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A common phenotype for many genetic diseases is that the cell is unable to deliver full-length membrane proteins to the cell surface. For some forms of autism, hereditary spherocytosis and color blindness, the culprits are single point mutations to cysteine. We have studied two inheritable cysteine mutants of cyclic nucleotide-gated channels that produce achromatopsia, a common form of severe color blindness. By taking advantage of the reactivity of cysteine's sulfhydryl group, we modified these mutants with chemical reagents that attach moieties with similar chemistries to the wild-type amino acids' side chains. We show that these modifications restored proper delivery to the cell membrane. Once there, the channels exhibited normal functional properties. This strategy might provide a unique opportunity to assess the chemical nature of membrane protein traffic problems.
Citation: Lopez-Rodriguez A, Holmgren M (2012) Restoration of Proper Trafficking to the Cell Surface for Membrane Proteins Harboring Cysteine Mutations. PLoS ONE 7(10): e47693. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0047693
Editor: Ruben Claudio Aguilar, Purdue University, United States of America
Received: July 5, 2012; Accepted: September 17, 2012; Published: October 17, 2012
This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
Funding: This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Institute Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Improper targeting of membrane proteins causes many diseases. Often point mutations to cysteine hinder the delivery of membrane proteins to the cell surface [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], or to the correct side of polarized cells [8], [9]. Because cysteine is a readily reactive amino acid, in principle it should be possible to recover proper trafficking by modifying its chemical structure in order to mimic the side chain of the wild type amino acid. As a proof of principle, we have studied two naturally occurring cysteine mutations in a cyclic nucleotide-gated channel (CNGA3) responsible for hereditary cone photoreceptor disorders: Y181C linked to incomplete achromatopsia and R277C linked to complete and incomplete achromatopsia or cone dystrophy [10], [11]. We have chosen these mutations because proper surface CNG channel expression can be easily assayed using electrophysiological techniques, and because both mutations, which cause channel retention in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) [11], [12], change wild type amino acids of drastically different chemistries.
CNG channels open a cationic selective permeation pathway in response to intracellular cyclic nucleotides [13], [14]. In the visual system, CNG channels are key players in the transduction of light into electrical signals [15]. In native cells, these channels are formed by the coassembly of four homologous subunits [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], each containing six transmembrane segments. Functional homotetramers can be formed by the CNGA1, A2 or A3 subunits [22], [23], [24], and these channels are usually studied as homotetramers in heterologous systems. We have introduced both achromatopsia-related cysteines in a cysteine-less CNGA1 channel [25], and used them as a target for specific chemical modification with hydroxybenzyl- (MTSHB) and aminoethyl-methanethiosulfonate (MTSEA). These reagents readily attach to the side chain of cysteines and mimic the chemistry of tyrosine and arginine, respectively (Fig. 1). Although Y181C and R277C caused ER retention, after chemical modification both mutants were targeted to the cell surface, providing a unique opportunity for their functional characterization.
A. Via a disulfide bridge, MTSHB attaches a hydroxyl benzene moiety that mimics tyrosine's side chain. B. Via a disulfide bridge, MTSEA introduces a primary amine which mimics arginine's side chain.
Materials and Methods
Mutagenesis and Expression
cDNA of a cysteine-less CNGA1 channel was kindly provided by William Zagotta (University of Washington, Seattle, WA). Cysteine mutations were introduced in this background using a QuickChange kit (Stratagene). Amino acid substitutions, as well as the integrity of the entire coding region of each channel, were confirmed by DNA sequencing (NINDS sequencing facility). A CNGA1-Green Fluorescent Protein (CNG-GFP) was created with standard PCR techniques. cRNAs were synthesized with a T7 promoter-based in vitro transcription protocol (Ambion). Xenopus oocytes were injected with 50 nl (500 ng/µl) of cRNA and incubated in ND96 solution (in mM: 96 NaCl, 2 KCl, 1 MgCl2, 1.8 CaCl2, 5 HEPES, pH 7.6) at17°C for two to three days to allow channel to express. To assess surface expression by fluorescence, we engineered two cysteine-less background constructs: CNGA1-GFP and CNGA1-FLAG. GFP and the FLAG epitope (DYKDDDDK) were inserted in frame immediately before the stop codon. In general, CNG channels tolerate these tags at the carboxy-terminal remarkably well [1], [18], [19]. This study was approved by National Institute Neurological Disorders and Stroke/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Animal Care and Use Committee Protocol Number 1253-09.
Chemical Treatment
R272C mutant channels were rescued using aminoethyl-methanethiosulfonate (MTSEA), a compound which readily permeates the membrane of cells, including that of Xenopus oocytes, in its uncharged form [26]. Treatments were performed 48 hrs after cRNA injection. MTSEA (final concentration 2 mM) was prepared in ND96 solution and added into wells containing oocytes. Incubation was performed at 17°C for six hours. Fresh ND96 solution with MTSEA was replaced every 30 minutes. These prolonged treatments were not readily tolerated by all oocytes. We found that after around 4 hours of MTSEA exposure, about 50% of the oocytes began to show signs of deterioration, as the animal pole became pale. Those oocytes were not used for any experiments.
Y176C mutant channels were treated with hydroxybenzyl-methanethiosulfonate (MTSHB). Oocytes were injected once with 50 nl of a 40 mM MTSHB stock solution, which was prepared in an ethanol-DMSO mix (50/50), and incubated at 17°C overnight.
After each treatment, some oocytes were used to analyze the extent of protein trafficking by fluorescence or immunocytochemistry, membrane protein expression assays, and others were used for electrophysiological characterization.
Biotinylation of Membrane Surface Protein
Six to eight oocytes were incubated for 1 hr at 4°C in ND96, supplemented with 50 µg/ml gentamicin and 1.0 mg/ml sulfo-NHS-LC-biotin (Pierce). Then, oocytes were washed several times with ND96 supplemented with 100 mM glycine and lysed in 200 µl of buffer H (1% Triton X-100, 100 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4 with protease inhibitors (SIGMA) by trituration. Lysates were rocked at room temperature for 15 min and then centrifuged at 13,000 rpm for 3 min. The pellet was discarded and the supernatant was divided in two equal samples, one containing total proteins and the other to be used for preparation of cell membrane proteins. For cell membrane protein isolation, 50 µl of NeutrAvidinTM Agarose Resin (Thermo Scientific) was added to the sample and rocked gently at 4°C for at least 30 min. Resin was washed at least 6 times with buffer H, and finally eluted in buffer H (supplemented with 10% 2-ME and 50 mM DTT) to the same volume as the sample containing total proteins, and incubated for 5 min at 95°C.
All samples were deglycosylated using PNGase F (New England BioLabs) before being loaded into a SDS-PAGE gel and transferred to a polivinylidene difuoride (PVDF) membrane. Blots were probed with an anti-GFP mouse monoclonal antibody at a dilution of 1:5000 (Clontech). Primary antibodies were detected with a secondary, goat anti-mouse antibody conjugated to horseradish peroxidase used at a dilution of 1:10000 (Pierce). Membranes were developed by SuperSignal WestFemto (Thermo Scientific) and visualized by chemioluminiscence using a FluorChem E Imager (Cell Biosciences). Analysis was performed using Image AlphaView software (Cell Biosciences).
