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.
LYNNE ABRAHAM is NEVER WRONG!!!!!!
Her apology to my brother was a LYING LETTER to the WALL STREET JOURNAL about what she did at the expense of MY brother's reputation once again.
LYNNE ABRAHAM is NEVER WRONG!!!!!!
Her apology to my brother was a LYING LETTER to the WALL STREET JOURNAL about what she did at the expense of MY brother's reputation once again.
LYNNE ABRAHAM is NEVER WRONG!!!!!!
Her apology to my brother was a LYING LETTER to the WALL STREET JOURNAL about what she did at the expense of MY brother's reputation once again.
Cool, good news.
Thanks for the ping...should we be worried that they're actually showing some common sense?
LOL -concur.
Amen! Saw this on the other thead. Sue the city!Sue the city! Sue the city! Sue the city! Sue the city!
Yes, praise the Lord! Thanks for keeping us on your ping list. God is great. He will have the victory.
Other thread?
Yes. Hate crime laws need to become too expensive to maintain. David Barton warns of a new trend by the Black Robes to protect only minority speech.
| David Barton January 5005 interview |
And Amen!
Amen to that!
Thanks for the ping.
Smart move by the Judge
Especially with that new Super AIDS out there starting to kill the homos.
Like my daddy use to say, "Even a blind hog can find an acorn every once in a while." Same goes for judges.
So, how much did this end up costing them for their little sojourn into Philly justice?
Good. Maybe now “free speech” will start applying to conservatives too.
Occasionally, I even like to say things three times. My apologies.
Yea, it was started 3min before you posted it with the same name. Shhh, I won't say anything. ;^)
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