Jesse Ramirez, the Gulf War Veteran who remains hospitalized as a result of his injuries from a car accident on May 30, has a powerful ally on his side - the Alliance Defense Fund. Only 240 hours after a severe car accident, and then after being removed from his feeding and hydration sources, the Alliance Defense Fund stepped in to file an emergency order with the court to prevent the starvation and dehydration death of the father of three. It was after being moved from the hospital to a hospice, that the ADF received notice of Jesse's life-threatening predicament from their intake center, a group of tireless workers who "sort through hundreds of calls for help every day," according to Senior Counsel, Gary McCaleb.
The ADF came together in 1994 with the purpose of responding to the urgent needs for the legal and advocacy of religious freedom. Founded with the cooperation of great Christian leaders such as Dr. Bill Bright, Larry Burkett, Dr. James Dobson and Dr. D. James Kennedy, the ADF was concerned with the dramatic loss of religious freedom in America's court and the resulting challenges to people of faith to live and proclaim the Gospel. It was on this mission the ADF set forth and within a short time, had already funded two U.S. Supreme Court victories: Rosenberger v. Rector, involving a discrimination case against a Christian group on a secular campus and Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston, a case involving the St Patrick's Parade of Boston that came under attack for excluding homosexuals. Over the years, the ADF has won case after case and built a reputation for being staunch defenders of the Bible and the Constitution.
The Ramirez Case Up to the Minute
Today, McCaleb says that Jesse Ramirez is "as good as or better than he was last week" at the time of the emergency hearing. McCaleb noted that while the court room was wrought with tension, due the severe stress and trauma that both families are under, they are "trying to be patient with each other as they try to work through this."
McCaleb says that thus far the court, under the direction of Judge Paul Katz, has been very "rational and reasonable. The judge moved it from the surrogate decision-maker question and said they would go into a formal guardianship proceeding to determine if the appointing of a guardian is in the best interest of Jesse Ramirez." McCaleb explained that the court has set aside the entire day of June 26th to hear evidence with respect to the appointment of a guardian to handle Jesse's affairs and act in his best interest.
This week, McCaleb says that investigations and evidence-gathering is continuing - including from the guardian ad litem, who was appointed for Jesse Ramirez in last week's emergency hearing. The guardian ad litem was charged with giving the court a complete report after interviewing the family, doctors and other people pertinent to the case. This report, which will be influential in terms of what transpires in next week's evidentiary hearing, is due to the court by Friday, according to McCaleb.
McCaleb wanted to clarify that "a guardianship is not an adversarial type proceeding. We just need to get a judge to make the final decision and we are going to work together try and find the best decision-maker. Of course, there is tension in there and various agendas going on." When asked if he thought a court appointed guardian would be assigned by the court, McCaleb said, "I think that would be an excellent solution, one of the other alternatives would be to get a member of the family who is a little more removed from the situation." Once the guardian is in place, the ADF will largely have done their job. However, the ADF will continually monitor the situation and should life and death decisions be made without due process, the ADF will be prepared to fight on.
McCaleb, a devout Christian and esteemed attorney, completed his remarks by adding that "when you have a very serious injury and a human life is at stake, you simply should not be making hasty decisions especially when they are extremely painful and challenging decisions."
Jason T. Christy is the CEO of Christy Media, headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz. Christy Media is the publisher of The Church Report, The CR Daily, The CR Newswire and the CR Election Tracker. Additionally, he is the founder of Impact America, a Christian conservative political action group.
Sought after for his knowledge of the Christian market, Jason often consults with other media outlets. His media credits include: CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, NY Times, LA Times, ABC News - Atlanta, ABC News - Phoenix, CBS News - Houston, Trinity Broadcasting Network, CBS Radio, Westwood One Radio, Contra Costa Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, Los Angeles Daily News and many more.
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