Immunofluorescent Staining
The oocyte's vitelline layer was removed to reduce background fluorescence. Oocytes were permeabilized with 0.03% saponin in ND96 solution for 20 min, washed with ND96 solution, blocked with 1% BSA in ND96 for 30 min. and incubated overnight with a 1:250 dilution of a FLAG polyclonal antibody (Santa Cruz Biotechnology. Inc.) in ND96 at 4°C. Oocytes were washed several times with ND96 and incubated for 1 hr in a 1:500 dilution of secondary antibody (Texas Red conjugated donkey anti-goat IgG; Santa Cruz Biotechnology. Inc.) at 4°C. After several rinses with ND96, oocytes were imaged using a Zeiss LSM 510 confocal microscope.
The recording solution consisted of (in mM): 120 NaCl, 2 EDTA, 10 HEPES (pH = 7.4). All reagents were obtained from SIGMA. Currents from inside-out excised patches [27] were acquired using an Axopatch 200B amplifier (Molecular Devices) and a Digidata 1322 acquisition board (Molecular Devices), and were sampled between 2.5 to 10 kHz using a low-pass filter at 1 or 2 kHz. Patch electrodes with tip diameters between 8 and 15 µm were made with borosilicate glass pipettes. Macroscopic data analysis was performed with pClamp 9 (Molecular Devices) and Origin 8 (Microcal Software) software. Solutions were changed using a computer-controlled rapid solution changer (RSC-200; Biologic Science Instruments).
Recovering Cell Membrane Expression of CNG Channels Containing the R272C Mutation
To assess whether chemical modification could restore cell surface expression and functionality, we used the well-characterized bovine CNGA1 channel which lacks all native cysteines [28]. Position R272 in the bovine CNGA1 channel is equivalent to position R277 in the human CNGA3 channel and is located within a large domain known as the voltage sensor. From the crystal structure of a mammalian voltage-activated potassium (KV) channels [29], a cousin of CNG channels, this position is part of the fourth transmembrane segment (S4) where the critical charges that sense the transmembrane voltage are spaced every three amino acids [30], [31], [32]. Little is known about the role of the voltage sensor in CNG channels due to technical difficulties, such as poor surface expression of channels harboring S4 mutations [4], [12]. In all channels within the superfamily of voltage-activated ion channels, which includes CNG channels, it is known that S4 is important for maturation [4], [12], [33], [34], [35].
To verify that the R272C mutation impedes surface expression in the cysteine-less CNGA1-GFP background, we injected this construct into Xenopus oocytes. After two days, we could not observe channels at the cell surface using fluorescence microscopy. Further, using functional expression as an indicator, we were unsuccessful in detecting cGMP-activated ionic currents in more than 40 excised inside-out membrane patches (not shown). However, by incubating injected oocytes with a solution containing 2 mM MTSEA (a membrane permeant reagent [26] that leaves a moiety mimicking the side chain of arginine, as shown in Fig. 1) we restored the proper channel trafficking. Fig. 2A shows confocal images of an oocyte in which R272C CNGA1-GFP channels were rescued after ~6 hr of MTSEA treatment. Fig. 2B shows the time course of fluorescence detection at the cell surface of six oocytes. A similar MTSEA treatment to cysteine-less CNGA1-GFP channels has no effect on cell surface expression (Fig. S1).
A. Representative confocal images of one oocyte before (T0) and after 2 mM MTSEA exposure. Media with fresh MTSEA was exchanged every 30 min. After ~6 hrs of MTSEA treatment, GFP fluorescence was detectable at the oocyte's surface. B. Plot shows the time course of cell surface fluorescence detection in six different oocytes.
Modified channels respond normally to the presence of agonists. Fig. 3A shows cGMP-activated currents carried by control MTSEA-treated cysteine-less CNGA1-GFP channels in response to voltage steps between −80 and +80 mV from a holding potential of 0 mV in the presence of saturating [cGMP]. Under similar conditions, ionic currents from MTSEA-modified R272C mutant channels are comparable (Fig. 3D). Dose-response curves for cGMP at +60 mV for wild-type channels (Fig. 3B) and modified R272C channels (Fig. 3E) were also similar. Solid lines represent Hill equation fits in which K½ and n values were 19±1 µM and 2.2±0.2 for wild-type channels and 43±0.5 µM and 1.9±0.3 for modified 272C channels. Another property of CNGA1 channels is their sensitivity to saturated concentrations of the various cyclic nucleotide agonists. In general they barely open with cAMP, open more with cIMP and open with a high probability with cGMP. Both, cysteine-less CNGA1-GFP (Fig. 3C) and modified R272C (Fig. 3F) channels maintained the same relative efficacy among these agonists. Taken together, these results demonstrate that attaching a primary amine moiety to cysteine 272 can successfully mimic the role played by the side chain of arginine in wild-type channels. Specifically, this modification restores targeting to the cell surface and produces channels that function relatively normal.
A, B & C. Cysteine-less CNGA1-GFP channels. A, Ionic currents in the presence of saturating [cGMP] (2 mM). cGMP-activated currents shown were acquired in response to 100 ms voltage steps from −80 to +80 mV (every 20 mV) from a holding potential of 0 mV. B. Dose response for cGMP at +60 mV. Solid line represents a normalized Hill equation fit to the data. The best fit parameter values for K½ was 19±1 µM, and for the hill coefficient (n) was 2.1±0.2. Average values for K½ and n were 24±3 µM and 2.16±0.46, respectively (n = 4 oocytes). C. Efficacies for different agonists. Wild type CNGA1 channels displayed larger than 95% maximal probability of opening with saturated concentrations of cGMP, less with cIMP, and much less with cAMP. Nucleotide-activated current records shown were obtained from the same excised inside out patch with saturating concentrations of cGMP (2 mM; black), cIMP (16 mM; red) and cAMP (16 mM; blue). D, E & F. Rescued R272C CNGA1-GFP channels. D. Ionic current carried by MTSEA-modified R272C channels. In response to a comparable experimental protocol as in A, rescued channels were able to conduct ionic current with similar properties as wild type channels. E. Dose response of modified R272C channels at the cell surface for cGMP. Solid line corresponds to a normalized Hill equation fit to the data. The best fit parameter values for K½ and n were 43.4±2.5 µM and 1.9±0.3, respectively. Average values for K½ and n were 59±10 µM and 1.48±0.22, respectively (n = 14 oocytes). F. Agonist efficacies for rescued R272C mutant channels. Nucleotide-activated current records shown were acquired from the same patch, using the equivalent agonist concentration as in C. Similar observations were made in 3 different patches.
How efficiently can a MTSEA-modified R272C CNGA1-GFP channel be rescued? To approach this question, we assessed total and cell surface protein expression from pools of six to eight oocytes (see Methods). For cysteine-less CNGA1-GFP channels, ~45% of the total membrane protein is at the cell surface (Fig. 4; WT). Untreated R272C channels cannot be detected at the cell surface (Fig. 4; R272C), consistent with previous observations [4], [12]. However, treatment with MTSEA successfully rescued R272C CNGA1 channels to the cell surface, at comparable proportions as cysteine-less CNGA1-GFP channels (Fig. 4; R272C+MTSEA). These results suggest that the added moiety to cysteine 272 restored the proper channel conformation allowing it to pass the various trafficking checkpoints.
A. Representative Western blot of total CNGA1-GFP protein (TP) and biotinylated CNGA1-GFP cell surface protein (SP). WT, R272C, R272C+MTSEA denote cysteine-less CNGA1-GFP, mutant channels that were not treated with MTSEA and mutant channels that were modified by MTSEA, respectively. An expected band of ~106 kDa for the deglycosylated wild-type GFP tagged channel was detected by chemiluminiscence using a GFP antibody. No signal was detected in non injected oocytes. B. Densitometry analysis of the bands normalized to TP (n = 3 different oocytes batches).
