Contact: Michael Marcavage, Repent America, (800) 373-7368, Ext. 5
U.S. GOVERNMENT ATTEMPTS TO HAVE
LIBERTY BELL RULING REVERSED
PHILADELPHIA - The United States government recently filed a petition in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals requesting a rehearing in the case of United States of America v. Michael Marcavage, as well as permission to file a brief explaining why they believed the case should be reconsidered. On September 13, 2010, after a vote by a panel of 15 federal Third Circuit justices, the government's "Petition for Rehearing By the Panel En Banc" was ordered to be officially denied.
The petition for rehearing was filed on behalf of the U.S. government by United States Attorney Zane David Memeger, Assistant United States Attorney Robert A. Zauzmer and Assistant United States Attorney Richard W. Goldberg. Bewailing the Third Circuit's recent decision in favor of Marcavage, the multiple-page plea to the court claimed that Independence National Historical Park - which houses the Liberty Bell - "has suffered an unwarranted smear on its reputation" because of the court's ruling. The petition also expressed fears that the rangers involved in Marcavage's arrest "may be accused of violating their oaths to the Court and Constitution," and that the looming civil suit that is now proceeding against the United States government may create further adversity. On September 1, 2010, the Third Circuit released an order denying the government's request to file a brief in support of their petition, but the government, in its persistence, immediately asked the court to reconsider its decision. The request was again rejected on September 13, 2010 along with the government's petition for the case to be reheard.
The motion comes nearly two months after a three-judge panel with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals released a unanimous decision that overturned the convictions of Repent America Director Michael Marcavage for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the public sidewalk near the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. On July 16, 2010, Judges Michael Fisher, Thomas Hardiman and Robert Cohen issued a 52-page decision that struck down both of the government's claims against Marcavage: "Violating the Terms of a Verbal Permit" and "Interfering with an Agency Function." The decision, written by Judge Michael Fisher, concluded that "Marcavage's permit violation must be vacated because the verbal permit he was issued was invalid, and that his interference conviction must be vacated because it was obtained in violation of his First Amendment right to free speech." The court found, in coming to this conclusion, that the acting ranger's restrictions on Marcavage's speech were impermissibly content-based, and stated, "The government in effect ratified what it perceived as listener hostility to Marcavage's speech when it silenced that speech. That act, coupled with its impetus, constitutes a content-based restriction on speech." The decision also boldly declared, "If the government is looking for prejudice, it need look no further than its having sought and obtained Marcavage's conviction on a fatally flawed legal premise."
In October 2007, Marcavage had been arrested by supervising U.S. Park Ranger Alan Saperstein after rejecting a "verbal permit" to move to an unconstitutional "free speech zone" away from where he had been preaching. In June 2008, Marcavage was put on trial for two days and found "guilty" of two federal charges by U.S. Magistrate Judge Arnold C. Rapoport. He was fined $445, including costs, and placed on federal probation for one year. He was also barred from entering Independence National Historical Park or being on the public sidewalks surrounding the park for any reason without first notifying park authorities, and was ordered not to engage in free activities without first obtaining a permit, and only then in the "free speech zone." The ruling was immediately appealed, but was upheld a year later by U.S. District Court Judge Legrome D. Davis. The appeal then proceeded to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which then unanimously overturned Marcavage's convictions.
Marcavage states that the government's recent attempt to reverse the ruling in United States of America v. Michael Marcavage demonstrates the great lengths that the U.S. government will go in its pursuit of punishment of those who dare to preach or speak on public property.
"It is a crying shame that in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - the birthplace of American freedom - the government is working to destroy freedom. Patrick Henry once declared, 'The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.' I am thankful that the Third Circuit stopped this abominable assault on the Constitution and the public proclamation of the Gospel. To God be the glory!" Marcavage concluded.
"For they intended evil against thee; they imagined an evil device, which they are not able to perform." - Psalm 21:11
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Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Quakers, Anti-War Rallies On Alert List
By Brad Bumsted and Mike Wereschagin
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
HARRISBURG -- Taxpayer-funded bulletins listed meetings of Tea Partiers, Quakers and Pittsburgh anti-war activists as potential security threats.
A year's worth of bulletins released Friday by the governor's office shows the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response warned state Homeland Security officials about events as far away as the Sinai and as easy to predict as looking at a calendar.
The reports ignited controversy earlier this week when opponents of Marcellus gas drilling learned that gas companies had received the "Pennsylvania Intelligence Bulletin" listing their planned participation in public hearings as part of a warning about potential terrorist threats to public infrastructure.
