Judge Reopens Part of Case Involving Evangelists at Arab Festival

DEARBORN, MI – A federal judge said Wednesday that the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals “erred” in part of its ruling upholding the free speech rights of Christian evangelists at the 2012 Arab International Festival and has reopened part of the First Amendment case.

Members of the Bible Believers group — who carried a pig’s head on a stick and preached messages against Islam — were escorted from the festival by police after they told Muslims they would “burn in hell.”

Stay Connected

• Get the Dearborn Patch free daily newsletter and news alerts
• Like Dearborn Patch on Facebook

The Bible Believers filed a lawsuit against Wayne County and Dennis Richardson and Mike Jaafar, two deputy chiefs with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office who threatened the Christian evangelists with arrest.

In its October ruling, the appeals court said the Bible Believers’ speech was loathsome and intolerant, but protected, and that law enforcement and other public officials have special obligations when confronted with speech that has the potential to incite violence.

Related

• Dearborn Anti-Islam Protesters’ Free Speech Rights Upheld

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen J. Murphy III said the 6th Circuit ruling “contains a clear factual error,” The Detroit News reports.

Law enforcement officers spoke with the county’s legal department before escorting the Bible Believers from the festival grounds, a finding Murphy said is not supported by the record. Murphy ordered both the Bible Believers and Wayne County to file motions on the issue of the county’s municipal liability.

Ayad said Murphy was “absolutely correct and courageous” in reopening the liability portion of the case and called it an “important decision for law enforcement liability.”

The order doesn’t challenge the 6th Circuit’s finding that the Bible Believers’ free speech rights were violated and that the group should be awarded damages by defendants Richardson and Jaafar.

Robert J. Muise, an attorney for the American Freedom Law Center in Ann Arbor, told The Detroit News that Murphy’s ruling doesn’t undermine the constitutional protections upheld by the 6th Circuit or substantially change the court’s decision.

“We still prevailed in the case,” Muise said. “He is going to open the case back up and have us refile motions just on the question of municipality liability.”