West Palm Beach, FL - State Circuit Court Judge Edward Fine has dismissed all claims filed by Edith Rapp against Jews for Jesus. The entire suit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning that none of the claims can be refiled. Judge Fine also ordered Mrs. Rapp and her attorney, Barry Silver, to pay attorney's fees and costs. Judge Catherine Brunson had twice dismissed similar variations of the same lawsuit. Jews for Jesus is represented by Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel for Liberty Counsel, Erik Stanley, Chief Counsel, and Anita Staver, Litigation Counsel.

In July 2002, Jews for Jesus sent a newsletter to its supporters and friends. In the newsletter, Bruce Rapp, a Jews for Jesus missionary, wrote in a "Praise Report" that his Jewish stepmother had asked forgiveness for her sins and "repeated the sinner's prayer with me - praise God!" The newsletter also contained a prayer request for "grace and strength for new Jewish believer Edie and salvation for her husband, Marty."

On December 11, 2003, following the death and funeral of Marty Rapp (Bruce's father with whom he had shared his faith in Jesus the Messiah), Edith Rapp filed a lawsuit against Jews for Jesus. She was represented by attorney Barry Silver. The lawsuit claimed that Jews for Jesus defamed her by implying she had become a "Jewish believer." Prior to the suit, Mrs. Rapp, through attorney Barry Silver, demanded that Jews for Jesus pay one million dollars in damages.

Rather than a legal pleading, the lawsuit read like a polemic against Christianity. It was essentially a theological diatribe. The dismissal of the suit now means that it can never be refiled. The court found that under no conceivable circumstances could any of the allegations form the basis of any cause of action.

Mathew Staver commented: "Jews for Jesus is pleased to put this frivolous lawsuit behind it and move forward. The lawsuit was a theological attack wrapped in a legal pleading against Jews for Jesus as a Christian organization, because of its outreach to the Jewish community. Ordering Mrs. Rapp and her attorney, Barry Silver, to pay attorney's fees and costs sends a message that the courts are not to be used as agents for harassment, nor may courts be used as theological tribunals."