Gov. Ed Rendell denounced the reports on Tuesday and said he won't renew the institute's $103,000 contract when it expires in October. State senators plan a hearing to investigate. At least one activist plans to file a civil rights lawsuit.
A November report said two Tea Party rallies against illegal immigration might attract "white nationalists."
"I think it is one of the more bizarre things I've ever heard," said Karen Kiefer, a Tea Party activist from Scottdale. "A lot of people say they never feel safer than at a Tea Party rally. They got $103,000 in taxpayers' money to compile these bogus lists? That is absolutely shocking."
The co-director of the institute yesterday defended the bulletins and took issue with Rendell's criticism of its work, saying the governor is "regrettably, misinformed. ... We provide information on potential issues that may require enhanced security responses in the protection of clients' obligations to public safety and protection of their assets."
The co-director, Michael Perelman, a former York city police officer, said in a brief telephone interview: "The indications that the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response tracked gay groups is inaccurate and offensive."
Rendell had no response to Perelman's comments, press secretary Gary Tuma said.
Rendell on Tuesday said the information the institute gave the state "has no value. ... It may have some value to other people, but it had no value to us."
The reports were supposed to help state Homeland Security officials protect critical public infrastructure, a post-9/11 federal mandate. Most reports, however, are dedicated to possible terrorist action in places such as Ireland, Afghanistan, Turkey and Chile. It notes Pennsylvania colleges that have study-abroad programs in those countries.
One report, in August, listed "newly identified corporate targets of pro-life boycotts." The institute said the boycott list, which included the YMCA and Johnson & Johnson, represented a "low-to-moderate" threat because it could be used by "more militant anti-abortion elements and lone wolves."
The most recent report, issued Monday, listed the dates of upcoming Jewish holidays and noted they would result in "very high attendance at Jewish houses of worship and public gatherings in Pennsylvania."
A November bulletin noted an approaching anti-war protest in Philadelphia by the Brandywine Peace Community and the American Friends Service Community, a Quaker organization. The protesters planned to wear placards saying, "Dear President: Do Not Send More Troops to Afghanistan. War is Not the Answer," the terror institute wrote.
Another report alleged links between G-20 protesters and an anti-war rally in Pittsburgh. Protests of the September 2009 G-20 world summit resulted in 193 arrests.
Several reports issued this month warn that opponents of Arizona's immigration law planned to protest at the Pirates game against the Arizona Diamondbacks and that an animal rights group will protest the Lulu Shrine Rodeo in Plymouth Meeting. It quotes "activist material" that calls the rodeo "the worst of the worst."
"We're an open organization," said Kenneth Miller, an organizer with the Industrial Workers of the World, which had planned the Diamondbacks protest. "It's terrible that our government officials view our protest as a security threat. That's sick."
The institute's monitoring of drilling opponents led to the following headline in one bulletin: "Would-be protesters to become 'Citizen Journalists.' " The report attributed the information to a website run by the natural gas company Chesapeake Energy.
Luzerne County Republican Sen. Lisa Baker announced a Senate committee she chairs will conduct a hearing, saying citizens are "angry about what appears to be a serious abuse of government power."
The Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee's hearing is set for Sept. 27, Baker said.
"People were targeted for no reason, other than they were exercising their fundamental rights of free speech and assembly," Baker said.
In his statement, Perelman said the institute identified "threats to critical infrastructure and to people."
The institute "operates within the scope of the law in fulfilling the contractual obligations of its clients," he said.
Read Original Article
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
HARRISBURG -- Taxpayer-funded bulletins listed meetings of Tea Partiers, Quakers and Pittsburgh anti-war activists as potential security threats.
A year's worth of bulletins released Friday by the governor's office shows the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response warned state Homeland Security officials about events as far away as the Sinai and as easy to predict as looking at a calendar.
The reports ignited controversy earlier this week when opponents of Marcellus gas drilling learned that gas companies had received the "Pennsylvania Intelligence Bulletin" listing their planned participation in public hearings as part of a warning about potential terrorist threats to public infrastructure.
Gov. Ed Rendell denounced the reports on Tuesday and said he won't renew the institute's $103,000 contract when it expires in October. State senators plan a hearing to investigate. At least one activist plans to file a civil rights lawsuit.
A November report said two Tea Party rallies against illegal immigration might attract "white nationalists."
