Agreed. I would imagine that in Mississippi persecuting peaceful Christians amounts to political suicide for a prosecutor. And try finding a jury willing to convict people for reading Bible verses in public.
Posted on Fri, Dec. 10, 2004
Evangelists lose ruling in protest at Outfest
A judge refused to throw out the charges. Hearings for 10 of the 11 are scheduled Tuesday.
By Joseph A. Slobodzian
Inquirer Staff Writer
A federal judge yesterday refused to block the local prosecution of 11 Christian evangelists arrested Oct. 10 in a confrontation at the "Outfest" gay-pride block party in Center City.
U.S. District Judge Petrese B. Tucker denied in a one-paragraph order the injunction requested last Friday by the American Family Association, a Mississippi-based conservative Christian "family values" group that is defending the 11.
American Family Association attorney Brian Fahling said he would file an emergency appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to reverse Tucker's ruling and block the prosecutions.
Preliminary hearings for 10 of those arrested are set for Tuesday in Philadelphia Municipal Court. A separate hearing for a juvenile arrested was set for today, but Fahling said it had been postponed.
Last Friday, Fahling argued that the arrests and prosecution of Repent America director Michael Marcavage and his fellow protesters violated their free-speech rights.
Members of the group were arrested on charges including criminal conspiracy, rioting and ethnic intimidation after a loud, heated confrontation with a group of "Pink Angels" at the Outfest.
Lawyers for the city and District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham argued that Tucker should follow the U.S. Supreme Court's 1971 "Younger doctrine," which tells federal judges not to intervene in state court criminal cases unless there is compelling evidence that the prosecution was brought in bad faith or for purposes of harassment.
Fahling said a video of the Oct. 10 confrontation showed Marcavage speaking through a bullhorn while he and his supporters were being shouted down by irate gay activists.
City officials said the video did not show the start of the confrontation, when they said Marcavage tried to interrupt a performance with his antigay preaching and then disobeyed a police order to move to the perimeter of the Outfest to avoid the potential for violence.