Minneapolis board sued for relegating free speech to empty park space
In my previous comment on this I prophesied that the "Free speech zone" would be a crock. And so it turns out to be.
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board for isolating Christians handing out Bibles to an empty and isolated “no pride zone” while the Twin Cities Pride Festival takes place in a completely separate part of a city park. The festival is an annual celebration of homosexual behavior.
“The government should not be exiling free speech, it should be protecting it,” said lead counsel Nate Kellum, one of nearly 2,100 attorneys in the ADF alliance. “It’s ridiculous to say that the only place where people can hand out Bibles is an area where there’s no one to hand Bibles to. The Constitution simply does not permit the board to relegate free speech to isolated regions where no one can receive the message. That’s not free speech at all. It’s pure censorship.”
ADF filed the suit on behalf of Brian Johnson after the board agreed to settle a separate legal dispute with Twin Cities Pride, the organizers of the festival, by prohibiting First Amendment activity within the portion of the park where the festival takes place. The only exception to the rule is a small, hard-to-find drop-box where materials can be placed for people to pick up on their own. Even though the event is open to the public and takes place at a public park, no one is allowed to walk through the festival to hand out Bibles.
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7 comments:
I'm sure the Founding Fathers would have been fine if, instead of censoring Poor Richard's Almanac, they had simply relegated its distribution to small areas of town where nobody went in "Free Speech Zones."
Have the entire Park ABoard fired or disband it all together
Again the hypocracy - if a gay activist group that wanted to hand out pro-gay-marriage material close to a Christian rally, and had succeeded in getting official permission, there would of course be an uproar from the Christians about victimization of Christians by atheist-controled government determined to suppress their religious freedom (regardless of other people's freedom, of course).
Anon 3:16 Atta boy, set up a straw man, then knock him down. Would the Christian uproar involve stoning,
beheading and general mayhem?
3:16 AM Actually in the scenario you propose Christians would most likely hand bibles to the pro-gay marriage crowd. Or maybe quote scripture to them. Or both.
If I was a business owner, would I be allowed to walk through the festival handing out pamphlets promoting my business?
If I was a police office, would I be allowed to walk through the festival handing out pamphlets promoting a public safety awareness program?
If I was a school music teacher, would I be allowed to walk through the festival handing out pamphlets promoting a school concert event?
If I was a politician, would I be allowed to walk through the festival handing out pamphlets promoting my campaign?
4:22 - well say the same to JonJay who often does the equivalent "straw man" scenario - even today with "substitute blacks or homosexuals ....".
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