Tomorrow is Day 70 of the Illegal House Imprisonment of Rev. Edward Pinkney

Berrien County Court could be the first in Michigan history to ignore the ruling of a higher court. See http://www.aclumich.org/issues/free-speech/2009-07/1383

Poverty Comes With A Price In St. Joseph, Michigan

PHOTO /LENETTE EVANS

Cordell Price is man in his late 40s who lives at the River Watch Hotel in Benton Harbor, Michigan. He is kind-hearted, outgoing, motivated, and always greets you with a warm and friendly smile and the utmost respect. He is loved by many who know him in the St. Joseph area. St. Joseph is across the river from Benton Harbor.
Every day for the past 15 years, Cordell has walked throughout the streets of St. Joseph picking up bottles and cans at many of the local businesses down at Silver Beach, and is seen at Harding’s, Rooster’s, and Martin’s grocery stores cashing in the bottles and cans he has collected. The first time I met him he was crawling out of a trash dumpster, and I have helped him many times with money and rides to the store.
But EVERY DAY THE POLICE FOLLOW HIM EVERYWHERE HE GOES. They track his routes and harass him any chance they get, going through his bags and accusing him of things he is not doing.
The people at the BP gas station at Niles and Napier Ave. know Cordell personally, but one afternoon a police officer saw him there with his oversized trash bag of cans, and assumed that a grocery cart he was using had been taken from Harding’s. That grocery cart had been at BP for over a month, but the police officer threatened Cordell Price. “You have a half an hour to get the cart back to Harding’s or else I will arrest you,” he said.
Recently he was at Silver Beach when a white woman yelled a racist comment at him, saying, “NIGGER WHY DON’T YOU GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM ACROSS THE BRIDGE.” He has been told this by three different women at the beach and around town.
On other occasions, Cordell has been harassed and falsely accused while recycling at residential homes in downtown St. Joseph, where owners had given him permission to take the bottles and cans they left for him. He was once at Rooster’s talking to a good friend, a white lady who asked him if he wanted some bottles and cans that she had in her car. Suddenly the police showed up, again giving him a hard time.
This is a vendetta. Cordell is not a criminal and does not steal. He is a good man who walks the streets of St. Joe trying to earn a living with what little he has.
Our officers need to change their attitudes, stand behind justice not injustice, and STOP BEING RACIST. This is not a black or white issue. This is about acceptance. Jesus said we are to love all people. Let’s have compassion for people no matter what their color or race is.
The police need to go after real criminals and leave our homeless and poor alone. One day you too may be picking up bottles and cans on the streets to make a living. Would you want someone to harass you, follow you, and make racial slurs at you like they do to Cordell?
Why don’t the police help Cordell get a good paying job? He does more to clean up the city than the officers who ride around in police cars wasting gas all day. GET OFF YOUR BUTTS AND GET TO WORK finding real criminals instead of harassing people like Cordell who are only trying to make a living.
Lenette Evans, Saving Souls Ministries, Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, MI 269-876-1848
http://www.peoplestribune.org/PT.2009.09/PT.2009.09.04.html#two

“Now if you want to know what Rev. Edward Pinkney of Benton Harbor Michigan has in common with imprisoned Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Mohandas Gandhi, India, Esmeralda in the 1939 movie Hunch Back of Notre Dame, Joan of Arc, Ceaser Chavez, Martin Luther King, Eleanor Roosevelt, or the people of Honduras now fighting an evil Terrorist Coup d’ ‘etat, well, they were all persecuted for standing up for justice and speaking truth to power!” — Dorothy Pinkney