"I think it is one of the more bizarre things I've ever heard," said Karen Kiefer, a Tea Party activist from Scottdale. "A lot of people say they never feel safer than at a Tea Party rally. They got $103,000 in taxpayers' money to compile these bogus lists? That is absolutely shocking."
The co-director of the institute yesterday defended the bulletins and took issue with Rendell's criticism of its work, saying the governor is "regrettably, misinformed. ... We provide information on potential issues that may require enhanced security responses in the protection of clients' obligations to public safety and protection of their assets."
The co-director, Michael Perelman, a former York city police officer, said in a brief telephone interview: "The indications that the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response tracked gay groups is inaccurate and offensive."
Rendell had no response to Perelman's comments, press secretary Gary Tuma said.
Rendell on Tuesday said the information the institute gave the state "has no value. ... It may have some value to other people, but it had no value to us."
The reports were supposed to help state Homeland Security officials protect critical public infrastructure, a post-9/11 federal mandate. Most reports, however, are dedicated to possible terrorist action in places such as Ireland, Afghanistan, Turkey and Chile. It notes Pennsylvania colleges that have study-abroad programs in those countries.
One report, in August, listed "newly identified corporate targets of pro-life boycotts." The institute said the boycott list, which included the YMCA and Johnson & Johnson, represented a "low-to-moderate" threat because it could be used by "more militant anti-abortion elements and lone wolves."
The most recent report, issued Monday, listed the dates of upcoming Jewish holidays and noted they would result in "very high attendance at Jewish houses of worship and public gatherings in Pennsylvania."
A November bulletin noted an approaching anti-war protest in Philadelphia by the Brandywine Peace Community and the American Friends Service Community, a Quaker organization. The protesters planned to wear placards saying, "Dear President: Do Not Send More Troops to Afghanistan. War is Not the Answer," the terror institute wrote.
Another report alleged links between G-20 protesters and an anti-war rally in Pittsburgh. Protests of the September 2009 G-20 world summit resulted in 193 arrests.
Several reports issued this month warn that opponents of Arizona's immigration law planned to protest at the Pirates game against the Arizona Diamondbacks and that an animal rights group will protest the Lulu Shrine Rodeo in Plymouth Meeting. It quotes "activist material" that calls the rodeo "the worst of the worst."
"We're an open organization," said Kenneth Miller, an organizer with the Industrial Workers of the World, which had planned the Diamondbacks protest. "It's terrible that our government officials view our protest as a security threat. That's sick."
The institute's monitoring of drilling opponents led to the following headline in one bulletin: "Would-be protesters to become 'Citizen Journalists.' " The report attributed the information to a website run by the natural gas company Chesapeake Energy.
Luzerne County Republican Sen. Lisa Baker announced a Senate committee she chairs will conduct a hearing, saying citizens are "angry about what appears to be a serious abuse of government power."
The Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee's hearing is set for Sept. 27, Baker said.
"People were targeted for no reason, other than they were exercising their fundamental rights of free speech and assembly," Baker said.
In his statement, Perelman said the institute identified "threats to critical infrastructure and to people."
The institute "operates within the scope of the law in fulfilling the contractual obligations of its clients," he said.
Read Original Article
Gay Couple Awarded $13.4K For Rental Refusal
Landlord feared God's wrath if he rented apartment to gay people.
CBC News
A gay couple in Yellowknife have been awarded $13,400 in compensation because a landlord would not rent them an apartment on the basis of their sexual orientation.
In a written decision issued this month, Northwest Territories human-rights adjudicator James Posynick ruled that William Goertzen did not give a justifiable reason for refusing Scott Robertson and Richard Anthony when they tried to rent the main floor of his Yellowknife house in May 2009.
Robertson and Anthony told the panel they had signed a one-year lease and paid a $1,125 damage deposit for the unit, but the property owner refused to recognize the lease after learning they were a couple.
Goertzen, a journeyman lineman who attends a local Baptist church, said he instead put the rental back on the market because he feared he would suffer "'undue hardship' by punishment administered by God" if he allowed gay people to live in his building, according to the decision.
Goertzen said he believed "that same-sex relationships are 'unnatural and against nature' and 'the Bible warns against being associated with such wickedness," the decision states in part.
Posynick ruled that while he did not believe Goertzen had acted maliciously against the couple, he "certainly intended to discriminate" against them.
"He wilfully and with disregard for their legal rights, including their rights under … a valid tenancy agreement, for reasons relating to the sexual orientation of the complainants, denied their tenancy and the respect and dignity they are entitled to as fellow human beings," Posynick wrote in the decision.