A. Confocal image of an oocyte injected with cRNA encoding for Y176C CNGA1-GFP channels. We never detected any signs of proper trafficking in >100 oocytes by standard fluorescence microscopy, suggesting that these channels do not reach the cell surface. B. MTSHB treatment recovers proper trafficking of Y176C mutant channels to the cell surface. Confocal image shows GFP fluorescent signal at the cell surface of an oocyte expressing Y176C mutant channels. MTSHB was injected ~ 12 h before acquiring the image (n >25 oocytes). C. Ionic currents in the presence of a saturating cGMP concentration (2 mM), in response to the same voltage protocol as described in Fig. 3A. D. Dose response for cGMP at +60 mV. Solid line represents a normalized Hill equation fit to the data. The best fit parameter values for K½ and n were 16±1 µM and 1.30±0.05, respectively. From a total of 8 oocytes, the average values for K½ and n were 16±3 µM and 1.6±0.1, respectively. E. Agonist efficacies of rescued Y176C mutant channels. Nucleotide-activated current records shown in the presence of saturating concentrations of each agonist (same as Fig. 3C) were acquired from the same excised patch. Rescued Y176C channels showed a similar efficacy pattern as cysteine-less CNGA1-GFP channels. Similar observations were observed in 4 patches.
Our approach was also successful with other positively charged residues. Unlike the case for KV channels, the substitution of cysteine for the positively charged, voltage sensing amino acids within the S4 transmembrane segment of CNG channels leads to immature products that get trapped in the ER [12]. We tested the ability of MTSEA to rescue surface expression of R269C, R275C and R278C. In each case, mutants were efficiently redirected to the cell membrane, demonstrating the general applicability of the technique (Fig. S2).
Restoring Proper Targeting to Y176C Mutant CNG Channels
Position Y176 in CNGA1 channels corresponds to position Y181 in hCNGA3 channels and is located within the first transmembrane segment. As in hCNGA3 channels [11], the Y176C mutation impeded Y176C CNGA1-GFP channels from reaching the cell membrane (Fig. 5A). Chemical modification with MTSHB would attach a moiety to these cysteines that resembles the original tyrosine side chain (Fig. 1A). This reagent, however, is very hydrophobic and precipitates in aqueous solutions. We were unable to find an experimental condition where we could incubate oocytes in MTSHB to restore function. However, by directly injecting a 40 mM MTSHB solution into the oocytes, we were able to recover cell surface expression (Fig. 5B). Likely, the rather oily environment of an oocyte's yolk allowed the reagent to stay in solution at sufficiently high concentrations to modify Y176C. A direct reagent injection has been successfully used before to probe proton channel function in a tryptophan mutant [36]. Modified Y176C CNGA1-GFP channels responded normally to saturating concentrations of cGMP (Fig. 5C), although current levels were consistently smaller than cysteine-less and rescued R272C CNGA1 channels. Likely, a single MTSHB injection (c.f. freshly applied MTSEA every 30 min for R272C CNGA1 channels) and the relatively fast hydrolysis of MTS reagents contributed to the lower levels of rescued Y176C CNGA1 channels. The dose-response for cGMP at +60 mV for modified Y176C CNGA1-GFP channels was characteristic of CNGA1 channels (Fig. 5D). The solid line through the data corresponds to a Hill equation fit with K½ and n values of 16±1 µM and 1.3±0.05. Finally, rescued channels showed a similar efficacy for saturating concentrations of different agonists (Fig. 5E) as for the cysteine-less CNGA1-GFP channels (Fig. 3E). These studies demonstrate that Y176C mutant channels retained in intracellular compartments can be successfully targeted to the cell surface by adding a side-chain to a cysteine that mimics that of tyrosine. Once at the cell surface, these channels behave normally.
We describe a method to restore proper maturation and trafficking of membrane proteins that have been retained within intracellular organelles due to single point mutations to cysteine. Because the side chain of cysteine is highly reactive, we reasoned that modification with reagents that restored the original chemistry could drive proper maturation. We successfully restored both trafficking and normal function to CNGA1 mutant channels R272C and Y176C, both responsible for hereditary cone photoreceptor disorders [10], [11].
Maturation of any protein is a complex, multi-step process involving a network of intracellular proteins and organelles. Surely, all genetic mutations leading to defective maturation cannot be repaired by a single strategy. Thus far, a variety of experimental approaches have been shown to recover proper maturation. For example, cell surface expression of mutant HERG and CNGA3 channels [6], [37], as well as deficient lysosomal glucocerebrosidase [38], can be restored simply by lowering the temperature of incubation. Based on their ability to stabilize proper folding conformations in the ER, drugs and lipid chaperones are emerging as new strategies to restore protein maturation [39], [40], [41], [42], [43]. As with other rescue methods, ours has disadvantages: it is restricted to cysteine mutants and it is not specific since MTS reagents will modify any accessible cysteine in a protein. Nevertheless, outside of therapeutics, this method has applications that could, in principle, offer relevant structural and functional information about diseases. For example, it could be used to better understand the chemical nature of the protein folding failure since many different MTS reagents are available that attach moieties resembling different amino acid side chains. Another potential use could be for kinetic studies of folding. For example, if a cysteine mutation impairs proper folding, modification reactions by MTS reagents are sufficiently fast to permit the temporal resolution of downstream conformational changes, providing kinetic information on folding steps. A third application we envision is to use the disease related mutant in the same way that biophysicists use engineered cysteines as a tool to study state dependent accessibility. This will provide information of conformational changes at the site of the cysteine mutation.
Supporting Information
Figure S1.
Cell surface expression time course of cysteine-less CNGA1-GFP channels exposed to MTSEA. A. Representative confocal images of one oocyte before (T0) and after 2 mM MTSEA exposure. Media with fresh MTSEA was exchanged every 30 min. MTSEA treatment does not affect cell surface expression of "wild-type" channels.
Figure S2.
Cell surface targeting of S4 cysteine mutants by chemical modification. All images shown were obtained after immunocytochemical labeling of oocytes expressing CNGA1 arginine to cysteine mutations in the S4 transmembrane segment. The absence of fluorescence at the oocytes' cell membrane (left column) indicate that these arginine to cysteine mutations in the S4 segment render immature channels that are unable to reach the cell surface. After 6 h MTSEA treatment, we were able to restore proper trafficking to these mutant channels (right column). Representative of >10 cells in each panel.
We thank Dr. William Zagotta for kindly supplying the CNGA1 cysteine-less construct, Dr. Joshua Rosenthal for helpful discussions, Deepa Srikumar for technical assistance, Pat Curran and Dan Silverman for assistance with western blot preparations, Dr. Jeet Kalia for preparing Fig. 1 and the DNA-sequencing facility of National Institute Neurological Disorders and Stroke where all DNA constructs were sequenced.
Author Contributions
Conceived and designed the experiments: AL MH. Performed the experiments: AL. Analyzed the data: AL MH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: AL MH. Wrote the paper: AL MH.
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Pastor Sentenced in Miller-Jenkins Kidnapping Conspiracy
Jim Burroway
March 5th, 2013
Mennonite pastor Kenneth Miller was sentenced to 27 months in prison for helping Lisa Miller violate a court custody order requiring that she turn over then- seven-year-old Isabella Miller-Jenkins to the child's other mother, Janet Jenkins. Instead of complying with the 20o9 court order, Miller fled to central America and went into hiding. According to an FBI investigation, her flight across international borders was aided by several pastors and personnel from Liberty Council and Liberty University.
