Marriage amendment co-author asks court to declare federal "hate crime" law unconstitutional

American Family Association of Michigan ^ | Feb. 2, 2010 | American Family Association of Michigan

[AFA-Michigan]

Suit seeks to block homosexual activists from seeking prosecution of pastors who oppose homosexual agenda

Group fears Obama judges may agree with homosexual activists' legal strategy to prosecute religious speech as "inducing" violence

LANSING, Mich. -- The new federal "hate crime" law enacted last fall unconstitutionally violates religious free speech rights by threatening to criminalize public opposition to homosexual activists' political agenda, including so-called homosexual "marriage," a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Tuesday on behalf of a co-author of Michigan's Marriage Protection Amendment and three Christian pastors argues.

(See copy of lawsuit [27 pages] -- http://j.mp/bP6AsK -- filed by the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor: www.ThomasMore.org)

Gary Glenn, Midland, president of the American Family Association of Michigan, who co-authored the Marriage Protection Amendment approved by Michigan voters in 2004, is lead plaintiff in the case, which argues that the new federal law unconstitutionally poses a serious threat to religious free speech rights. Glenn in public comments has regularly cited the use of such "hate crime" laws in Europe, Canada, and at the state level in the U.S. to prosecute Christians merely for speaking out against homosexual activists' political agenda.

Glenn is joined by three plaintiffs: African-American Pastor Levon Yuille of The Bible Church in Ypsilanti and host of Joshua’s Trail, a Detroit radio talk show, Pastor R.B. Ouellette of the 7,000-member First Baptist Church of Bridgeport, and Pastor James Combs of Waterford, who pastors four Christian congregations in Michigan totaling approximately 10,000 members.

Glenn said that in Michigan, "homosexual activists have clearly and openly admitted that they want to see pastors and others who speak out against the homosexual political agenda criminally prosecuted as 'accessories' any time a violent crime is committed against an individual who engages in homosexual behavior or cross-dressing."

The lawsuit cites a Saginaw News interview in 2005 with prominent homosexual activist Jeffrey Montgomery, former executive director of the Triangle Foundation, a Detroit-based homosexual lobby: The News reported:

"Jeffrey Montgomery is calling out the political extremists and religious fundamentalists whose rhetoric, he says, has fueled a steady rise in hate crimes against gays and lesbians. 'We've seen an increase in vitriolic, vociferous, vehement, demonizing rhetoric against gays and lesbians,' said Montgomery... 'The vocal anti-gay activists should be held accountable as accessories to these crimes because, many times, it is their rhetoric that led the perpetrators to believe that their crimes are OK.' ...If a criminal borrows a gun and then uses it to kill someone, the law considers the gun owner an accessory to the crime. So, too, are the people who own the words that incite violence, Montgomery said." ("Triangle exec decries violence" by Lania Coleman, p. 4A, The Saginaw News, April 27, 2005)

The suit also cites a report by State News, the Michigan State University student newspaper, which quoted another prominent homosexual activist -- former Triangle Foundation director of policy Sean Kosofsky -- as saying: "We personally believe that the AFA may support the murder of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people."

http://www.statenews.com/article.phtml?pk=6737

The suit also cites a news release issued by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in 2007 which accused Glenn and Cardinal Maida of the Archdiocese of Detroit -- merely by having publicly disagreed with homosexual activists' political agenda on marriage and other issues -- of being responsible for inciting the falsely-alleged beating death of a homosexual senior citizen in Detroit.

http://thetaskforce.org/press/releases/prMF_022307

“It is appalling hypocrisy for (Glenn and Maida) to pretend that their venomous words and organizing have no connection to the plague of hate violence against gay people, including the murder of Mr. Anthos," the NGLTF statement said.

Glenn said homosexual activists and their political allies -- including Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who condemned the purported "hate crime" against Anthos on the U.S. Senate floor -- were later embarrassed when Detroit police announced they had found no evidence of any assault and the Wayne County Medical Examiner ruled Anthos suffered a blow to the head after falling due to arthritic paralysis of his neck.

"Anthos' death blamed on hate is not that at all," Detroit Free Press, March 29, 2007:

http://baptistwatch.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=1797389

The statements by Montgomery, Kosofsky, and NGLTF "make clear that homosexual activists hope to sell society and the courts on their repressive view that anyone who dares publicly disagree with their political agenda should face the threat of being criminally prosecuted, and they're not beyond fabricating false 'hate crime' claims to do it," Glenn said.

