Religious & Civil Rights Groups to Court: Quoting Scripture is not a CrimeMar 18, 2009 Today (March 18, 2009) a coalition of a dozen religious and civil rights groups asked a Michigan appeals court to release a Christian minister put on house arrest because he claimed God would punish the judge who sentenced him. Reverend Edward Pinkney wrote an article in the Chicago-area People’s Tribune quoting language from the Bible (the Book of Deuteronomy) that God would punish the judge for his wrongdoing. The court then revoked Pinkney’s probation because the Biblical quotes were “threatening.” The civil rights coalition, which includes the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the American Jewish Congress, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and Liberty Legal Institute, among others, filed a friend of the court brief asking the appeals court to overturn the trial court’s order.
“The First Amendment was designed to protect ministers speaking religious truth to political power,” said Eric Rassbach, the Becket Fund’s National Director of Litigation. “From the colonial preachers who decried British tyranny, to the abolitionist ministers of Massachusetts to Martin Luther King Jr., our country has a proud history of allowing ministers to hold government officials to account. A court can’t punish someone for saying that the judge broke God’s law.”
After the article appeared, the trial court judge recused himself. The subsequent judge found that Pinkney’s comments were threatening and revoked the reverend’s probation period sending him to prison for three to 10 years.
“Judges don’t get to decide whether prophecies are true, even when those prophecies apply to them. Courts should stick to the law and leave theology to people of faith,” added Rassbach.
To read the amicus brief, click here.
To read Rev. Pinkney’s article, click here.
To read the Court of Appeals order, click here.
If you want to arrange an interview please contact Kristina Arriaga at cell 703 582 8962 or karriaga@becketfund.org.
The Washington-based Becket Fund is a nonpartisan interfaith public-interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions. Resources & Documents
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