[2] Sears and Paula were jointly invested in the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great on June 29, 2017.
This commission was established by Attorney General William French Smith at the direction of President Reagan in early 1985.
Although he was not a voting member, Sears was influential on the commission and vigorously supported strengthening anti-obscenity laws.
[citation needed] Sears led the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Christian right legal advocacy group[5] founded in 1994,[2] for more than twenty years.
[5] By 2014, the ADF had an annual budget of $40 million and more than 40 staff attorneys, and had "emerged as the largest legal force of the religious right, arguing hundreds of pro bono cases across the country.