Kenneth Miller (no relation to Lisa Miller) was found guilty last August. The pastor of the Beachy Amish-Mennonite sect in Stuart's Draft, Va, who is also one of many defendants in a RICO lawsuit, was defiant in yesterday's hearing:
During a two-hour sentencing hearing, Miller told U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions III he couldn't promise he would not commit again aid in international parental kidnapping…. "I give myself unto you to do with me as you see fit," an obviously emotional Miller told the judge in a courtroom packed with the same supporters who later sang with him outside.
Sessions said he admired Miller for the depth of his convictions, but he could not allow him to choose God's law over his country's, saying the pastor had helped deprive Isabella of Jenkins' love.
Kenneth Miller's sentence will likely be put on hold while the case is appealed, a process which could take years.
Liberty University's law school, which is also named the RICO lawsuit, teaches its students to advise their future clients to disregard civil law if it conflicts with "God's law." Lisa Miller's attorneys, Mat Staver and Rena Lindevaldsen, are both professors at Liberty University's Law School. Staver is also the school's dean and head of Liberty Counsel.
In last August's trial, prosecutors showed that Kenneth Miller arranged the purchase of airline tickets to Nicaragua for Lisa Miller and Isabella, dressed them in traditional Mennonite clothing for their trip to the Toronto airport, and arranged for Mennonites in Nicaragua to meet them and take them into hiding.
Isabella Miller-Jenkins turns eleven next month.
RICO Suit Filed Against Liberty University and Others Over Isabella Miller-Jenkins Kidnapping
Jim Burroway
August 15th, 2012
Yesterday, Mennonite minister Kenneth Miller was convicted of aiding and abetting the abduction of Isabella Miller-Jenkins by her mother, Lisa Miller, who fled to Nicaragua with Isabella in violation of a court order transferring custody of Isabella to her former partner Janet Jenkins. (Kenneth Miller is reportedly not related to Lisa Miller.) During the trial, jurors heard testimony which revealed a wide-ranging conspiracy to illegally transport Lisa Miller and Isabella to Nicaragua, which has no extradition treaty with the United States. That conspiracy included several people, including those with ties to Jerry Falwell's Liberty University
While the jury was deliberating, Janet Jenkins filed a lawsuit (PDF: 415KB/17 pages) with the U.S. District Court in Vermont under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), naming the following as defendants in an alleged international conspiracy to facilitate the kidnapping of Isabella Miller-Jenkins:
- Kenneth L. Miller (No relation to Lisa Miller)
- Lisa Ann Miller f/k/a Lisa Miller Jenkins
- Timothy D. Miller (No relation to Lisa Miller)
- Andrew Yoder, individually and as an agent for Christian AID Ministries, Inc.
- Christian AID Ministries Inc.
- Response Unlimited, Inc.
- Philip Zodhiates, individually and as an agent for Response Unlimited, Inc.
- Victoria Hyden f/k/a/ Victoria Zodhiates, individually and as an agent for both Repsonse Unlimited, Inc and Liberty University School of Law and its related ministry, Thomas Road Baptist Church
- Liberty University School of Law and its related ministry, Thomas Road Baptist Church
- Linda M Wall, individually and as an agent for Thomas Road Baptist Church.
- Douglas Wright
The filing ties these names together in a remarkably detailed timeline in its charge against the defendants. Some of the info in this document have been reported before, and some of it appears to have come from the FBI's original criminal complaint against Timithy Miller. The lawsuit alleges that by late summer of 2009, Lisa Miller, who had moved to Virginia with the assistance of Thomas Road Baptist Church:
35. On September 19, 2009, two days before her departure for Nicaragua, Lisa Miller and Isabella travelled back to Winchester, VA. During this trip, Lisa arranged to meet Defendant Wright in a parking lot so that she and Isabella could say "good-bye" to him. Defendant Wright testified under oath that by good-bye, he understood that Lisa and Isabella were leaving and he would not be seeing them again. At this meeting, Lisa Miller also asked Defendant Wright to help her dispose of some personal items. Pastor Wright understood that Lisa Miller would be taking Isabella away, and he did nothing to notify law enforcement of the situation
36. Unbeknownst to Plaintiff Janet Jenkins, on September 21,2009, Lisa Miller and Isabella were transported, in disguise as Amish-Mennonites, to the Canadian border by Philip Zodhiates and at least one other Response Unlimited, Inc. employee. Lisa Miller and Isabella crossed the border at the Rainbow Bridge in a taxi in the early morning hours of September 22, 2009, just days prior to the contact ordered by the Rutland Family Court in its September 2009 Interim Order.
37. In the days prior to September 22, 2009, Lisa Miller and Philip Zodhiates conspired with Kenneth Miller, a member of the Virginia Beachy Amish-Mennonite Brotherhood with whom both Victoria and Philip Zodhiates were acquainted, to arrange the purchase of plane tickets from Canada to Nicaragua for Lisa Miller and Isabella Miller-Jenkins. Kenneth Miller also arranged for a Canadian member of the Brotherhood to transport Lisa Miller from an Ontario Hotel to the Toronto airport. Lisa Miller and Isabella Miller-Jenkins flew to Mexico, then El Salvador, and then met Timothy Miller in Nicaragua. Timothy Miller was instructed by Kenneth Miller to purchase plane tickets for Lisa Miller and Isabella, and used his mother-in-law's credit card to do so. Several days later, Kenneth Miller used cash to send a money order to reimburse Timothy Miller's mother-in-law. This was done anonymously, and in such a way as to avoid detection in a clear effort to avoid the September visit, and the anticipated transfer of custody.
Timothy Miller was arrested in April, 2011 and charged with aiding in the removal of a child from the U.S. and retaining a child with intent to obstruct parental rights. Charges were later dropped in exchange for Timothy Miller's cooperation, but it was during his arrest that the FBI's criminal complaint detailed a wider network of conspirators in the kidnapping saga. Some of the information revealed in that criminal complaint makes its appearance in this lawsuit, but with a few additional details tying it all together:
38. Kenneth Miller was a pastor at the Pilgrim Christian Fellowship in Stuart's Draft, VA and a leader within the Beachy Amish-Mennonite Community. He was also employed at his family's garden center, Millmont Greenhouses, Inc., in Stuart's Draft, VA.
39. Starting in September 2009, Lisa Miller and Isabella lived near or among the Beachy Amish-Mennonite Community in Nicaragua, hereinafter the ("Nicaragua Brethren"). This was all done in secret and in such a way as to avoid detection by United States authorities and Janet Jenkins. Lisa Miller would eventually go into "hiding" with Isabella among the Nicaragua Brethren, but would continue to communicate with members of Thomas Road Baptist Church with the assistance of Mr. Zodhiates, Kenneth Miller and members of the Nicaragua Brethren. Lisa Miller went by the name "Sarah" and Isabella was called "Lydia" while in Nicaragua.
41. Unbeknownst to Plaintiff Janet Jenkins, in 2009 Victoria Zodhiates (now Hyden) was an employee of Response Unlimited, Inc., and also a "student worker" at Liberty University School of Law. On information and belief, Victoria Zodhiates sent an email during this time period to her co-workers at the law school requesting donations for supplies to send to Lisa Miller to enable her to remain outside the country. Lisa Miller's attorney, Matthew Staver was the Dean of the Law School and Ms. Zodhiates's boss. Matthew Staver and Philip Zodhiates were also personal acquaintances at this time. On September 20, 2009, both Philip Zodhiates and Victoria Hyden called Lisa Miller's father, Terry Miller in Tennessee to assist in arranging her and Isabella's transportation from a Walmart parking lot in Lynchburg, Virginia, to Waynesboro, Virginia, from whence they would depart for Canada and Nicaragua the next day.
