Wrong again. It was a federal judge, and wrote in her order that Jones’ constitutional rights were violated.
April 5, 2012 at 4:37 pm
Judge clears way for Jones protest outside Dearborn mosque
By Oralandar Brand-Williams
The Detroit News
Detroit — Controversial Florida pastor Terry Jones has been given the final green light to go ahead with a protest Saturday outside a Dearborn mosque.
U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood granted a motion for an emergency temporary restraining order against Dearborn, barring the city from requiring that Jones signs a “hold harmless” agreement before approving his permit to protest in front of the Islamic Center of America.
“This is clearly an unconstitutional clause which impedes plaintiffs’ First Amendment right to free speech and assembly,” said Hood in the order. “The ordinance requiring the indemnity agreement and the “Hold Harmless” presented to Plaintiffs are unconditional and violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution as to Plaintiff and others who wish to exercise their rights to speak and assemble in the public fora.”
Here:
Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Robert Ziolkowski vacated the “breach of peace” ruling against anti-Islam activists Terry Jones and Wayne Sapp on the grounds that they were denied due process.
On appeal, Ziolkowski reversed that ruling. He said the jury should have been instructed to make their verdict based on a “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard instead of the lower preponderance criteria.
Ziolkowski also threw out the order barring Jones and Sapp from visiting the mosque. While the judge said Dearborn’s desire to prevent any gathering, without regards to its content, at that location on that day was reasonable, he said banning the men for going to that site for a period of three years was “overly broad and restrictive.”
But Ziolkowski also ruled the breach of peace ordinance is constitutional, based on long established “time and place” speech restrictions. He also said the ordinance was properly applied in this case.
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/11/judge_vacates_breach_of_peace.html