Principal Annette Martinson
Posted on 02/08/2007 1:42:46 AM PST by Robert Drobot
Two men who are members of Gideons International, the Christian organization that is famous for, among other ministries, placing Bibles in motels and giving them to children, have been arrested after trying to hand out Bibles on a public sidewalk in Florida, according to a law firm.
Officials with the Alliance Defense Fund have confirmed they will be representing Anthony Mirto and Ernest Simpson, who were arrested, booked into jail and charged with trespassing.
Jeremy Tedesco, one of the ADF's lawyers on the case, confirmed to WND that the organization's clients were on a public sidewalk when they were handing out Bibles and school officials summoned police.
"The First Amendment protects the right to engage in religious speech on a public sidewalk," ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman said. "Members of the Gideons have been highly respected for decades as peaceful providers of free Bibles to those who want them."
Principal Annette Martinson
The arrest happened Jan. 19, when Mirto and Simpson were on the sidewalk outside of Key Largo School in Key Largo, Fla., and were distributing copies of the Bible to those interested.
Monroe County Sheriff Richard Roth
"Neither man entered school grounds," the law firm said. "After the school's principal called police, a Monroe County sheriff's officer asked the men to leave immediately or face trespassing charges. As the men prepared to leave, the officer decided to arrest both individuals."
A hearing is scheduled March 5 in Monroe County Court in the cases, and ADF attorneys are preparing motions to dismiss the charges.
"Officials cannot use fear of arrest as a means of bullying law-abiding Christians into silence," Cortman said. "These men broke no laws when they decided to communicate their message on a public sidewalk."
Tedesco noted that sometimes school officials have a misconception about whether they can control activities on school grounds and adjacent public sidewalks. But the First Amendment does provide a protection for speech on those parcels of ground that are public, he said.
"There's no reason why they should be put in jail," he said.
The ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the truth, through strategy, training, funding and litigation.
The Gideons, a group founded in the late 1800s, has as its "sole purpose" the goal "to win men, women, boys and girls to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through association for service, personal testimony, and distributing the Bible in the human traffic lanes and streams of everyday life."
Members of the Gideons, who pay their own expenses so 100 percent of the donations to the group go toward Bible purchases and distributions, have placed the Bible in 181 nations in 82 different languages over the years.
The organization focuses on hotels and motels, hospitals and nursing homes, schools, colleges and universities, the military and law enforcement and prisons and jails.
"The demand for Scriptures in these areas far exceeds our supplies that we are able to purchase through our donations. Much more could be done – if funds were available. However, we are placing and distributing more than 1 million copies of the Word of God, at no cost, every seven days in these areas…" the group said.
The organization only gives away the Bibles with the Gideon logo on the covers, but plain Bibles are available for consumers to purchase at its distribution center at P.O. Box 140800, Nashville, Tenn., 37214-0800. Information about the products is available on the group's website.
The Gideons serve as an extended missionary arm of the Christian church and are the oldest Christian business and professional men's association in the United States.
Can one put forward a logical argument that could persuade another to label this a work of fiction? Hardly!
So is the Sheriff a dummicrat?
Ah, so the sheriff is a dummie.
It's a public walkway. They have a right to be there, talk to anyone, and hand out whatever, except those materials that are banned.
....he's a dense, dummie dunce!
That's a damn shame.
I smell BS.
"I am 110% positive she was concerned for the safety of the students and for the dangers posed with so many motor vehicles"
Whew!...
Thanks!
Yes, and I know that if it weren't true the lefties would be all over it denouncing it as a lie. That they are not tells me more about the truthfulness than anything else. However, it's pointless for me to try and stick this story up the liberals' collective noses as they will just point to WorldNetDAily.com and scream "rightwingnut propaganda" One of these stories in the local paper is much better ammunition.
Can you say media bias?
You know what, I tried to just tell the truth. I know no one has to believe me, that is your right. Time will tell and then,I am afraid, you will just have to be quiet; probably something that doesn't happen often - phew!
Saddened, but not surprised.
Have you ever been to Key Largo? Just a touristy, laid back - really laid back town. People care more about how many fish they caught, who's making the margarita that evening and major crimes. No conspiracy - just not thinking about it all that much.
I will say this again and then I am out of here. I WAS THERE. It happenned. There is only one problem. The men were not on a public sidewalk.
..and you say, trust me, I was there...
...many of us have knowledge/& history of Gideons and their professional/conscientious approach to what they do best.
Some of us at FR are or have been Gideons.
I will wait for the Alliance Defense to tell me what happened...
..not someone who signed up yesterday to say these men are lying.
Maybe you could contact the Alliance Defense Fund and see if they have any information about any newspapers in Florida picking up this story.
The link to the article posted on this thread is: www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4006.At the bottom of the article it states:
Note: Facts in ADF news releases are verified prior to publication but may change over time. Members of the media are encouraged to contact ADF for the latest information on this matter.Information on how to contact them can be found here.
When a friend of mine, a teacher at this school, started getting insane e-mails about this from people all over the country (with the link to this site attached)telling her she should be ashamed (by the way she was clear on the other side of the campus when it happened)we explored the source (this site.) Joining was merely to give everyone bashing this community and its leaders an inside perspective. We take no sides, and frankly will move on to better hobbies. Just thought you might want to hear what actually happened from a truly neutral party who is not hundreds or thousands of miles away. But it seems most people on this site do not think it is possible to be neutral. Everyone is very extremist and the bashing of two people on a website that asks for no personal attacks is shameful. Joining was not because I want to be a part of all of this but merely to request that some of you may, even for one moment, consider that it is possible to be wrong. So you can sit there and think what you will. Extremists and zealots give religion and organizations trying to make a difference a bad name. I respect all people's beliefs, yours included, I just cannot fathom how one or two individuals can be so ruthlessly attacked by people who did not witness with their own eyes. Boast about your knowledge and history of the Gideons - goody for you - but they too are human and make errors. I have no reason to doubt that they are good people but I saw them make a mistake. I know people at that school and no one wanted anyone arrested. That decision was made by the Sheriff's department when two men did not comply with what was asked of them.
I read the article, and there's a lot more .....exculpatory!! IMO.
Like I said, I will let the Alliance Defence group handle this.
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