Robertson and Anthony said they had to stay with friends for 10 days before they could find another apartment. As well, they had to take Goertzen to rental court to get their damage deposit back.
Religious freedom 'not unlimited'
"I don't know how more clear the discrimination could be, and I guess that's why it's so shocking for us," Robertson told Posynick during a hearing in June.
At the same hearing, Goertzen read Bible passages as he attempted to justify not honouring the lease with Robertson and Anthony. He argued his religious beliefs are protected by Canadian law.
"I'd have to ask where are my rights … why can I not stand on my beliefs and what I believe in?" Goertzen told CBC News in July.
"They might think it's discrimination against them, but I'm losing my beliefs and there's definitely my religious convictions."
But in his decision, Posynick said the right to religious freedom "is not unlimited" and Goertzen cannot justify evicting the couple on the basis that he was "following God's word."
"Mr. Goertzen made his own choices," Posynick wrote. "I heard no evidence that God's word included ignoring his legal obligations to treat other people — even people with different beliefs and different lifestyle choices than his own — with respect."
Posynick ordered Goertzen to pay $6,500 each to Robertson and Anthony, $5,000 of which compensates for injury to the men's "dignity, feelings and self-respect." The remaining $1,500 are punitive damages.
Goertzen is also ordered to pay $400 to Robertson for wages he claimed to have lost while dealing with the human-rights complaint.
"It was evident to me during the evidence given by both of the complainants they were deeply hurt and humiliated by Mr. Goertzen's denial of tenancy," Posynick noted in his ruling.
The experience has strained the couple's relationship, he said.
Read Original Article
CBC News
A gay couple in Yellowknife have been awarded $13,400 in compensation because a landlord would not rent them an apartment on the basis of their sexual orientation.
In a written decision issued this month, Northwest Territories human-rights adjudicator James Posynick ruled that William Goertzen did not give a justifiable reason for refusing Scott Robertson and Richard Anthony when they tried to rent the main floor of his Yellowknife house in May 2009.
Robertson and Anthony told the panel they had signed a one-year lease and paid a $1,125 damage deposit for the unit, but the property owner refused to recognize the lease after learning they were a couple.
Goertzen, a journeyman lineman who attends a local Baptist church, said he instead put the rental back on the market because he feared he would suffer "'undue hardship' by punishment administered by God" if he allowed gay people to live in his building, according to the decision.
Goertzen said he believed "that same-sex relationships are 'unnatural and against nature' and 'the Bible warns against being associated with such wickedness," the decision states in part.
Posynick ruled that while he did not believe Goertzen had acted maliciously against the couple, he "certainly intended to discriminate" against them.
"He wilfully and with disregard for their legal rights, including their rights under … a valid tenancy agreement, for reasons relating to the sexual orientation of the complainants, denied their tenancy and the respect and dignity they are entitled to as fellow human beings," Posynick wrote in the decision.
Robertson and Anthony said they had to stay with friends for 10 days before they could find another apartment. As well, they had to take Goertzen to rental court to get their damage deposit back.
Religious freedom 'not unlimited'
"I don't know how more clear the discrimination could be, and I guess that's why it's so shocking for us," Robertson told Posynick during a hearing in June.
At the same hearing, Goertzen read Bible passages as he attempted to justify not honouring the lease with Robertson and Anthony. He argued his religious beliefs are protected by Canadian law.
"I'd have to ask where are my rights … why can I not stand on my beliefs and what I believe in?" Goertzen told CBC News in July.
"They might think it's discrimination against them, but I'm losing my beliefs and there's definitely my religious convictions."
But in his decision, Posynick said the right to religious freedom "is not unlimited" and Goertzen cannot justify evicting the couple on the basis that he was "following God's word."
"Mr. Goertzen made his own choices," Posynick wrote. "I heard no evidence that God's word included ignoring his legal obligations to treat other people — even people with different beliefs and different lifestyle choices than his own — with respect."
Posynick ordered Goertzen to pay $6,500 each to Robertson and Anthony, $5,000 of which compensates for injury to the men's "dignity, feelings and self-respect." The remaining $1,500 are punitive damages.
Goertzen is also ordered to pay $400 to Robertson for wages he claimed to have lost while dealing with the human-rights complaint.
"It was evident to me during the evidence given by both of the complainants they were deeply hurt and humiliated by Mr. Goertzen's denial of tenancy," Posynick noted in his ruling.
The experience has strained the couple's relationship, he said.
Read Original Article
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