The lawsuit argues that a pre-existing provision of federal law could be used by homosexual activists and their judicial allies -- in conjunction with the new "hate crime" law -- to justify such prosecutions.

U.S. Code, Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 1, Section 2(a) states: "Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission, is punishable as a principal."

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/2.html

Dictionary.com defines the word "counsel" to mean "advice, opinion or instruction given in directing the judgment or conduct of another."

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/counsel

Dictionary.com defines the word "induce" to mean "to lead or move by persuasion or influence, as to some action or state of mind."

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/induce

Glenn said under the federal "hate crime" law, "there will no doubt be openly homosexual or sympathetic federal judges appointed by President Obama who agree with homosexual activists' legal strategy of accusing anyone who non-violently speaks out against homosexual activists' political agenda of 'inducing' criminal activity any time a crime is committed or falsely alleged to be committed against an individual who engages in homosexual behavior or cross-dressing."

Glenn cited as examples of that concern a group of state-level judges in Michigan whose campaigns were endorsed by homosexual activist groups and who he believes are likely to share the Triangle Foundation's legal reasoning about criminally prosecuting speech:

* Openly homosexual 36th District Judge Rudy Serra, Wayne County, a former member of the Triangle Foundation's board of trustees, and 57th District Judge William Baillargeon, Allegan County, a former member of the Triangle Foundation board of advisors.

http://www.vendio.com/mesg/read.html?num=28&thread=223286

http://web.archive.org/web/20021029115642/www.tri.org/advisors.html

* Triangle Pride PAC, the Triangle Foundations' affiliated political action committee, also endorsed the following sitting judges in the 2008 election: 15th District Judge Chris Easthope, Washtenaw County; 46th District Judge William Richards, Oakland County; 91st District Judge Elizabeth Church, Chippewa County; Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, Oakland County Circuit Judge Mary Ellen Brennan, Wayne County Circuit Judges Connie Kelley and Lynne Pierce, and Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper.

http://www.pride-pac.org/guide/showall.php

* Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway "supports (homosexual and cross-dressing) rights and issues and was strongly endorsed by" Between the Lines, a homosexual activist newsmagazine in Detroit. Circuit Court Judges Christopher Yates and Donald Shelton were also endorsed by Between the Lines in 2008, as were District Court Judges Bill Richards and Elizabeth Church.

http://www.pridesource.com/article.shtml?article=32861

* Ingham County Circuit Judge Joyce Dragunchuk -- whose 2005 ruling in support of homosexual activists' lawsuit against the state Marriage Protection Amendment was overturned by the Michigan Court of Appeals -- was endorsed by both Triangle Pride PAC and another homosexual activist group, the Lansing Association for Human Rights.

[AFA-Michigan]

Read lawsuit:

http://j.mp/bP6AsK

[grellis]

If you would like to be added or dropped from the Michigan ping list, please freepmail me.

SunkenCiv sent a few links to me a few days ago, I have no idea how I managed to overlook them. Brain fart.

[magslinger]

Speaking of hate crimes, have you heard anything new about that group that disrupted services at Mount Hope Church?

[grellis]

I've heard absolutely nothing. I know that a lot of people in the local gay community thought that it was, at best, a really stupid stunt.

Probably resulted in a few trespassing tickets and got swept under the rug. It was only Christians that were offended, right? Nothing to see here! Move along!

[magslinger]

Yet if it were the Christians that were off sides, they would be throwing the book at them. Or with this hate crime law, even if they weren’t off sides but speaking their faith in their own church.

[70th Division]

Mt. Hope made a big mistake by not calling the police and proceuting them. I live a mile from there. Go Walberg.

[SunkenCiv]

:’) I think it was just yesterday. :’)

[AFA-Michigan]

Mag, the lawsuit against the hate group that disrupted the church near Lansing is proceeding. Read something in the news just a few weeks ago.

[AFA-Michigan]

Link to lawsuit filed in May 2009 (15 pages):

http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/wp-content/Images/bash_back_mt_hope_complaint.pdf

[equaviator]

Can anyone say why some violent road rage incidents shouldn’t be prosecuted as “hate crimes”?...Or has no one conducted studies that show how some victims of road rage are part of a protected class?

[magslinger]

Thank you. That gave a lot of details I was unaware of.

Still, it would seem like criminal charges should be made as well.