New to this lawsuit is the allegation which, if proven true, would directly implicate Thomas Road Baptist Church as part of the conspiracy:
42. In early November, 2009, elders of the Thomas Road Baptist Church packed up the personal belongings of Lisa Miller in two bags. These bags were picked up from Lynchburg, Virginia by Philip Zodhiates who arranged to have the bags transported to Nicaragua by sending them with his son's school teacher who was taking some children on a mission trip to Managua. Philip Zodhiates arranged for the teacher, John Collmus, to deliver the bags at the airport to Timothy Miller. The bags also contained some supplies for Lisa Miller, such as peanut butter.
The lawsuit also includes the incident which we reported in December, 2009, when Deborah Thurman, the facilitator of an apparently defunct ex-gay ministry in Lynchburg, VA, called The Formers, posted a threat of civil violence on her web site. The complaint also includes the revelation that Lisa Miller's attorneys, Mat Staver and Rena Lindevaldsen, both professors at Liberty University's Law School, provided a case history nearly identical to the Miller-Jenkins case and instructed their students that the proper course of action would be to engage in "civil disobedience" and defy the court order.
The problem with conspiracies is that the more people who are involved, the greater the chance is that one of them will have a bit too big of a mouth and draw attention to the operation. In addition to Thurman's reckless blog post, another member of the conspiracy felt compelled to brag as well. In 2008, Linda Wall and other members of Thomas Road Baptist Church, had formed the Protect Isabella Coalition (PIC), when it became clear to them that Virginia law would not prevent Janet Jenkins from gaining custody of Isabella. PIC allegedly was the nucleus of the movement that morphed into the larger conspiracy. According to the lawsuit, Linda Wall essentially admitted that there was an active kidnapping conspiracy and that she as a part of it.
51. In January 2010, Linda Wall appeared on television with several members of the PIC and TRBC [Thomas Road Baptist Church], including TRBC's Pastor for Outreach and Assimilation Tipton Killingsworth, to endorse the kidnapping. In discussing her role, Wall compared herself to Harriet Tubman, and suggested she would take similar actions with regard to more children from same-sex families. Pastor Killingsworth also publically supported Lisa Miller's actions and threatened ongoing kidnapping activity. He wrote in an internet chat on February 22, 2010:
"No one has been "kidnapped. "It may come to that as when the Pharoah tried to do the same thing to the Israelites in Egypt. Just as it was necessary for Moses to be in the basket, that might be necessary for Izzy but time will tell. As you've said, Lisa is certainly Izzy's refuge from the VT law. "
52. Defendant Wall also wrote on Facebook that if anyone knew of Lisa and Isabella's whereabouts, they should not tell anyone. She also made several phone calls to law enforcement to instruct them that they should not look for Lisa and Isabella.
This just carries us to 2010. There is so much more, including allegations of money laundering, Liberty University Law School employees who were fired, and Law School employees (the same ones perhaps?) who were "too intimidated to come forward to law enforcement for fear of angering Dean Staver and losing their jobs." If Janet Jenkins's lawyer has the proof to back up these allegations — and it appears that much of it is already available from various criminal complaints and Kenneth Miller's trial testimony — then the trial promises to be an exceptionally enlightening affair. I can hardly wait.
Minister Found Guilty of Aiding Miller-Jenkins Kidnapping
Jim Burroway
August 14th, 2012
A jury in Burlington, Vermont has found Kenneth Miller guilty of aiding and abetting international kidnapping of Isabella Miller-Jenkins, now ten years old, whose mother, Lisa Miller, fled to Nicaragua after losing a custody fight with her former civil union partner Janet Jenkins. Miller is believed to have fled to Nicaragua shortly before a Vermont court awarded primary custody to Jenkins over Miller's refusal to cooperate with Jenkins's visitation rights.
The jury deliberated for only a few hours before finding Kenneth Miller guilty:
Federal prosecutors say Kenneth Miller of Stuarts Draft, Virginia, helped orchestrate Lisa Miller's flight to Canada and Nicaragua in 2009 with her daughter out of Christian solidarity with her decision to reject homosexuality and her former partner. The two Millers are not related.
…Joshua Autrey, a lawyer for Kenneth Miller, did not dispute evidence about his client's role in organizing Lisa Miller's secretive flight days before a court-ordered visitation with Jenkins.
Instead, the defense attorney offered a nuanced legal argument that his client did not know about her intent to violate Jenkins' visitation rights. The attorney said Kenneth Miller helped her leave the country ahead of an anticipated Vermont family court ruling granting full custody to Jenkins.
While the jury was deliberating, Janet Jenkins filed a lawsuit against both Millers and others associated with the case.
Kenneth Miller, who is a pastor of the Beachy Amish-Mennonite sect, contacted other Mennonite pastors to drive Lisa Miller and Isabelle to Canada where they caught a flight to Central America. According to court testimony, Kenneth Miller was careful to ensure that the Canadian fight did not touch down on American soil, undermining his claim that he didn't know that Lisa Miller was under a court order. His claims were further undermined when the Canadian Mennonite pastor, Ervin Horst, testified that he refused to cross into the United States to drive the pair across the border into Canada. Miller and Miller-Jenkins arrived in Canada in a taxi while wearing Mennonite clothing.
Other Mennonites in Nicaragua picked them up at the airport there and made living arrangements for the pair. Prosecutors say that Lisa and Isabella have changed their names in Nicaragua to Sarah and Lydia. In addition to the Mennonite accomplices, jurors also heard about a collaboration from a Virginia businessman by the name of Philip Zodhiates:
Telephone records suggest that Mr. Zodhiates was in touch with Ms. Miller for months and drove her and her daughter to the Canadian border for their escape.
Mr. Zodhiates has not been indicted, and declined to comment.
Telephone records also indicated that as he drove home from the border, Mr. Zodhiates tried to call a cellphone number registered to Liberty Counsel, an evangelical legal group.
That cellphone number has sometimes been used by Mathew D. Staver, the founder of Liberty Counsel, dean of the Liberty University Law School in Lynchburg, Va., and a leader of Ms. Miller's defense team.
In an e-mail Tuesday, Mr. Staver said that the phone number in question had been widely circulated as a contact number for Liberty Counsel's public relations office and that he had no knowledge of Ms. Miller's flight and had never discussed her case with Mr. Zodhiates.
Zodhiates has been identified as a prominent financial backer for Liberty University who, according to an FBI report, owns a beach house in Nicaragua where Lisa and Isabella had been staying. The FBI report held that Zodhiates had requested that his daughter, Victoria Hyden, "disseminate a request to get Lisa Miller supplies." Hyden just happens to be an administrative assistant for Liberty University's School of Law's financial aid department.
Kenneth Miller faces up to three years imprisonment.
Miller-Jenkins kidnapping conspirator faces trial
Timothy Kincaid
August 7th, 2012
From the Chronicle:
Eleven women and three men were impaneled to hear the case against Mennonite Pastor Kenneth Miller, accused of helping a woman flee the United States with her daughter rather than share custody of the child with her former lesbian partner.
Miller, 46, of Stuarts Draft, Va., is charged with aiding in international kidnapping. A conviction carries a maximum prison term of three years. The jury was selected Tuesday and court will resume with opening statements Wednesday.
