Posted on 12/18/2004 6:20:27 AM PST by EnigmaticAnomaly
(CNSNews.com) - Four people who were arrested during a confrontation at an annual homosexual pride event in Philadelphia could spend up to 47 years in prison for public reading of Scripture, an attorney for a pro-family organization said on Thursday.
Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney for the American Family Association (AFA) Center for Law and Policy, is representing the group in court. He claims the Christian activists are being persecuted simply for exercising their constitutional rights.
"They were exercising their First Amendment rights in a public forum, and we have videotape that demonstrates that," Fahling said.
The case began on Oct. 10, when Repent America Director Michael Marcavage and 10 other persons preached and read verses from the Bible during an annual "gay pride" event known as "Outfest" in Philadelphia.
Fahling said that a video of the confrontation showed Marcavage speaking through a bullhorn while he and his supporters were "being shouted down by irate gay activists."
However, city officials told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the video did not show the start of the confrontation, when they said Marcavage tried to interrupt an onstage performance with his preaching and then disobeyed a police order to move to the perimeter of the "block party" to avoid the potential for violence.
"They were not prohibited from preaching," said Karen Brancheau, a lawyer for the district attorney's office. "A reasonable request was made to prevent a situation from becoming dangerous to their own safety, as well as the safety of the participants."
Charges were later dropped against seven people in the "Philadelphia 11" because they were not seen quoting Scripture on a videotape of the incident.
However, the remaining four individuals have been ordered to stand trial on three felony counts -- criminal conspiracy, ethnic intimidation and riot -- and five misdemeanor charges. If convicted, Fahling said, they could face up to 47 years in prison.
Charles Ehrlich, the city prosecutor in the case, has called the Christian protestors "hateful" and referred to preaching the Bible as using "fighting words."
Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge William Austin Meehan has banned the protestors from doing any type of evangelism within 100 yards of any "gay and lesbian event."
This past week, U.S. District Judge Petrese B. Tucker denied emergency relief from prosecution despite video footage Fahling calls "undisputed evidence" that the group cooperated with police and were continually harassed by members of a homosexual organization called the Pink Angels.
Then on Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit turned down a similar appeal.
Since the federal courts did not intervene, the last route for the group to avoid trial would be an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Fahling said
"First, symbols of Christianity are removed from the public square; now, Christians are facing 47 years in prison because they preached the gospel in the public square. Stalin would be proud," Fahling concluded.
This happened in the UK.
A man was reading out scriptures and giving a sermon on morality when he got beaten up by a gay.
The police were called and the preacher was arrested for incitement to cause hate!
http://aclj.org/
It's interesting that when people who have morals (AKA Conservatives) decide to protest a left-wing debauchery such as this Gay Pride Festival, they are vilified. Now, if a Conservative rally were being held in the same place and LibeRATS were protesting, there would be no problem.
Interesting double-standard...
If they go to trial, I suggest huge rallies on the courthouse steps where scripture will again be read at considerable volume.'Criminal conspiracy, ethnic intimidation and riot?' Yet, the scum at the Repub Convention were protected? What the )*@$#%&)@'s the difference? And since when was buggery an ethnicity?
So; let me get this straight. . .one can get 'forty-seven years' in prison. . .for ignoring a reasonable 'request' from a police officer?
These are the same people who decry the Patriot Act for infringing on their rights to 'free speech; and free access'. . .the same people who are the architects of the mind control of political correctness . . .the same people who call Repubs Nazis/brown shirts. . .
Interesting summation. Why is it that the potential for violence, disorder, rage and hate is always only there where the atmosphere becomes saturated with liberals? The same thing happened at the Presidential Inauguration parade in 2001.
Since the federal courts did not intervene, the last route for the group to avoid trial would be an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Fahling said
My guess is that the federal courts don't want to get involved until after a jury has reached a verdict. Appeals courts don't like to settle issues of fact. They focus on issues of law. They probably want the facts discovered at the trial level before they get involved.
This case should have been thrown out of court - Politically Correct judges and courts, making law from the bench, have to be stopped. Take Action and help the American Family Association law center.
If this case went to the Supreme Court, I would be confident that the Court--even our current corrupt court--would support free speech. The danger would be that a lower court would rule against free speech and the Supremes would just refuse to hear the case.
You are right, where is this all heading? A civil war, a communist country, and why, since we won the election, isn't Bush doing something to stop this clear assault by terroists attempting to take over this country?
Got to be a Hoax
What "ethnic group" would that be?
No joke. . .no hoax.
Would be funny if this were not so beyond, pathetic.
These folks better be careful. . .or protesters will start making it worth their time. . .
If you want to gain attention by deliberately breaking the law don't whine when your prosecuted.
Does it seem to anybody else that the train headed down the tracks toward us is picking up speed?
The restraining order was put into place after the arrest not before. So that means that both #2 and #3 are wrong. As for #1, I would agree that they have no right to go on the stage, but they have the right to read scriptures aloud as a protest. But nonviolent trespassing is never prosecuted as a felony. If it were, there would be few if any liberals running around, they would be in prison.
I heard some of the charges were pretty severe (would have to be to merit consideration for a possible 47 year sentence). The question is how is it that the 1st Amendment rights of these folks were of less value than the same rights of the other group? Didn't this take place on public grounds? And didn't the group of Gay "security folks" bring the situation into the realm of potential violence by menacing? If the response is that the Christian group incited them by citing "Hate speech" from the Bible, then I think there is no case here (which American judge will be first to deem Scripture from the Bible "hate speech"?--unless we are truly devolving into the United States of Canada).
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