“Of course the religious community can be relieved that quoting scripture, even against ‘the powers and authorities,’ may still be considered protected speech. When Mary, the peasant mother of Jesus, proclaims that God has done great things.scattering the proud in their conceit, casting down the mighty from their thrones and lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry with good things and sending the rich away empty, she is virtually quoting Hebrew scripture. We can rejoice, but we must continue to resist any silencing of the prophetic voices among us. Many of us remain shocked at the outrageous arrogance of the Berrien County courts. With their rulings exposed and overturned, they continue to hold Rev. Pinkney tethered and on house arrest. He must be freed and his voice heard.” — Bill Wylie-Kellermann, Pastor, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Detroit

http://www.peoplestribune.org/PT.2009.09/PT.2009.09.12.html

Day 50: Pinkney Still Under Unconstitutional, Illegal House Arrest Enforced by Berrien County, Michigan Courthouse

Article from Alternet: "How Yawning Got One Court Spectator Six Months in the Slammer and Other Disturbing Acts of Judicial Tyranny"

[including the tyranny of Berrien County judges Butzbaugh and Wiley - see #7 below]

By Liliana Segura, AlterNet August 21, 2009

When judges take on airs and lash out in fits of whimsical bullying, innocent people can end up paying the price with jail time -- or their lives.

excerpts:
...where local judges treat courtroom spectators like trespassers on their personal kingdoms, are hardly rare in American courthouses. For all the discussion of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's "judicial temperament" during her Supreme Court confirmation hearing, it is not uncommon to find judges who use their positions on the bench to impose arbitrary and extreme punishments...

...Let us not forget: judges are public servants. They receive a good salary; lifetime medical benefits; and pensions from the very people who come to their courtrooms and who are subject to their contempt orders.

...But while their robes and gavels imbue them with a noble and commanding presence -- and the ceremonial language of the courtroom affords them near-deity status -- in reality, judges can be as capricious, petty and bullying as any other mere mortal.
Below are eight stunning examples of judges who have overstepped their power, not necessarily through bad rulings, but through contempt orders, tantrums and the arbitrary authoritarianism of a petty tyrant.

7. Preacher Cast Demons Upon Judge, Gets 3 to 10 Years

In a somewhat wackier example of judicial overreach involving the First Amendment (also courtesy of Turley), Edward Pinkney, a Baptist minister, was sentenced to 3 to 10 years for publishing an article in which he called a Michigan judge "racist," "corrupt" and "dumb," while also damning him to eternal hellfire.

Convicted in 2005 of election violations, Pinkney was given a highly unorthodox probation order by Judge Alfred Butzbaugh, who banned him from engaging "in any assaultive, abusive, defamatory, demeaning, harassing, violent, threatening or intimidating behavior, including the use, through any electronic or print media under [his] care, custody or control, of the mail, e-mail or Internet."

In Turley's opinion, "it is unbelievable that any prosecutor or judge would include such a blatantly unconstitutional provision in an order."

"A first-year law student could recognize the provision as an obvious violation of the First Amendment."

In defiance of the order, in 2007 Pinkney published an article in which he declared: "Judge Butzbaugh, it shall come to pass; if thou continue not to hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all that is right; which I command thee this day, that all these Curses shall come upon you and your family, curses shalt be in the City of St. Joseph and Cursed shalt thou be in the field, cursed shall come upon you and your family and overtake thee; cursed shall be the fruit of thy body. The Lord shall smite thee with consumption and with a fever and with an inflammation and with extreme burning. They the demons shall Pursue thee until thou persist."

Yes. "With extreme burning."

In March 2008, a different judge found that Pinkney had violated the conditions of his probation, determining that his statements amounted to a "true threat" against Butzbaugh. He sentenced him to 3 to 10 years in prison.

According to the Michigan Messenger, "Pinkney served a year of this sentence before the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan
successfully argued that he be released pending an appeal of his probation violation."

Last month, an appeals court panel "upheld Pinkney's conviction on the election-related charges, but struck down the revocation of his probation and the 3-to-10-year sentence imposed by Judge Wiley."

