PHILADELPHIA—A Philadelphia judge today dismissed all criminal charges against four Christians who were arrested after walking a public street and quoting the Bible during Outfest, a celebration of homosexual behavior, on October 10 of last year.
“The judge saw this case for what it is,” said ADF Senior Counsel Joe Infranco. “This was the right response to an outrageous abuse of power to silence speech that some people didn’t like.”
Judge Pamela Dembe of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas dismissed the charges, saying that she found no basis whatsoever for any of them. Dembe said that the First Amendment protects unpopular speech as much as popular speech and is the controlling issue in this case.
Four adults and one juvenile were arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges of ethnic intimidation, riot, criminal conspiracy, reckless endangerment, possessing an instrument of crime, highway obstruction, failure to disperse, and disorderly conduct. Today’s decision applies only to the four adults, but charges against the juvenile are expected to be dropped Friday.
“What took place here was a government crackdown on disfavored speech,” Infranco said. “The Outfest participants staged a national coming-out day on a public street using public funds, and then they tried to say it’s a private event. That didn’t make any sense, and neither did the actions of the police who arrested our clients.”
ADF-allied attorneys Ted Hoppe and Scott Shields represented the protestors in the criminal case,
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Marcavage, Diener, Cruse and Green. Eleven people were arrested originally, but charges against all but five were immediately dropped. Today’s dismissal of the criminal charges against the remaining adults leaves no ability for the case to be litigated in civil court.
“The Pennsylvania Constitution holds the inalienable right to speak your conscience. It says that free speech is an invaluable right of man,” Infranco added. “Clearly, these protestors had a right to peacefully walk a public street and express their views, and the judge saw that.”
ADF is America’s largest legal alliance defending religious liberty through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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