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Terry Jones will file a suit against county prosecutor
Pastor Terry Jones told The Detroit News that he will file a lawsuit against the Wayne County Prosecutor's office and others in connection with his arrest on Friday and the case filed against him over his planned protest outside the Islamic Center of America. "We were arrested for something we had not done," said Jones at Detroit Metro Airport. "I was totally shocked. I could not believe it. Even the police who put the handcuffs on us were shocked." Jones said of his arrest. Jones is working with the Thomas More Law Center to file the lawsuit for violating his free speech rights. The Thomas More Law Center filed a suit against the City of Dearborn last year. That case involved the rights of Christian missionaries jailed by police at the city's International Arab Festival. The missionaries wanted to pass out literature but police said they could only do so in a certain area. Constitution expert Robert Sedler is happy to see Jones challenging the "bizarre" ruling by Dearborn District Court Judge Mark Somers. "The Supreme Court says you cannot deny a permit because of the message. The U.S. Constitution supersedes everything, which is why this is so bizarre," said Sedler, a Wayne State University Law School professor. Jones will return to Dearborn on Friday. He plans to hold the demonstration at 5 p.m. Friday outside Dearborn City Hall. He says he does not want to violate the law. The topic has now shifted from "radical Islam" to a fight to protect the First Amendment. Jones called the proceedings "a definite violation of our Constitutional rights." Some observers claimed the judge's actions were unusual but Somers had followed the letter of the law. Richard Fournier, who attended the first day of the trial, says he doesn't think their constitutional rights were violated because their protest could have created an uproar and possibly a riot. Posted by: ryuge 2011-04-24 |
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