Webmaster’s note … Anne is overwelmed at the present time and finding it difficult to write. This is the post she wrote up the last of May, with some updates and changes.
We are yet hoping she will post again soon. And we are still asking for prayers.
More updates to follow, for more is happening.
My husband, Bryan J. Brown, began his application to the Indiana Board of Law Examiners (IBLE) in 2007. He originally hoped to take their bar exam in July, 2007. Bryan was told by the IBLE that his application had to be put off since it was so voluminous – they did not have sufficient time to process his application for him to sit for the Indiana bar exam in July of 2007.
Bryan’s pro-life activist background necessitated his voluminous file. He had to turn in such a file to the state of Kansas back in 1996, when he applied to sit for the Kansas bar exam after graduating from law school. Kansas approved him to sit for their bar exam, and at least one other state had also approved him to sit for their bar exam in 1996. Once a candidate is admitted to take a state’s bar exam, your only requirement for licensing in that state is to pass their exam. Of course the candidate is required to maintain good standing in that state in order to maintain a law license.
In 2000, after a background check, Bryan was sworn into the bar of the United States Supreme Court. After an even more rigorous check by the National College of Bar Examiners in 2006, Bryan was approved to sit for the Missouri bar exam.
BRYAN HAS BEEN PUT OFF FOR TWO YEARS to sit for Indiana’s bar exam. During that time he has been subjected to testing and counseling to determine whether or not he’s emotionally, psychologically, morally and ethically fit to be admitted to sit for Indiana’s bar exam. In spite of his maintaining a license in good standing in Kansas for twelve years, they not only insisted he be subject to testing and counseling, they insisted that he only see individuals they were personally familiar with, and sometimes this necessitated him driving to Indianapolis for appointments.
Bryan was required to make appointments with one psychiatrist and two psychologists who took issue with his Roman Catholic Christian faith. Two of these individuals made it very clear that it was a problem for the IBLE that Bryan would look to his Church for authority over his life, and especially that he considers this authority to take precedence over other some who claim to be authorities in his profession. The psychiatrist he was referred to by the Indiana authorities had a degree in Sacred Theology, and is published in feminist newsletters of a leftwing group advocating the end of the patriarchy — being first and foremost the all-male clergy. This Indiana-favored expert has appeared on television and in academic journals attempting to discredit Catholic exorcisms and calling for an end of such practices.
Bryan did see a psychiatrist of his own choosing in Fort Wayne, and a pastoral counselor in Fort Wayne, with advanced degrees in applied psychology and protestant theology. He has also counseled with our priest, Father James Seculoff. Bryan sought further professional counseling and evaluation because he had communicated again and again to the IBLE and their associates that he was being discriminated against because of his Roman Catholic faith. His pleas have thus far fallen on deaf ears. Bryan’s Catholic, Christian faith was not called into question by the professionals in Fort Wayne who did not come recommended by the IBLE. He was found quite sane, quite stable and of good moral character.
They simply lacked the bias seemingly inherent in the state offices reviewing Bryan.
DOES OUR SOCIETY NOT EMBRACE INDIVIUALS WHO FOLLOW THE TEACHINGS OF THEIR CHURCH? Apparently, this is not a good character trait according to the Indiana authorities. In fact, if you admit to such a belief, then you are subjected to psychological testing.
My friends, I know we all see the direction our country is heading. We must be prepared to defend our faith, our Catholic Church teachings, and for people to be able to live and practice their faith as Catholics in this country. It is one of the main reasons why our nation was founded – the free expression of religion. In our time, I believe we are at a crucial moment where we can lose much if we refuse to stand up for our faith. My husband is a great defender and fighter for constitutional and religious rights, which is why he’s being singled out and discriminated against.
WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS FOR JUNE. God has been so good to Bryan and I and our children in seeing us through this journey. Prayers of family and friends for us have been greatly needed and appreciated. I do believe that God has brought Bryan to this place, at this time, to fight this battle.
PLEASE PRAY WITH US STARTING AS SOON AS YOU CAN! We invite you to pray this St. Thomas More novena and litany for nine days. Bryan’s presentation is Monday, June 1, and the full Board will then once again vote on Bryan’s application sometime in the month of June. So please begin the novena anytime in June. Our intentions are: 1) That Bryan will conduct himself in a way pleasing to our Lord as he works his case , and always when he stands before the IBLE to give his own defense on why he is ethically, morally, and mentally sound to become an Indiana licensed attorney at law; 2) that the IBLE will be fair, just, and unbiased in their judgment on my husband; 3) that if it be the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, as a result of Bryan’s hearing with the IBLE on June 1st, 2009, he will be admitted by the IBLE to take the Indiana bar exam in July of 2009, and/or licensed to practice law in the state of Indiana in 2009.
May God bless all of you and please pray often for our children through this ardous journey we are on as a family.
Anne