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ACLU supports free-speech rights of anti-Islam group
A civil rights organization is defending the free-speech rights of a Christian group that hates Islam, saying its members were unfairly removed from the Arab International Festival in Dearborn in 2012.In a legal brief filed this month, attorneys with the Michigan branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said that Wayne County sheriff's deputies violated the First Amendment by ordering a group of Christian evangelists from California called the Bible Believers to leave or face citations for disorderly conduct. While the ACLU attorneys disagree with the message of the Bible Believers, they agree that their rights were violated. "By ordering the Bible Believers to leave the Festival or else be cited for disorderly conduct, (Wayne County Sheriff's deputies) violated the Bible Believers' free speech rights under the First Amendment," the ACLU said in their friend-of-the court brief. When "even offensive speech takes place in a public forum, police must take reasonable steps to protect speakers faced with a violent audience." The ACLU said the festival attendees are to blame for the violence, not the Bible Believers, who were peaceful and did not incite violence. While the Bible Believers' speech was "highly offensive and needlessly antagonistic ... unpleasant and disturbing ... it must be tolerated in a free and diverse society such as ours," the ACLU said. Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2014-12-27 |
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