The case, which we have covered comprehensively, involves a couple who got a civil union in Vermont, planned a family through artificial insemination, raised a child for years, and then broke up. Lisa Miller, the birth mother, fled to Virginia, hooked up with Thomas Road Baptist Church (Jerry Falwell's church), renounced her orientation and claimed a new heterosexual Christian status, and refused to let the other mother visit. After numerous attempts to get her to comply with the courts, including trips to the Vermont and Virginia Supreme Courts, the frustrated family law judge awarded custody of Isabella Miller-Jenkins to Janet Jenkins. Rather than follow the law, Miller – with the help of various people named "Miller" – kidnapped her daughter and fled the country.
Miller's team is expected to argue that the order changing custody was not yet filed when he conspired to whisk Lisa Miller and Isabella Miller-Jenkins out of the country.
Which makes me wonder… is it Mennonite theology to try and wiggle out of responsibility based on a filing date? I would think that either a man of God would either stand for the morality of his position or would recognize his behavior as immoral and seek forgiveness and face punishment. I wouldn't think that "standing up for Christ" was mostly about arguing about filing dates.
But, then again, I'm not Mennonite so I guess I wouldn't know.
Criminal Complaint In Miller-Jenkins Kidnapping Implicates Anti-Gay Web Site
Jim Burroway
December 27th, 2011
Last October, we learned that Federal authorities have dropped charges against Mennonite minister Timothy "Timo" Miller, who was arrested last spring and charged with aiding and abetting in the kidnapping of Isabella Miller-Jenkins, specifically for purchasing airline tickets for the Isabella and Lisa Miller to Nicaragua. Miller, who is not related to Lisa Miller or to Isabella, was reportedly cooperating with the ongoing investigation into the kidnapping. Since then, another Mennonite minister, Kenneth Miller, was arrested and charged with aiding in Isabela's international kidnapping conspiracy. The Advocate looked into the affidavit against Kenneth Miller, and discovered that the conspirators suggested using Life Site News, an unofficial Catholic anti-gay web site, could be used as an intermediary for communications:
In one November 2010 email exchange from addresses linked to Kenneth Miller and Timo Miller, Kenneth Miller allegedly expressed concern about the whereabouts of Lisa Miller and Isabella. Referencing an October 2010 news article on Lez Get Real reporting that Miller and her daughter were in Quito, Ecuador, Kenneth Miller wrote to Timo Miller in Nicaragua, "Is she still in the same country that she was? Can you get a hold of her?" The email was written in a mix of English and Pennsylvania German, a dialect spoken by some Mennonites.
"When we still want, we can send a letter about her through this, and we can get it mailed from another country over here. We can send it to a site that's called lifesitenews," Kenneth Miller continued in the email, according to a translation by an FBI contract linguist. "That's a way that to get word to [unintelligible] friends. What do you think of that?"
The affidavit shows that Miller appeared surprised by the reference to Quito, Ecuador. "I don't believe it," he wrote, "but have you heard anything like that? Is she still in the same country that she was?…" Melanie Nathan, who had been an author at LezGetReal but left before it was revealed that the blog's main writer was a hoax, now says that she believes the story she wrote placing Isabella at Quito was based on fraudulent "tips" passed to her by LezGetReal's fake lesbian "Paula Brooks" (real name: Bill Graber). That would explain Miller's apparent astonishment about reports of Isabella's whereabouts and his desire to learn whether she was "still in the same country that she was," namely Nicaragua.
The Advocate, which posted its story shortly before Christmas, notes that Life Site News has written extensively about the Miller-Jenkins kidnapping:
With headlines such as "Lisa Miller's Daughter Appeared Traumatized by Visits With Lesbian 'Mother,'" to "Ex-Lesbian Fighting for Custody of Own Child Against 'Civil Union' Partner," Life Site News' coverage of the multiyear custody battle between Miller and her former partner, Janet Jenkins, has been extensive. It includes forceful commentary in support of Miller's conduct—a warrant for her arrest was issued in April 2010—as well as Timo Miller's alleged involvement in the kidnapping. In a December 1 Life Site News op-ed titled "Cowardice: The State and Homosexualist Powers Against a Former Lesbian and Her Daughter," Brazilian antigay activist Julio Severo characterized Lisa Miller and her daughter as victims in a perceived war against religious freedom. Jenkins, meanwhile, was cast as a predator and cynical "lesbian activist."
Other anti-gay organizations have also been implicated in the kidnapping case. An FBI investigation revealed that Miller fled with considerable support from an employee and benefactor of Liberty University and Liberty Counsel, which provided for Miller's legal defense.
A Millerial conspiracy
Timothy Kincaid
December 7th, 2011
When Lisa Miller fled the country with her daughter Isabella Jenkins-Miller, I wondered how long it would be before we saw either of them. But in April of this year progress was made on the case. The FBI reported that it had determined that Miller had fled to Nicaragua and had been assisted there by Mennonite missionaries.
When Timothy ("Timo") Miller, the Mennonite missionary, was arrested for for his role in providing plane tickets and shelter for Lisa Miller, it was noted that he was not related. The last name similarity was just coincidental. And I was willing to buy it.
But today we read of a new arrest (Fox)
A Virginia man who federal prosecutors say helped a woman leave the country with her daughter so she wouldn't have to turn custody of the girl over to her former lesbian partner surrendered Tuesday to face charges he aided in international parental kidnapping.
A complaint unsealed Tuesday said Kenneth L. Miller, 46, of Stuarts Draft, Va., arranged passage for Lisa Miller to travel to Canada before flying with her daughter in September 2009 to Nicaragua, where she was sheltered for a time by a group of Mennonite missionaries.
Okay. I'm sorry. That's just too many Millers to be coincidental.
So what's going on here? I have a hypothesis. And if I'm right, it was rather clever of Lisa's supporters.
If you want to sneak someone out of the country, you want to be inconspicuous. You want to raise as little attention as possible. But if you buy tickets for someone of the same name, it raises no attention. And if you are a Mennonite missionary, it seems natural that someone with your last name comes visiting. By being assisted by other people named Miller, Lisa could disappear.
Now I can't claim that there's a Millerial conspiracy (sorry, Millerite was already taken). But if so, then you have to wonder just how Lisa Miller came in contact with these other non-related Millers. One would almost have to have access to a large data base from which to solicit people named Miller for their support.
Kidnapping Charges Dropped As Suspect Cooperates In Miller-Jenkins Case
Jim Burroway
October 31st, 2011
The Advocate is reporting that kidnapping charges have been dropped against Mennonite minister Timothy "Timo" Miller, who was arrested last spring and charged with aiding and abetting in the kidnapping of Isabella Miller-Jenkins. Miller, who is not related to Lisa Miller or to Isabella, is reportedly cooperating with the ongoing investigation into the kidnapping:
In the Friday order, U.S. Attorney Tristram J. Coffin dropped the grand jury indictment against Timo Miller in the kidnapping."In light of Timothy Miller's role in the international parental [kidnapping], and his agreement to cooperate with the investigation of the United States government, including an agreement to return to the United States and to provide truthful testimony as requested in any proceedings in this matter, further prosecution is not in the interests of the United States at this time," the order, signed by Coffin and U.S. district judge Christina M. Reiss, read.
Miller's passport has since been returned. U.S. Attorney Coffin and Miller's lead attorney, Jeff Conrad, could not be immediately reached for comment. Reached by phone, Jenkins' attorney, Sarah Star, declined comment.
Miller was arrested in Alexandria, VA, for his role in providing plane tickets and shelter for Lisa Miller, who kidnapped Isabella Miller-Jenkins, now nine years old, as part of a custody fight with her former civil union partner Janet Jenkins. Miller is believed to have fled to Nicaragua shortly before a Vermont court awarded primary custody to Jenkins over Miller's refusal to cooperate with Jenkins's visitation rights. An FBI investigation revealed that Miller fled with considerable support from an employee and benefactor of Liberty University and Liberty Counsel, who provided for Miller's legal defense, and with the encouragement from at least one ex-gay leader in the Lynchburg, Virginia area.
