Posted on 02/17/2005 9:55:43 AM PST by 26lemoncharlie
TESTING THE FAITH Judge drops all charges against Philly Christians Adults who evangelized at homosexual event vindicated, teen girl likely off hook tomorrow
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: February 17, 2005 12:33 p.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
In what is being hailed as a victory for free speech, a judge in Philadelphia today dismissed all criminal charges against four Christians who were arrested for evangelizing at an outdoor homosexual event.
Judge Pamela Dembe of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas dismissed the charges, saying that she found no basis whatsoever for any of them.
"We are one of the very few countries that protects unpopular speech," Dembe said after viewing a videotape of the arrests. 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, each could have received a maximum of 47 years in prison. One female teenage protester faces charges in the juvenile justice system, but those charges likely will be dropped tomorrow.
"The judge saw this case for what it is," Joe Infranco, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said in a statement. "This was the right response to an outrageous abuse of power to silence speech that some people didn't like.
"What took place here was a government crackdown on disfavored speech. The OutFest participants staged a national coming-out day on a public street using public funds, and then they tried to say it's a private event. That didn't make any sense, and neither did the actions of the police. "
Dembe is the judge who last month removed the bail requirement that the defendants stay at least 100 feet away from any homosexual gathering.
or, Howard, who's your daddies?
Conservatives maybe, Christians no. Matthew 5:25; Agree with thine adversary quickly . . .
Thank God for a sane judge.
I tried to google up some info on her. Pages and pages of Free Mumia crap tells me she's unpopular with that crowd too.
I believe a suit against the D.A., et al., for malicious prosecution is warranted.
And I hope that they sue them into the poor house. Especially the DOJ ttorneys that were advocating their arrest.
Bump
There may be grounds to sue the police department in a civil rights action. Making them pay is the only way to stop this kind of abuse and harassment. Think of the horror these Christians have had to endure the last few months.
Absolutely............and the PC thug police chief, too boot
"We are one of the very few countries that protects unpopular speech," Dembe said after viewing a videotape of the arrests."
So the ( Christian ) protestors were spewing unpopular speech? While I agree with this judges decision, I think she needs to re-examine what she said there.
Unpolular to whom? The gay and lesbian crowd? Is she saying that speaking out against homosexuality is unpopular? I don`t know, I am a little confused about her statement.
YES!!!!!!!
Glad to see that Philadelphia has one courageous judge who is on the side of the angels.
bump
Thank God for a sane judge!!
You said it!! We must make sure MORE SANE judges are on the Bench. We must get rid of these radicals forcing the European Interpretation of the US LAWS.
Thank God for a sane judge!!
You said it!! We must make sure MORE SANE judges are on the Bench. We must get rid of these radicals forcing the European Interpretation of the US LAWS.
I think the judge's wider point is that the whole idea behind the 1st Amendment is that a person shouldn't be punished for expressing an idea that his listeners don't like.
On that particular street-corner, the protestors' speech was unpopular.
Fair enough. Just a note: in the old days before political correctness and femi-Nazism, legal documents and statutes would contain a boilerplate provision that "the masculine gender includes the feminine and vice versa." That is, if the document read "he" and one or more of the parties was a "she," you just read the "he" as a "she," no problem. Now of course, if you don't spill extra ink and chew up more paper and bandwidth laboriously typing or writing out "he or she," you're in trouble. Just a historical observation---nothing more. :)
"I think the judge's wider point is that the whole idea behind the 1st Amendment is that a person shouldn't be punished for expressing an idea that his listeners don't like.
On that particular street-corner, the protestors' speech was unpopular."
I think that too, but it would have been nice to hear that from her. Maybe it was just left out of the article.....But the statement as read, was a little unclear on where this judge actually stood on this issue. The word "unpopular" was a poor choice of word in that instance ( IMO ). This was not about "unpopular" speech, it was about free speech in general.
News we've been waiting to hear!
Judge Pamela Dembe of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas dismissed the charges, saying that she found no basis whatsoever for any of them.
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