Pinkney called it "a major victory." The ACLU of Michigan praised the decision: "To our knowledge, this case marks the first time in modern history that a preacher has been thrown in prison for predicting what God might do."

http://www.alternet.org/rights/142109/how_yawning_got_one_court_spectator_six_months_in_the_slammer_%26_eight_more_disturbing_acts_of_judicial_tyranny_/?page=1

The Appeals Court decision was handed down this week.
Rev. Pinkney won the Probation Violation -- Free Speech -- issue (violating his probation by writing an article). He spent over a year in 8 Michigan prisons because the powers in Berrien County wanted to remove him, albiet illegally.

All of Berrien County Judge Dennis Wiley's decisions are rescinded by the Appeals Court. This includes the decision to imprison Pinkney.

As for the voter charges, the Appeals court denied Pinkney a new trial. The decision states that Berrien County committed 13 errors which were "harmless." Rev. Pinkney says that all of the errors were, in fact, harmful.

The decision states, in part:

Judge Butzbaugh agrees that the paraphase of Deuteronomy 28 is not defensible as anything other than hyperbole and that the paraphase could not serve as a lawful basis for revoking defendant probation.[yet Wiley sent Pinkney to prison for a threat, and revoked his probation]

To the extent the prohibition of defamatory and demeaning behavior impinges on defendant's First Amendment rights, the prohibition was not proper as it was not directly related to defendant's rehabilitation nor to the protection of the public.
Because the prohibition was not proper, the trial court abused its discretion in revoking defendant probation, the order revoking defendant probation is reversed.

Muzzle "Award" to Berrien County Judge Dennis Wiley

Annual Muzzle Awards - Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression

...“This year, as with so many in the past, the incidents on which the Muzzles are based range from the imperious to the ridiculous,” says O’Neil. Among the 2009 recipients is a Michigan judge who sentenced a minister [Rev. Pinkney] to 3-10 years in jail because of a letter to the editor...http://www.tjcenter.org/

...Each spring members of the Center’s Board of Trustees decide who should be distinguished (around Mr. Jefferson’s birthday, no less) for First Amendment infractions out of the hundreds of people and institutions nominated.
...The First Amendment to the United States Constitution --
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment or religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." http://c-ville.com/index.php?cat=121304062461064&ShowArticle_ID=11800604093733168

CLAWSON: St. Andrew's rector defends minister

DETROIT FREE PRESS - The Rev. Harry Cook, rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church of Clawson, joined civil-liberties groups, law professors and free-speech advocates last week in signing a legal brief that condemned the jailing of a Benton Harbor minister who criticized a judge.

Cook said Thursday it didn't matter that he and the imprisoned Rev. Edward Pinkney are in some ways philosophical opposites.

"He is an evangelical, conventionally religious person," he said, while Cook is known for taking a liberal and sometimes skeptical approach to religion.

But it was "a travesty of justice" for Pinkney to receive a sentence of 3-10 years for predicting in an article what God might do to the judge, Cook said.

Cook, 70, a former Free Press religion writer, said he plans to retire March 30 from St. Andrew's, where he has been rector for 21 years. Pinkney is associate pastor of Hopewell Baptist Church.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090322/NEWS03/903220455

Religious Groups, Law Professors, Free Speech Advocates Join ACLU-MI in Support of Preacher Sentenced to Prison for Criticizing Judge
National and state organizations file 3 friend-of-the-court briefs in support of Rev. Edward Pinkney’s case

IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 18, 2008

http://aclumich.org/issues/free-speech/2009-03/1349

DETROIT – A diverse group of religious organizations, law professors and free speech advocates submitted three friend-of-the-court briefs today condemning the imprisonment of a Benton Harbor minister sentenced 3-10 years for writing an article criticizing a judge. Rev. Edward Pinkney, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, paraphrased the Bible in his article and predicted what God might do to the judge who presided over his case.

“We are thrilled with the overwhelming support from the religious community, constitutional scholars and free speech organizations,” said Michael J. Steinberg, ACLU of Michigan Legal Director. “The groups persuasively argue for the fundamental American principle that a preacher cannot be thrown in prison for his religious speech even if some find it offensive.”