A book review: Only One Mommy
Timothy Kincaid
August 18th, 2011
Here is the review I offered to Amazon for Only One Mommy: A Woman's Battle for Her Life, Her Daughter, and Her Freedom: The Lisa Miller Story by Janet Miller's attorney, Rena Lindevaldsen.
In 1991 Sally Fields starred in Not Without My Daughter, the story of a woman whose Muslim husband fled with their daughter to a Iran in order to have sole custody and control over the child. He believed that he should have sole decision making authority and his religion taught him that he wasn't subject to the American judicial system.
Rena Lindevaldsen has now stood that story on it's head. No longer the sole territory of Islamist states and radical Muslim extremists, Christians are now justifying kidnapping in the name of their faith.
In September 2010, Janet Miller absconded with Isabella Jenkens-Miller and disappeared so as to avoid court-ordered visitation. Her church, Jerry Falwell's Thomas Hill Baptist Church, encouraged her to ignore the orders of the court because Linda Jenkins was a lesbian and, frankly, they don't believe lesbians are entitled to the same rights as Baptists.
And Liberty Counsel (part of the Falwell empire) fought a court battle designed to delay and obstruct justice. So obvious were their efforts that a judge finally ordered that Isabella be turned over to Linda's custody. But Janet was gone by then and Rena Lindevaldsen, her lead counsel, had "no idea where she went."
Then in April 2011, Janet was discovered living in El Salvador in a home owned by the father of one of Rena's employees.
And now Rena has penned her version of the story. Written from the perspective of the fugitive, Lindevaldsen justifies parental kidnapping and flouting the American judicial system. Because, as Rena teachers her laws students, Christians are subject to God's laws and not Man's laws.
This book should be seen as a warning. In the United States we tell ourselves that we believe in freedom, that we respect differing faiths, that religion does not dictate to those who don't believe their doctrines. But there is a growing movement – one that mirrors the Islamists in the Middle East – of people who believe that their religious faith entitles them to 'dominion' over non-believers, over the government, over society, and over you.
Rena is but one voice pleading their case. It is imperative that we listen – and when tempted to think, "they don't REALLY mean that do they?", the answer is yes. They do.
Liberty Law School Teaches Students To Violate The Law
Jim Burroway
May 16th, 2011
There have been quite a few observations that leading officials at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University Law School and the non-profit legal firm Liberty Counsel are deeply entangled in Isabella Miller-Jenkins kidnapping case. Today, we learn that the attorneys for the kidnapper are teaching their students at Liberty University to break the law when confronted with a nearly identical case.
To recap, a pastor, Timothy David Miller, was arrested on Friday in Alexandria, VA, for his role in providing plane tickets and shelter for Lisa Miller, who kidnapped 9-year-old Isabella Miller-Jenkins as part of a custody fight with her former civil union partner Janet Jenkins. Miller is believed to have fled to Nicaragua shortly before a Vermont court awarded primary custody to Jenkins over Miller's refusal to cooperate with Jenkins's visitation rights. It appears that Miller fled with considerable support from an employee and benefactor of Liberty University and Liberty Counsel, who provided for Miller's legal defense, as well as encouragement from at least one ex-gay leader in the Lynchburg, Virginia area.
Today, Religion Dispatches associate editor Sarah Posner reports that Lisa Miller's attorneys Mat Staver and Rena Lindevaldsen, who teach a required Foundations of Law course at Liberty University, are teaching their students that when confronted with a case like Lisa Miller's, that the attorney has an obligation to resolve the conflict between "God's Law" and "man's law" by advising the client to solve the conflict through "civil disobedience":
This student and two others, who all requested anonymity for fear of reprisal by Staver (who is also the law school's dean), recounted the classroom discussion of civil disobedience, as well as efforts to draw comparisons between choosing "God's law" over "man's law" to the American revolution and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. According to one student, in the Foundations course both Staver and Lindevaldsen "espoused the opinion that in situations where God's law is in direct contradiction to man's law, we have an obligation to disobey it."
…That semester's mid-term exam, obtained by RD [see excerpts of the actual exam here], included a question based on Miller's case asking students to describe what advice they would give her "as a friend who is a Christian lawyer." After laying out a slanted history of the protracted legal battle, the exam asked, "Lisa needs your counsel on how to think through her legal situation and how to respond as a Christian to this difficult problem. Relying only on what we have learned thus far in class, how would you counsel Lisa?"
Students who wrote that Miller should comply with court orders received bad grades while those who wrote she should engage in civil disobedience received an A, the three students said. "People were appalled," said one of the students, adding, "especially as lawyers to be, who are trained and licensed to practice the law—to disobey that law, that seemed completely counterintuitive to all of us."
Some of the students who got an "A" on that exam write that the client should engage in civil disobedience and leave the country. The student added, "I knew that I needed to write that." Some students worry that as more people learn what is being taught at Liberty University, that lawyers who are Liberty grads will be "laughed out of the courtroom." A painting of Mat Staver hangs in "Revolutionary Hall," which also commemorates Martin Luther King, Jr., Ronald Reagan, Ghandi, Mother Teresa and others.
If one wonders where Lisa Miller got the idea and support necessary to flee to Nicaragua, look no further than her own attorneys.
Pastor Arrested in Miller-Jenkins Kidnapping Case Free on Bond
Jim Burroway
April 25th, 2011
A Christian missionary charged with helping a woman involved in a custody dispute with her former lesbian partner abscond to Central America with the couple's daughter is free on $25,000 bond. …[Timothy David] Miller is charged with aiding in the removal of a child from the U.S. and retaining a child with intent to obstruct parental rights.
WCAX-TV in Burlington reports that Miller was charged with aiding in an international kidnapping, which carries a potential three-year prison term. He will be back in court for a probable cause hearing on May 10th.
Miller was arrested on Friday in Alexandria, VA, for his role in providing plane tickets and shelter for Lisa Miller, who kidnapped 9-year-old Isabella Miller-Jenkins as part of a custody fight with her former civil union partner Janet Jenkins. Miller is believed to have fled to Nicaragua shortly before a Vermont court awarded primary custody to Jenkins over Miller's refusal to cooperate with Jenkins's visitation rights. It appears that Miller fled with considerable support from an employee and benefactor of Liberty University and Liberty Counsel, who provided for Miller's legal defense, as well as encouragement from at least one ex-gay leader in the Lynchburg, Virginia area.
Liberty Counsel, Liberty University Extensively Entangled In Kidnapping Case
Jim Burroway
April 23rd, 2011
The FBI's criminal complaint has shown a bright spotlight on the deep involvement of Liberty Counsel and others associated with the late Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in the Miller-Jenkins kidnapping case. Yesterday, Timothy provided an overview, but if you haven't read it in detail, please do so. It's very fascinating.
Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins, who had entered a Vermont civil union in 2000, split up in 2003 when their daughter, Isabella, was a year old. Miller moved to Virginia, became an evangelical Christian and entered the ex-gay movement. She was initially granted custody, with Jenkins awarded visitation rights. When Miller refused to allow Jenkins to visit their daughter, the court awarded custody to Jenkins. Miller then went into hiding and failed to appear at a court-ordered custody exchange on January 1, 2010.
