on the football field. <em>See <\/em>https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/satanists-to-attend-high-school-game-overprayers-on-field\/. Notably, the Supreme Court held that the school\u2019s decision to punish Coach Kennedy for his prayer practice violated the Free Exercise Clause. <em>Kennedy<\/em>, 142 S. Ct. at 2422.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is no reason that The Satanic Temple should ever have forced their way into this case, and there has been no benefit \u2014 to anyone! \u2014 since they did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide\"><strong>Cases by others involving TST<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-accent-background-color has-background\" id=\"v-saucon-valley-school-district\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/67112434\/the-satanic-temple-v-saucon-valley-school-district\/?filed_after=&amp;filed_before=&amp;entry_gte=&amp;entry_lte=&amp;order_by=desc\">The Satanic Temple, Inc. v. Saucon Valley School District<\/a> &#8211; Success<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ACLU started this case in 2023, and they settled it favorably in 2023, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Y&#8217;all are propagandists! You never talk about the <em>good<\/em> things The Satanic Temple does.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Look, if you want to read pro-TST propaganda, you are already awash in it. That&#8217;s not our role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And the ACLU was right to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/pennsylvania-school-district-agrees-to-pay-200000-after-discriminatory-decision-to-block-after-school-satan-club-from-school-facilities\">crow about their $200,000 settlement victory<\/a> suing the Saucon Valley School District after it revoked its OK for TST to use district facilities for an After School Satan club. That is undeniably a win, and it&#8217;s their job to trumpet it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But this was a win for <em>the ACLU<\/em>, not for The Satanic Temple.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-2-1024x704.png\" alt=\"Screenshot from GuideStar showing &quot;Lucien Greaves&quot; and &quot;Malcolm Jarry&quot; as names of the two principle officers of The Satanic Temple Inc as well as board char Doug Misicko \" style=\"width:324px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the numerous example have hopefully showed, the Temple&#8217;s own lawyers are not nearly so competent as to box their legal targets into a defeat, and TST&#8217;s owners aren&#8217;t likely to actually take a win when it&#8217;s offered to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Further, given the actual nature of The Satanic Temple, its history, and the performance of its key figures <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-satanic-temple-in-the-courts\/\">under deposition<\/a>, even this case was likely to have unraveled had the school district decided to fight it and ask questions like, &#8220;Are <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/how-the-satanic-temple-controls-the-media-and-your-mind-part-2-after-school-satan\/#on-doxing\">the names<\/a> these TST leaders are using to sign official documents <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/today-is-a-good-day-for-the-satanic-temple-to-release-its-finances\/5\/#fake-names\">their actual names<\/a>?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you are inclined to be sympathetic to The Satanic Temple, this case is a perfect example of how important and vital TST is to challenging Christian Nationalism in the USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, we are <em>not<\/em> inclined to be sympathetic to them, we find their efforts to be <a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-satanic-temple-and-christian-nationalists-are-on-the-same-side\/#child-evangelism-fellowship\">largely aiding their supposed opponents<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-queer-satanic wp-block-embed-queer-satanic\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"3PzxMCWE1K\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-satanic-temple-and-christian-nationalists-are-on-the-same-side\/\">The Satanic Temple and Christian nationalists are on the same side<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;The Satanic Temple and Christian nationalists are on the same side&#8221; &#8212; Queer Satanic\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/the-satanic-temple-and-christian-nationalists-are-on-the-same-side\/embed\/#?secret=QoVVgOcErR#?secret=3PzxMCWE1K\" data-secret=\"3PzxMCWE1K\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And we would point out that this case seemingly undercuts all of the excuses that The Satanic Temple makes for itself and its own legal failures. Rather than losing case after case because Satanists just have a raw deal when it come to dealing with biased judges, this reinforces that the fault seems to lie squarely with TST and its own behavior in courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ACLU has plenty of problems but &#8220;incompetent legal representation&#8221; is not one of them. If TST never sued anyone, if its owners could shut the fuck up, go away, and just let serious, competent people handle lawsuits for them utilizing their members, maybe The Satanic Temple would not be such a consistently miserable failure in the courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-accent-background-color has-background\" id=\"v-kenai-peninsula-borough\">Hunt, Lance vs. Kenai Peninsula Borough AP &#8211; Update<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, this almost isn&#8217;t fair because this is another ACLU case representing people in Alaska of multiple religious traditions who challenged policies a local government policy regarding invocations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Started in 2016, the lawsuit ultimately <em>was<\/em> successful in a summary judgment, forcing a policy change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We