The three friend-of-the-court briefs were filed in the Michigan Court of Appeals by more than a dozen national and local faith-based organizations; a group of Michigan law professors who teach and research in the area of First Amendment protections, civil rights, criminal law, and constitutional law; and the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression.

* The religious freedom brief represents the views of a wide array of religious and faith-based groups including: the National Association of Evangelicals, the American Jewish Congress, the Christian Legal Society, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the Liberty Legal Institute, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, the National Baptist Convention, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the Gamaliel Foundation, the American Baptist Home Mission Society, the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, and Rev. Harry T. Cook.

According to the brief, Rev. Pinkney’s article is "a textbook example of one important rhetorical and theological tradition within both Christianity and Judaism… Quoting scripture is core religious speech; the Framers of the First Amendment could not have imagined that it would ever be a criminal offense to quote scripture."

* The professors' brief represents the views of 18 law professors at the University of Michigan Law School, Michigan State University College of Law, Wayne State University Law School, the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and the Thomas M. Cooley Law School. The brief explains that under well-established constitutional law, Rev. Pinkney's newspaper editorial could not be the basis for punishment in a court of law. "In this country, under this Constitution, and on this Court’s watch,” they explained, “he must not be imprisoned for speaking his conscience."

* The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression argued in its brief that Rev. Pinkney's editorial was not a "true threat" under well-established First Amendment law. According to the Center’s brief, "In finding that Rev. Pinkney's newspaper editorial violated his conditions of probation, the lower court punished speech at the core of First Amendment protection: public criticism of the judiciary." The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression is a nonprofit, nonpartisan institution dedicated solely to the protection of the First Amendment rights of free speech and free press.

Rev. Pinkney is an associate pastor at the Hopewell Baptist Church and is the founder of the Black Autonomy Network Community Organization (BANCO). He has long been an outspoken community activist and advocate, frequently denouncing injustice and racial inequality in Benton Harbor, its local government, and the Berrien County criminal justice system in particular.

In 2007, Rev. Pinkney was sentenced to probation for violating Michigan election law. However, his probation was revoked and he was resentenced to 3-10 years in prison solely because of an article he wrote for a small Chicago newspaper. Quoting a passage from the Bible, Rev. Pinkney predicted that God would punish the judge unless he "hearken[ed] unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe [and] to do all that is right." Rev. Pinkney also expressed his opinion in the article that the judge was racist, dumb, and corrupt.

In representing Rev. Pinkney on appeal, the ACLU of Michigan argued that the statements Rev. Pinkney made in his newspaper editorial, while offensive to many, are clearly protected speech under the First Amendment. On December 18, 2008, the Court of Appeals granted Rev. Pinkney's motion for bail and ordered him released upon posting bond in amount to be set by the Berrien County Circuit Court. Rev. Pinkney was released from prison on December 24, 2008. However, the Berrien County Court set restrictions on his bond that include 24-hour house arrest, prohibitions on giving speeches including in his own church, and bans against any "demeaning" behavior. Although the ACLU asked the appeals court to remove the harsh and unconstitutional bond conditions, the motion was denied and Rev. Pinkney remains confined in his home pending his appeal.

In addition to Michael J. Steinberg, Rev. Pinkney is represented by ACLU Cooperating Attorneys James J. Walsh and Rebecca O’Reilly of the respected corporate law firm Bodman LLP.
To read the religious organizations’ amicus brief, click here.

To read the law professors’ amicus brief, click here.

To read the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression’s amicus brief, click here.

To read the ACLU's merits brief in Rev. Pinkney's appeal, click here.

