The issue of free speech was fiercely debated Thursday in a Detroit courtroom, where a judge said he would decide next month whether it was OK for authorities to have jailed Quran-burning pastor Terry Jones and ordered him to stay away from a local mosque for three years.
Jones of Gainesville, Fla., was convicted in April by a Dearborn jury of being likely to breach the peace because of his plans to protest outside the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn. He was ordered to stay away from the mosque.
Attorneys for Jones appealed the decision, saying it violated his constitutional rights.
On Thursday, Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Ziolkowski presided over a hearing that featured arguments from Robert Moran, chief of special investigations for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, and Robert Muise, an attorney for the Thomas More Law Center, an Ann Arbor-based conservative Christian group representing Jones.
Ziolkowski appeared to have mixed thoughts Thursday about what happened to Jones, suggesting at one point the three-year mosque ban was excessive -- but also saying local authorities had legitimate concerns about logistics and security.
Wayne County prosecutors said the day Jones chose to protest -- Good Friday -- and the location would have made it impossible for authorities to control it, endangering the safety of residents and impeding the right to worship. The Islamic Center is next to four churches and there are no sidewalks, making it a challenge for drivers to enter and exit, especially on heavy traffic days.