Lead MagnetPosted on 02/04/2005 2:16:58 AM PST by Boot Hill
'Philly 5' lose round in federal court,
prosecutors get away with calling
defendants' words 'hateful'
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
In another blow to the "Philly 5" – the Philadelphia Christians facing possible 47 year jail terms for evangelizing at a homosexual event – a federal judge has refused a request to stop the local prosecution of the group.
Judge Petrese B. Tucker, for the second time, has refused to sanction the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office for what the Christians' attorneys say are "retaliatory criminal proceedings."
According to the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy, which is representing the Christians on the federal level, Tucker denied the request for relief last week, saying the Philly 5 had "insufficient evidence ... regarding why any of the defendants would want to stifle their First Amendment rights."
The group's attorneys had presented as evidence their clients' First Amendment rights were violated the fact that Assistant District Attorney Charles Ehrlich told an earlier court proceeding the Christians' religious speech was "hateful, disgusting, despicable words," and "fighting words."
As WorldNetDaily reported, on Oct. 10, a group of 11 Christians was "preaching God's Word" to a crowd of people attending the Philadelphia "OutFest" event and displaying banners with biblical messages.
After a confrontation with a group called the Pink Angels, described by protesters as "a militant mob of homosexuals," the Christians were arrested and spent a night in jail.
Eight charges were filed: criminal conspiracy, possession of instruments of crime, reckless endangerment of another person, ethnic intimidation, riot, failure to disperse, disorderly conduct and obstructing highways.
None of the Pink Angels was cited or arrested.
After a preliminary hearing in December, Judge William Austin Meehan ordered four of the Christians to stand trial on three felony and five misdemeanor charges. If convicted, they could each get a maximum of 47 years in prison. One female teenage protester faces charges in the juvenile justice system.
Brian Fahling is senior trial attorney for the law center.
Said Fahling in a statement: "The law requires us to show bad faith or retaliation by the D.A.'s office; we established that beyond argument with a videotape of the entire incident that shows our clients peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights, then being arrested and charged with crimes that carry a potential for 47 years imprisonment, and a district attorney's office that retaliated against them because it hates their speech.
"It is difficult to conceive of more compelling evidence of bad faith and retaliation than what we have presented to the court in this case."
Fahling colleague Michael DePrimo added: "There has never been a stronger case for federal court intervention based upon allegations of bad faith and retaliation than [the Philly 5] presented to Judge Tucker. … Prior to taking the bench, Judge Tucker was an assistant district attorney for Philadelphia for eight years; she is undoubtedly aware that peaceful expression of First Amendment rights is not criminal."
The next hearing date scheduled for the Christians is Feb. 17, when the court will consider their motion to dismiss the case. Seventeen-year-old Lauren Murch's trial date is Feb. 18.
Lead Magnetping
bump
She's another CLINTON appointee, sworn in 7/14/2000.
then what are we going to do after lunch that day?
The city can constitutionally only regulate the time, place and manner of speech, not the content. It appears that there is prima facie evidence here that the DA's office is trying regulate content, perhaps through selective enforcement against alleged "fighting words".
Thanks for offering some hope. I was about to go off the deep end.
Not as long as the MSM keeps it from seeing the light of day. They are the enablers of criminals, perverts and traitors.
They ignore the tradition of religious tolerance Penn
believed he could inculcate in his experimental City of
brotherly love. (And methinks Sir William was not promoting
Buggery-nor Sodomy--but true Christianity)
You were edicated in Public School wasn't you? Methinks ye
confuse Sir William Penn with Roger Willaims.
Yes I had confused the two and posted my acknowledgement of the error on post#12.
And the FBI has investigated a Christian Pastor in Ill.
seems some anti-christ /dispeptic rice Christian was
offended by his sermons on a Christian view of current
cultural acts (abortion,and earlier in series on homosexuality) So the cowardly Christian imposter called the FBI and said this Preacher was calling for a War against the Abortion clinics claiming he would go to jail
over it.What a Fear factor feast we sat down to when we
tolerated the infidel revision and Soviet Communist notion of a secular State and godless Constitution.
do seem to recall something about Janet "Gas' em and Burn 'em " Reno and her Clintonian dept. of Just US
Claiming Christians were a HATE group.Will look for the
paper later.
I wonder if that's a direct quote from the ruling. It doesn't make a lot of sense. Would it work as a defense in a criminal proceeding?
"Your honor, I can't dispute that I robbed the bank but the prosecution has failed to prove WHY I robbed the bank and therefore the case should be dismissed"
Looks like we are heading to a dark night for this country.
Doubt it.
Few know of this. Few want to know.
The Nazi's rose to power in the most literate, best educated state in Europe. The signs of what they were was all around, yet most did nothing till it was to late.
The people of the US, in the Church and out of it, don't want to know.
I remember another potential Clinton appointee saying that some Christians need to be locked up for national security...
I would hope that you are right but most people will continue with they were doing.
The socialists and communits learned that you isolate and then pick off your enemies one by one.
As the german was said to have written,"When they came after the .... I did nothing."
Most Americans, so long as it is not their ox being gored, do not give a tinkers dam what happens to the other guy.
He/She did something to deserve it.
In their blind lust for pleasure, they never realize that anything the government does to the other guy, the government can do to them.
Until it is too late.
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