can\u2019t blame The Satanic Temple here because it honestly seems that the national organization \u2014 Doug, Cevin, and their clown car of default lawyers \u2014 weren\u2019t involved at all, and that their members in Alaska did it \u201cthe right way\u201d by being one of many challenging the local invocations rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But we <em>do <\/em>think it shows how ultimately ineffectual this legal challenge strategy is at effecting positive change on its own, even when done competently as a legal matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-peninsula-clarion wp-block-embed-peninsula-clarion\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"kqyweuznzK\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peninsulaclarion.com\/news\/satanic-temple-get-last-word-as-assembly-ends-open-invocation-policy\/\">Satanic Temple gets last word as assembly ends open invocation policy<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Satanic Temple gets last word as assembly ends open invocation policy&#8221; &#8212; Peninsula Clarion\" src=\"https:\/\/www.peninsulaclarion.com\/news\/satanic-temple-get-last-word-as-assembly-ends-open-invocation-policy\/embed\/#?secret=UIEX6Q4Zzp#?secret=kqyweuznzK\" data-secret=\"kqyweuznzK\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-9ca01706819e77d47e7cd35c4eb4d7cc is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHail Satan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s the line that closed out the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly\u2019s final invocation of 2023, and the last invocation to be delivered by a member of the public. <strong>Effective Jan. 1,<\/strong> <strong>assembly invocations will be delivered exclusively by volunteer chaplains who serve the borough\u2019s fire and emergency medical service areas, as designated by the assembly president.<\/strong><br><br>&#8230;<br><br>Tuesday\u2019s invocation marked a sort of full-circle moment for the borough.<br><br>[Satanic Temple Iris Fontana] was one of three plaintiffs represented by the American Civil Liberties Union in a 2017 lawsuit alleging that the borough\u2019s invocation policy impaired their constitutional rights. That policy restricted who could deliver assembly invocations to religious associations with an \u201cestablished presence\u201d on the Kenai Peninsula.<br><br>The Alaska Superior Court in 2018 ruled against the borough, determining that the policy violated the Establishment Clause of the Alaska Constitution, which says that \u201cNo law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.\u201d As a result, the borough was forced to pay $80,000 in legal fees to the ACLU and adopt a new invocation policy, which was in effect until last month.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is at least the second time where the result of The Satanic Temple challenging local invocation practices has resulted in <em>less<\/em> not <em>more<\/em> secularism or religious plurality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.desertsun.com\/story\/news\/nation-now\/2016\/03\/03\/phoenix-city-council-prayer-vote\/81257254\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Phoenix-council-votes-to-bring-prayer-back-meetings.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-48e768750f66001d359683ef5fb6e553 is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-primary-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">Once again, the Phoenix City Council has voted to have a prayer said at council meetings. <strong>However, the invocation would have to be given exclusively by chaplains for the police and fire departments.<\/strong><br><br>A 7-2 vote Wednesday is the latest twist in a fiery debate that began after a group of Satanists were scheduled to give the opening prayer at a council meeting in February.<br><br>Rather than let followers of the Satanic Temple pray, the council voted last month to replace the invocation with a &#8220;moment of silent prayer and reflection.&#8221; City leaders said Phoenix would have faced a costly lawsuit if it kept holding a prayer and rejected the Satanist&#8217;s request to pray, as some council members advocated.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is not a criticism of the fight itself. The fight and the friction involved in it is worthy, regardless of the ultimate outcome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But it is a criticism of \u201cone weird trick\u201d appeals based on the grift that a proper legal argument is a solution to these problem. It isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/2023-was-a-very-bad-year-for-the-satanic-temple-in-court\/#jump-to\">Back to top<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TST started two new lawsuits in 2023, but they lost eight existing cases and seem to have completely abandoned two others Yet again, the legal performance of The Satanic Temple was disappointing and incompetent at best, but just as likely the worse conclusion is true: it was a needless waste of much-needed resources by attention-seeking&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9,1080,15,1127,1169],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abortion","category-lawsuits","category-slapp-suit","category-the-satanic-temple","category-the-satanic-temple-inc","category-united-federation-of-churches-llc"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qs.gehenna.ynh.fr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qs.gehenna.ynh.fr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qs.gehenna.ynh.fr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qs.gehenna.ynh.fr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qs.gehenna.ynh.fr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qs.gehenna.ynh.fr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2586\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qs.gehenna.ynh.fr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qs.gehenna.ynh.fr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qs.gehenna.ynh.fr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}