A Battle Won But a War to Fight

Apr 7, 2025

One week ago today, we beat the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) outrageous attempt to bankrupt Liberty Counsel. The SPLC’s client, Janet Jenkins, insisted she wanted to sue us for a ridiculous 200 billion dollars for something we did not do. 

Over 186,000 documents, 25 depositions, 500-plus pages of legal arguments, thousands of exhibits, and more than 11,000 hours — defending against a frivolous case. The federal court ruled that the SPLC had no evidence that Liberty Counsel did anything wrong nor had any involvement in Lisa Miller fleeing the country with her daughter.  

The truth won in this case, but the SPLC is trying to destroy organizations like Liberty Counsel. 

We intend to now go after the SPLC for this frivolous lawfare. 

And we are also going on the offensive to take down the SPLC’s hateful “hate list” which has been used to harm conservative and pro-family organizations. 

Help us beat the SPLC, and a Challenge Grant will DOUBLE your impact. 

Former Senior Fellow at the SPLC Mark Potok, who served as editor-in-chief of the SPLC’s Intelligence Report, spoke publicly and frankly multiple times about the SPLC’s real purpose regarding its false labeling, saying, “Our criteria for a ‘hate group,’ first of all, [has] nothing to do with criminality or violence. ... It's strictly ideological. ... I want to say plainly that our aim in life is to destroy these groups, to completely destroy them” (emphasis added).  

Liberty Counsel has joined the legal team in a lawsuit against the SPLC regarding its “hate list” and “hate map.” Our lawsuit is the first of its kind against the SPLC. Our legal team is busy with the process of discovery to collect evidence, hold depositions, and request documents from the SPLC about its false “hate” labels.  

SPLC’s “hate list” and “hate map” lump law-abiding Christian and pro-family organizations together with groups like the KKK and the Aryan Terror Brigade. The SPLC designated our client, the Dustin Inman Society, as an “anti-immigrant hate group” in its Intelligence Report.

The Dustin Inman Society (DIS) was formed in 2005, after an illegal immigrant smashed his car into the Inman family car, killing 16-year-old Dustin Inman and paralyzing his mother, Kathy. 

DIS was founded to “end illegal immigration, illegal employment, and the illegal administration and granting of Public Benefits and services through the equal application of existing laws” in the state of Georgia.   

But the SPLC, ever eager to attack anyone defending common sense and conservative principles, designated DIS as an “anti-immigrant hate group” in its annual Intelligence Report from 2018 to 2021 and classified it as a “hate group” on its “hate map” from 2019 to 2021. The SPLC also stated the group “focuses on vilifying all immigrants.” This label is false, and the SPLC knows it. 

But the SPLC, as Mark Potok’s own words aptly demonstrate, isn’t interested in the truth, but on destruction. 

The SPLC’s hate list is more than defamation; it’s dangerous. 

The SPLC’s hate list has resulted in terrible acts of destruction. The Obama and Biden administrations used the SPLC hate list to encourage banks to stop doing business with anyone on the hate list. 

Domestic terrorists, like the congressional baseball shooter, as well as the Family Research Council shooter, BOTH used the SPLC hate list to choose their assassination targets. 

For far too long, the SPLC has been allowed to destroy people and organizations with its false “hate” label. It’s time to hold the SPLC accountable, which is exactly what Liberty Counsel is doing. But we need your direct financial support to win this fight. 

The SPLC has a nearly 1-billion-dollar endowment to fund their attacks on conservatives. Groups like the Dustin Inman Society could never afford to battle the SPLC if it were not for the generosity of Liberty Counsel supporters like you. 

A generous Challenge Grant has been established to DOUBLE the impact of every donation made today — even recurring monthly donations! Please, make your best gift now so that groups like the SPLC can no longer “destroy” conservative organizations.

“The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways” (Deut. 28:7). 

Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel 

P.S. Make a recurring monthly donation and let the Challenge Grant DOUBLE THE IMPACT OF YOUR REGULAR GIFT! 

Sources:

“Bankrolling Bigotry: An Overview of the Online Funding Strategies of American Hate Groups.” Institute for Strategic Dialogue, October 2020. Isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/bankrolling-bigotry-3.pdf. 

‌Bolar, Kelsey. “Biden Prepares Way for Banks to Refuse Service to Democrats’ Enemies.” The Federalist, February 19, 2021. Thefederalist.com/2021/02/19/biden-administration-prepares-way-for-banks-to-refuse-service-to-democrats-enemies/. 

“Financial Surveillance in the United States: How Federal Law Enforcement Commandeered Financial Institutions to Spy on Americans.” Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, March 6, 2024. Judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/How-Federal-Law-Enforcement-Commandeered-Financial-Institutions-to-Spy.pdf. 

Hart, Dan. “Treasury Department Sent ‘Hate Group’ List of Conservative Organizations to Banks.” The Daily Signal, March 12, 2024. Dailysignal.com/2024/03/12/biden-admin-sent-hate-group-list-conservative-organizations-banks/.  

“Liberty Counsel Completely Exonerated in Lisa Miller Case.” Liberty Counsel, April 1, 2025. Lc.org/newsroom/details/040125-liberty-counsel-completely-exonerated-in-lisa-miller-case. 

“Liberty Counsel Represents Immigration Policy Group against SPLC.” Liberty Counsel, July 10, 2023. Lc.org/newsroom/details/071023-liberty-counsel-represents-immigration-policy-group-against-splc. 

“Mission Statement.” New Dustin Inman Society. Accessed July 10, 2023. Newdustininmansociety.org/mission-statment/. 

“Who Was Dustin Inman?” New Dustin Inman Society. Accessed July 10, 2023. Newdustininmansociety.org/who-was-dustin-inman/. 

 

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