To read Rev. Pinkney's article, go to: http://www.peoplestribune.org/PT.2007.11/PT.2007.11.18.html

Injustice to Pinkney is now being exposed

letter to editor, 1/6/09
http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2009/01/07/opinion/letters/162379.txt

Editor,

The Dec. 24 bond release of Rev. Edward Pinkney of Benton Harbor is a victory for all Americans. For the past year, many people from across the country have struggled tirelessly to expose the outrageous injustice perpetrated by the courts of Berrien County. We knew all along that once word got out, that they were imprisoning a minister of the gospel for quoting Scripture, this travesty would not be allowed to stand.

However, Rev. Pinkney's release is only the first step. His appeal of the three-to-10-year prison sentence for quoting Scripture remains to be heard and decided. And in the meantime, Berrien County Judge Dennis Wiley has imposed additional onerous and unconstitutional conditions to his bond release. He specifically forbids Rev. Pinkney to speak publicly, preach in a church, write any article the court may consider "defamatory," or participate in an electoral campaign. It was Rev. Pinkney's 2008 Green Party candidacy for Congress that helped gain the publicity necessary to get him released. What is Berrien County so afraid of? Rev. Pinkney's case represents an ominous trend in the American court system. As our economy fails and poverty spreads, traditional political leaders locally and nationally seem to have no answer except corporate bailouts. The American people are beginning to protest and seek out new leaders like Rev. Pinkney. He was targeted because of the Gospel he preaches: to loose the chains of injustice, let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke; to share food with the hungry, house the homeless, and clothe the naked.

Similar leaders are rising and speaking out in Benton Harbors all across America. If Whirlpool and other global corporations have their way, these popular voices will be repressed, just as they have tried to silence Rev. Pinkney, and our democracy will die. It is up to all of us to defend our freedom to protest, and continue carrying on the battle for the economic justice envisioned in the Bible.

Sandy Perry

Sandy Perry is coordinator of the Spirit of the Revolution column in the Peoples Tribune newspaper, and he works with the Community Homeless Alliance Ministry in San Jose, CA. He speaks on the role of religion and spirituality in the revolutionary movement, and how we can draw on our diverse spiritual traditions as we fight for a society based on human need, not private profit. You can hear Sandy Perry at the People's Tribune Radio web site.

Religious Freedom For All Americans Is Threatened In Pinkney Persecution

By Sandy Perry

Incredibly, on June 26, Rev. Edward Pinkney of Benton Harbor, Michigan, was sentenced to 3-10 years in state prison. His crime? Preaching the Word of God in a newspaper article in November, 2007. Judge Dennis Wiley of Berrien County ruled that Pinkney’s use of a quotation from Deuteronomy 28 was a threat and therefore a violation of his probation.

Benton Harbor was once a thriving industrial city that is now suffering from the economic desolation common to many Rust Belt communities. Rev. Pinkney is a longtime community leader who was convicted in 2007 of “voter fraud” in a hotly contested trial that many viewed as racially motivated and fraught with constitutional irregularities.

In his controversial newspaper article, Rev. Pinkney sharply criticized trial judge Alfred Butzbaugh and stated that his actions were contrary to God’s commandments. He then quoted from Deuteronomy 28 on blessings and curses, including verses 15-16, 18, 22, and 45 to warn of the consequences for disobedience to God. (The article appeared in the November issue of the Peoples Tribune http://www.peoplestribune.org/PT.2007.11/PT.2007.11.18.html).

A threat by definition is “an expression of intent to inflict evil, injury, or damage.” It is clear that Rev. Pinkney’s article contained no such expression. While the words from Deuteronomy are unquestionably harsh, the author of the quotation is not the mild-mannered Rev. Pinkney, but the Almighty Himself. At no time did Rev. Pinkney state, suggest, or imply that he, Rev. Pinkney, would commit any of these actions. The very idea that a human being can cause another to be cursed by God or to be smitten with consumption, fever, and inflammation is patently ridiculous.