The FBI complaint shows Lisa Miller's itinerary from Toronto to Nicaragua in September 2009, a full month before a Vermont court ordered Miller to turn the young girl over to Janet Miller Jenkins. This flight was also nearly three months before it was suspected that Miller had kidnapped the couple's daughter in violation of the court order. The affidavit also provides evidence tying Timothy David Miler to the kidnapping conspiracy. It appears that Timothy Miller was in either Managua or Waslala, Nicaragua, where he hosted the fugitive and kidnapped child for a time. Timothy Miller, who heads a Mennonite church in Managua, was arrested yesterday morning in Alexandria, Virginia.
Page 9 of the complaint shows that at least part of the airline tickets were "approved by Timothy" and the cardholder was Elaine R. Cooper, of Brethren, Michigan. Cooper is the adoptive mother of Timothy Miller's wife. They made travel arrangements through a Christian travel agency, Golden Rule Travel. The agent who made the arrangements was Linda Rose Miller. Lots of Millers in the mix, although the FBI's affidavit notes that no biological relationship has been established between the travel agent and Lisa Miller, or between Lisa Miller and Timothy Miller.
But here is where the web gets interesting. On Page 15 of the complaint, Philip Zodhiates, a wealthy "Liberty Leader," owns a beach house in Nicaragua where Lisa and Isabella had been staying. He had requested that his daughter, Victoria Hyden, "disseminate a request to get Lisa Miller supplies."
And who is Victoria Hyden?
She's an administrative assistant for Liberty University's School of Law's financial aid department.
To complete the web further, Mat Staver, head of Liberty Counsel, is also the dean of Liberty's School of Law. Lisa Miller's lawyer, Rena Lindevaldsen, Miller's attorney at Liberty Counsel, is also an Associate Professor of Law at Liberty University.
A lot of fingers are pointing to Liberty Counsel and Liberty University: a wealthy benefactor who just happens to own property in Central America, and his daughter who happens to be a secretary at Liberty University. Gee, what are the odds that Miller would have found such generosity without the help of a certain associate professor or college dean?
And speaking of odds, we should note that there is evidence that the web is not limited to the collection of Millers, Liberty Counsel or Liberty University. There's still the matter of Lynchburg-based ex-gay leader Debbie Thurman. (Lynchburg, of course, is the home of Liberty Counsel and Liberty University). Two months after the Miller fled the country but before it was confirmed that she was in hiding, Thurmam endorsed Lisa Miller's kidnapping of Isabella in violation of a court order, and she magically became the source of an extensive note from Lisa Miller on December 4 — more than two months after Miller fled the country. As Timothy and I have both noted with some impatience, Thurman still has not explained how she came into possession of that communication.
Undoubtedly, the FBI's investigation is continuing.
Debbie Thurman has provided us with the following response:
Do you think this has not been looked into by "the authorities"? It has.
They are the only ones who needed to hear from me on it. It was properly
dismissed last year as insignificant.
Falwell's empire catches FBI attention over Jenkins-Miller kidnapping
Timothy Kincaid
April 22nd, 2011
The FBI has released a criminal complaint in association with its arrest of Timo Miller for his efforts in sneaking Lisa Miller and her absconded daughter Isabella out of the country. Miller has been traced to Nicaragua, and has been receiving shelter and care from individuals affiliated with Liberty University, Thomas Road Baptist Church, and Liberty Counsel.
For example, the complaint notes that "one of the elders of the local church" (presumably Thomas Road) had packed items to be sent to Miller in Nicaragua. Further, the complaint notes the connection between the man who owns the house Miller has been staying in and Liberty University.
It is too early to know who knew what, but this does raise again the possibility that Isabella's kidnapping and Lisa's criminal flight out of the country was not organized without the knowledge of the Falwell empire.
It further raises questions about what certain individuals knew and whether they obstructed justice. For example, evidence is provided that on September 22, 2009, Miller took Isabella and flew from Canada to Mexico and then to El Salvador. On the following day she flew to Nicaragua, where they now are residing.
On December 4, 2009, Debbie Thurman posted "A Note From Lisa" which is presented as a direct message from Lisa Miller to those who support her criminal activity. Although Thurman has repeatedly claimed that she has no knowledge about Millers' whereabouts, she has not adequately explained how she came to possess this note nearly two months after Miller fled the country.
Right Wing Watch notes that the connection to Mat Staver and Liberty counsel should trouble the organization:
How it is that Liberty Counsel's most high profile client kidnaps her daughter and flees the country and the organization insists for more than a year that it has no idea where she is … only to have it turn out that she is reportedly living in a home owned by the father of an admin assistant in Staver's very own office?
Arrest Made In Miller-Jenkins Custody Case
Jim Burroway
April 22nd, 2011
The Massachusetts-based Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) has sent out a press release announcing that an arrest has been made in custody case involving former civil union partners Janet Jenkins and Lisa Miller, and their daughter, Isabella Miller-Jenkins. GLAD points to a the Rutland Herald (pay site) article, saying that Timothy David Miller has been arrested in connection with the case.
The Washington Post picks up the thread, reporting that the FBI arrested Miller and accused him of helping Lisa Miller flee to Nicaragua with the couple's daughter in September 2009. The relationship between Timothy and Lisa Miller is unknown at this time. Miller will appear in U.S. District Court in Burlington, Vermont on Monday April 25.
Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins entered a Vermont civil union in 2000, and Isabella was born in 2002, with Miller as her birth mother. The couple split up in 2003 when Miller moved to Virginia, became an evangelical Christian and entered the ex-gay movement. She was initially granted custody, but Jenkins was awarded visitation rights. When Miller refused to allow Jenkins to visit their daughter, courts in Virginia and Vermont ordered Miller to surrender custody to Jenkins. Miller went into hiding at the encouragement of ex-gay activists, and failed to appear at a court ordered custody exchange on January 1, 2010.
According to GLAD's press release, Janet Jenkins issued the following statement from her home in Vermont:
"I'm grateful to everyone in law enforcement for working so hard on finding my daughter, as well as to my attorney, Sarah Star. I know very little at this point, but I really hope that this means that Isabella is safe and well. I am looking forward to having my daughter home safe with me very soon."
Attorney Sarah Star of Middlebury, who has been representing Janet, said, "It is clear that the government has been working hard on this. Janet is very pleased and we are both hopeful that this will be a step in the right direction of bringing Isabella home. At this point we need to let law enforcement do their work, and recognize that there are still steps to go."
SCOTUS declines to hear Lisa Miller's appeal
Timothy Kincaid
November 8th, 2010
From the Washington Post
The Supreme Court has declined to step into a lesbian custody dispute between a woman who has renounced her homosexuality and her onetime partner.
The justices on Monday turned down an appeal from Lisa Miller, the biological mother of an 8-year-old girl. Miller wanted the court to undo a Virginia court decision allowing Janet Jenkins visitation rights with the girl.
Actually it is no longer just over visitation rights. Now the courts have granted Janet Jenkins full custody. Meanwhile Lisa Miller has taken little Isabella and disappeared.
VT Supremes uphold Miller-Jenkins custody ruling
Timothy Kincaid
November 1st, 2010
The Supreme Court of Vermont has confirmed Judge Cohen's custody order. (WaPo)
The Vermont Supreme Court says a family court was right to award custody of an 8-year-old girl to her non-biological mother in a lesbian custody case.
In a ruling released Monday, the court upheld a 2009 order giving Janet Jenkins sole custody of Isabella Miller-Jenkins. It rejected an appeal by attorneys for biological mother Lisa Miller.
It's rather fascinating that Lisa Miller's attorneys are continuing to act on her behalf, all while claiming that they haven't heard from her in a year.

subset: commoncrawl