is there a Legal definition of "Fighting Words"??? like "He said X and i snapped."
Posted on 12/19/2004 6:12:34 PM PST by Pyro7480
Michael Marcavage is the leader of Repent America, a Christian group based in the Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) area. Repent America is known for its activism on the behalf of traditional morality, especially with the pro-life and pro-traditional marriage causes.
Mr. Marcavage has been in the news recently, ever since he and 10 other Christian activists were arrested on October 10, 2004, after protesting at a homosexual street fest in Philadelphia. They were charged with three (3) felonies and five (5) misdemeanors. Among the felony charges were Criminal Conspiracy, Ethnic Intimidation and Riot. 7 of the protesters had the charges against them dropped in December, but the attorney representing all of those originally charged says the charges were dropped against the remaining seven because they were not seen quoting scripture on the videotape. An emergency appeal to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals was rejected on December 13, 2004, leaving the 4 Christians who are still charged with only an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
(For those who want to read more about this case, please go to the following FR threads:
Christians Face 47 Years in Prison Because Philly Judge Calls Bible Verses
Christianity now "hate crime": the bible is "hate speech" subject to seizure
Christians Face long Jail Time In Philadelphia
Throwing Christians to the Philadelphians
Christian Protestors Face 47 Years in Jail for Encounter at 'Gay Pride' Event
‘The People vs. Michael M.’ [Christians jailed in Philadelphia])
What many who are familiar with the recent case do not know is that Mr. Marcavage has longed been involed in the fight for traditional morals, and has been in the middle of many incidents where "progressives" have been using tactics of questionable legality against those who would dare to stand against them.
The first documented incident was when Mr. Marcavage was a student at Temple University, which is also in Philadelphia. A more complete account of this incident is available in an article by Accuracy in Academia, but the key details are excerpted below.
Eighty years ago the Soviet Union developed a novel method of dealing with dissenters: it labeled them insane and committed them to mental institutions. A Temple University student contends that his school resorted to these very tactics in response to his objections to a school-sponsored performance of a play that depicts Jesus as a promiscuous homosexual.
Michael Marcavage filed suit against Temple University in December 2000 for a an incident in which he alleges that University officials censored an event he had organized, roughed him up, and involuntarily committed him to the psychiatric ward of the school's hospital. His only offense, he claims, was to organize an event to counter a play that mocks Christianity.
The civil rights suit was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and contends that the plaintiff's First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated. The defendants in the suit are Temple University, its vice president for operations, William Bergman, and its managing director of campus safety services, Carl Bittenbender. Attorneys for the plaintiff include lawyers for the American Family Association's Center for Law and Policy....
During a contentious meeting on November 2, 1999-less than a week before the planned event was to take place-Temple vice president William Bergman called Marcavage into his office to inform him that the university was not permitting him to hold his program. Following a discussion, a disgusted Marcavage retreated to the restroom, threw water on his face, and asked God for direction about what to do next. God, however, had little to do with what then happened....
Marcavage's suit states that Temple Vice President "[William] Bergman pounded on the [bathroom] door and demanded that [Marcavage] come out." Marcavage then opened the door and was physically forced by Bergman to return to his office. "Once back in Bergman's office," the suit details, "Bergman, suddenly and without warning, pushed [Marcavage] down into a chair…. alarmed and afraid by Bergman's use of force, [Marcavage] told Bergman he wanted to leave. Bergman said no." Marcavage then asked to use the phone, a request that was also rebuffed. Realizing that these officials had no right to keep him against his will, Marcavage attempted to leave. The legal brief reports that the "Plaintiff then arose from the chair and was tripped to the floor by Bergman. As Plaintiff raised himself off the floor, he was forced onto a couch and held down by Bergman and Bittenbender. Plaintiff's repeated pleas to be released were refused."
Uniformed Temple Police then arrived and were ordered to handcuff Marcavage, who "was then carried out of the building and placed into a police car." The police refused to divulge to the student why he was being arrested or where he was going. "Shortly thereafter, Plaintiff was taken to the Emergency Crisis Center at Temple University Hospital against his will." The Christian student was then held in the psychiatric ward for more than three hours. Doctors examining him concluded that nothing was wrong with him and finally released him at 3:15 p.m....
Though the civil suit was filed at the end of the year 2000, the case has been slowly progressing, and in May 2004 a federal judge ruled that the suit can proceed to trial.
More recently, Mr. Marcavage and another pro-lifer, who were on their way back from the Democratic National Convention, were pulled-over in Connectict on July 29, 2004, for carrying pro-life signs on the side of their truck (a federal lawsuit was filed after this incident). On August 9, 2004, Marcavage and 4 other Christian activists were ejected from the 2nd annual Philadelphia Philles' Gay Day after unfurling a banner that said "Homosexuality is a Sin, Christ Can Set You Free." Less than a month later, at the Republican National Convention, Marcavage and Steve Lefemine, director of Columbia Christians for Life, spent over 30 hours in jail after being arrested across the street from Madison Square Garden on a public sidewalk for bringing a pro-life message to the convention. The charges against the two in connection with this arrest were later dropped by a New York City Municipal Court judge.
(You have been pinged because you have posted to one or more of the recent threads on the plight of Christian activists who were arrested in Philadelphia earlier this year for preaching at a gay festival. If you want to be removed from this list, please post to this thread. Also, please ping anyone who may be interested in this information. Thank you for your interest!)
Ping!
PING!!!
Merry Christmas!
(You have been pinged because you have posted to one or more of the recent threads on the plight of Christian activists who were arrested in Philadelphia earlier this year for preaching at a gay festival. If you want to be removed from this list, please post to this thread. Also, please ping anyone who may be interested in this information. Thank you for your interest!)
Great job! Please keep me on the ping list if you intend to manage one, Let me know if you need any help.
God bless and Merry Christmas.
Interpretataion: Realize that those who are open and willful in their sin will hate you. Dogs and swine lived outside the city of Jerusalem. They were mean scavengers, willing to fight anyone who crossed their territory. Jesus said, "Don't throw your pearls before them" in an attempt to win them. They first need to be broken in spirit which is a work that only God can do. "Come unto me all ye that are heavy laden . . ."
ping
He sound slike a real glutton for punishment. And I respect him greatly for that. My thoughts and prayers are for this man that the Lords guides him to the correct path.
Bttt
I think I found all of the recent threads on the topic, but if you manage to see one I missed, please ping me!
BTTT
I would like any links to actual court transcripts on this one. I have been "guilty" of preaching on the streets in San Francisco, even at the Gay Pride Parade. It is amazing the amount of blatant lawless behavior the police department allows and even facilitates in these events, based on my personal observations.
From the video portions I watched I saw nothing remotely worthy of charges being filed, other than the police reluctance to require the homosexuals to cease blocking the sidewalk.
Not knowing Marcavage, I cannot vouch for him personally, but I am favorably disposed toward this group based on their representation, the American Family Association, founded by Rev. Don Wildmon, who has been fighting the culture war in America for decades, trying to preserve at least a modicum of decency in the public square.
BZ's for you, for putting this 411 together.
He is doing what he feels is God's work, delivering God's message.
is there a Legal definition of "Fighting Words"??? like "He said X and i snapped."
It looks like that the stage for this incident was set months before, according to the article on this thread. It's typical left-wing behavior - free speech for me, not for thee. The organizers can reserve the street, but they cannot deny access to public sidewalks.
That is a good question. This is one of those incidences where I wish I had kept the textbook for my First Amendment class in college.
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