A review of Biblical history indicates that Rev. Pinkney’s words were not only unthreatening, but scripturally appropriate. It is precisely the role of the preacher, prophet, and teacher to warn the people and their leaders of divine consequences for sinful actions. Jesus did so repeatedly. So did Paul. In fact, prophetic warnings of impending disaster are designed not to foment bloodshed, but rather to diminish and avert it by prompting repentance.

Deuteronomy 28 is simply a strongly worded, Old Testament-style statement of the Biblical truth that we reap what we sow. The government can try to punish and persecute the bearers of this message, but it cannot reverse or repeal a law of God.

The sentencing of Rev. Pinkney is ominous also because it follows the well-publicized attack on Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. Rev. Wright preached virtually the same Deuteronomy 28 message to American government officials after the terrorist attacks on 9/11: you reap what you sow. For this he was isolated, pilloried, and denounced by the media and Democratic and Republican politicians alike.

Preaching Biblical truth to government power has now become a crime in America. It will continue to be so for as long as we allow Rev. Pinkney to remain in prison. The last time this happened was during the years before the Civil War, when abolitionist preachers and publishers were suppressed and even murdered. It is no accident that it is once again primarily the African-American church that is being targeted first. Let us pray that the current crisis has the same result now as then: an upsurge of the American people in defense of human freedom.

Sandy Perry is Outreach Minister at CHAM Deliverance Ministry
San Jose, California.
http://www.peoplestribune.org/PT.2008.08/PT.2008.08.04.html

Voices from Benton Harbor

These articles are published in the July 2008 edition of the People's Tribune. Visit http://www.peoplestribune.org. Call 800-691-6888 or email info@peoplestribune.org for more information.

PINKNEY SENT TO PRISON

In a miscarriage of justice the likes of which many of us have never observed in any courtroom, Rev. Edward Pinkney's probation violation hearing ended with the judge sentencing him to a minimum of 36 months to 120 months. A more detailed report will follow on our next step in the ongoing battle for democracy and against corporate power in Benton Harbor. Funds are urgently needed. Please send to: BANCO, 1940 Union St., Benton Harbor, MI 49022 -- Pinkney Defense Committee

MORE LIQUIDATION OF RIGHTS

By Pastor Mary Gault
Thursday, June 26, 2008, corporate power raised it's ugly head again in the Berrien County Courthouse at the probation violation hearing of Rev. Edward Pinkney. The contrived violation was on the grounds that an article he wrote quoting Deuteronomy 28 was a threat to the life of the trial judge, Judge Butzbaugh. While on the stand, Rev. Pinkney's probation agent, when asked how he knew about the article, said that a colleague not assigned to the case brought him the article. Then he, as probation agent, his supervisor, and the prosecutor brought the probation violation against Rev. Pinkney. No testimony was given that the Judge Butzbaugh brought forth the complaint as a threat on his life. They also took offense at his calling the judge a racist and for being corrupt. Isn't it interesting that for years Rev. Pinkney showed up in the courtrooms in the Berrien County Courthouse wearing t-shirts calling the judges and prosecutors "Benton Harbor's Most Wanted," without interference?
More interesting is that Rev. Pinkney had reported to his probation agent an hour before he was arrested yet no mention was made to him of a violation nor did they detain him at that time. Rev. Pinkney's arrest came on the coattails of a very successful rally in Benton Harbor whose guest speaker was former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. One can only make the deduction that corporate and governmental powers saw this as too big a threat and decided to remove Rev. Pinkney farther from the community by sending him to prison.
The presiding judge assigned more power to Rev. Pinkney than Moses by saying he was able to call upon God to carry out this so-called threat and God would obey. As a pastor, I look at this as government ignoring the constitution by breaching our right to religious belief and ability to freely preach the word of God. This court also trampled over the constitutionally protected freedom of speech.

MICHIGAN PASTOR JAILED FOR QUOTING SCRIPTURE

(from California)

Reverend Edward Pinkney of Benton Harbor, Michigan, spent Christmas in jail this year when his probation was revoked for quoting Deuteronomy 28 in a newspaper article.

