U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood ruled Friday that the city of Dearborn violated controversial pastor Terry Jones’ First Amendment rights by forcing him and his group, Stand Up America Now, to sign an indemnification agreement before Jones and co-founder Wayne Sapp planned to speak April 7, 2012.
Jones and Sapp have spoken in Dearborn against Islam several times, most recently Oct. 10, 2012 outside Edsel Ford High School to protest what they said is bullying by Muslim students of non-Muslim students. Their request to meet with school officials was denied.
Hood ruled that the ordinance requiring the signed indemnification agreement was a violation of the group’s First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and expressive association, and the ordinance requiring the police chief to grant a special permit only after the indemnification agreement is signed also violates the group’s First Amendment rights.
Jones, Sapp and Stand Up America Now of Gainesville, Fla., were the plaintiffs; the city and Police Chief Ronald Haddad were the defendants.
The city has no comment, said Mary Laundroche, public information director.
Jones and Sapp were aiming to speak to the public and denounce Shariah law from the grassy median between Ford and Altar roads in front of the Islamic Center of America, April 7, 2012, which was Holy Saturday in the Christian faith and the day before Easter. They also planned to distribute fliers with a biblical verse and the group’s contact information.
They filed a motion in U.S. District Court on April 4, 2012, for a temporary restraining order to block the city’s hold harmless requirement, and Hood granted it the next day.
The city dropped its hold harmless requirement after the motion was filed but before Hood ruled.
The Thomas More Law Center of Ann Arbor filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the group April 2, 2012. It was amended July 25, 2012, to add the First Amendment violation accusations.
“Judge Hood’s ruling upholds a bedrock principle of the First Amendment, that government cannot inhibit the expression of an idea just because some find the idea offensive,” Richard Thompson, Thomas More Law Center president and chief counsel, said in a press release. “The principle is in stark contrast to those nations ruled by Shariah law. The fact that some may find Pastor Jones a controversial public figure or object to his message is even greater reason for Dearborn officials to ensure his right to free speech was protected.
“So, despite the fact Dearborn has one of the largest concentrations of Muslims in America, the city should have protected Pastor Jones’ right to free speech, not contrive a way to impede it.”
Attorney Erin Mersino, who handled the case, said her clients were “subject to the unbridled discretion of the city’s legal department” and “they had to surrender many of their other civil rights.”
“This requirement was not only unconscionable, it was unconstitutional,” Mersino said.
Even though last year’s restraining order was upheld, the Thomas More Law Center continued with the suit because the hold harmless agreement was still on the city’s books.
Hood issued a summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs and against the defendants. She ruled that the plaintiffs can’t be required to waive their rights to hold the city liable for its conduct, and that the hold harmless agreement would require the plaintiffs to assume legal and financial responsibility for anything that happened at the event outside their control, including the city’s actions.
The event itself was largely uneventful, unlike previous visits by Jones and Sapp, because Muslim leaders urged their followers to stay away. Jones and Sapp spoke for about an hour, and a message on the mosque’s electronic message board read, “A Peaceful Easter to our Christian Friends and Neighbors...”
The Dearborn, Dearborn Heights and Detroit police departments, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department and the Michigan State Police provided protection.
The Thomas More Law Center also represented Jones and Sapp in November 2011 when they were jailed by Dearborn police. Nineteenth District Judge Mark Somers ordered that they sign a “peace bond” as part of their appearance, which was overturned on appeal.
Jones and Sapp were planning to attend the Arab International Festival on June 14, 2013, in Ford Woods Park, but the weekend-long event’s sponsor, the American Arab Chamber of Commerce, decided to cancel this year’s event, so Jones and Sapp didn’t make the trip.
Jones and Sapp are planning to burn 2,998 Qurans — one for each American who died in the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001. The event is scheduled for Wednesday in Mulberry, Fla.