"Free Speech Zone" Follies

by Arnold Ahlert
Frontpage
April 25, 2011

https://www.legal-project.org/1351/free-speech-zone-follies

Excerpt:

In a case that tests the limits of the First Amendment, controversial pastor Terry Jones, who runs the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, and fellow pastor Wayne Sapp, were arrested and jailed last Friday by Dearborn, Michigan police after refusing to post a one dollar "peace bond" ordered by District Judge Mark Somers. The judge's order came after a six-person jury ruled that both men would "breach the peace" if they held a protest outside the Islamic Center of America. Jones vowed to file a lawsuit against prosecutors and promised to return for a rally in Dearborn next Friday at 5 p.m.

After three hours of deliberation, the jury sided with prosecutors who had sought a $25,000 bond from the preacher and his associate, claiming their protest outside the mosque would likely start a riot. Prosecutors also told both men they could be jailed for up to three years if they declined to pay the $1 peace bond in protest. "I strongly voice my disagreement with the ruling," said Sapp, when asked by Somers if he had any comment. "The peace bond is to prohibit free speech." Both men subsequently paid the bond and were released.

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