On Thursday, December 20, Judge Alfred Butzbaugh ruled that the quotation from Moses was inflammatory and threatening and therefore a violation of Rev. Pinkney’s probation.

Rev. Pinkney is a longtime community leader in the Benton Harbor area and an outspoken opponent of corporate oppression of the poor. He was convicted earlier this year of “voter fraud” in a hotly contested trial that many viewed as racially motivated and riddled with constitutional irregularities.

Judge Butzbaugh has made the profound error of confusing Biblical law and prophecy with human threats. Without exception, the role of Biblical law and prophecy is to point out the very serious divine consequences for sinful and disobedient behavior.

In his newspaper article, Rev. Pinkney stated that he believes the Judge’s actions are contrary to God’s commandments. He then quotes from Deuteronomy 28: 15-16, 18, 22, and 45 to warn him of the consequences of his actions according to the Word of God. (The article appeared in the November issue of the Peoples Tribune.

At no time did Rev. Pinkney state, suggest, or imply that he, Rev. Pinkney, would commit any of these actions. Indeed, the idea that a human being can cause another to be cursed by God or to be smitten with consumption, fever, and inflammation is a far-fetched and bizarre interpretation.

Furthermore, Rev. Pinkney clearly states that none of these evils will come to pass if Judge Butzbaugh “hearkens unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe and do all that is right.” So if Judge Butzbaugh is obedient to God he has nothing to worry about.

The Mosaic law and virtually every prophet in the Bible – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Jonah to name a few – repeatedly predict dire consequences for those who disobey God. Even Jesus often uses highly inflammatory language and warns us starkly to “repent or perish”. The Apostle Paul teaches that we will reap what we sow. These are profound Biblical truths.

To throw someone in jail for simply pointing them out is a fearful assault on the religious rights of every American.

We are asking anyone concerned with the religious freedom aspect of this case write letters of support for Rev. Pinkney and send them to his attorney at the following address before January 4:

Hugh M. Davis, Constitutional Litigation Associates, P.C., 450 West Fort Street, Suite 200, Detroit, Michigan, 48226. Phone: 313-961-2255; Fax: 313-961-5999; email: conlitpc@sbcglobal.net

We also especially encourage Biblical scholars who can further explain the issues in this case and would like to testify or write a support statement to contact the attorney as well.

Sandy Perry
CHAM Deliverance Ministry
San Jose, California

THE STATE OF MICHIGAN IS STEALING OUR CHILDREN

The state of Michigan is stealing our children and your family could be next!
Messy house, spankings, poor, vegetarians, disabled, drinkers, overweight, messy kids, unemployed, head lice, gun owners, adult videos, inappropriate clothing, yelling, naked baby pictures, mental problems, religious beliefs, homeless,slow-kids,homeschoolers, being too concerned about your child...
None of these things are crimes. The state will take your child away for any of these reasons.
We must start protecting freedom and families nationwide. Outrage and protest must happen.
We must stop the abuse of child protection laws.
One of the child protection agencie's key incentives for receiving federal dollars is the sheer number of children taken from parents and put into foster care.
Parents are falsely accused 60-80% of the time. Meaning, 20% of the cases are actual child abuse/neglect. The other cases do not warrant the removal of the children, but children are removed from their homes nonetheless.
CPS and the courts conduct trials behind a cloak of secrecy. The workers can commit perjury, defy court orders, used coerced and false and hearsay testimony, and ignore constitutional rights, and still be almost totally unchallenaged. Arrogance is prominent among CPC agencies.
Child protection has become a money making cottage industry. A multi-billion dollar business natinwide.
Our organization is dedicated to advocating for children and familes caught in the mire of the corrupt child protection services industry across the United States.
Our mission is to work for the reform of a broken government system that destroys far more familes than it helps - at an immense cost to the tax payers of this country. It is outright criminal. Our first concern always is for the rights of the child to live in a safe loving home, with his or her biological family.