First Amendment
Court Sides With Preacher Jailed for Predicting God Would Smite Judge
Posted Jul 15, 2009, 12:08 pm CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled on behalf of a minister jailed for violating his probation by writing that the judge who oversaw his trial would be subjected to God’s wrath.
A probation condition that required the Rev. Edward Pinkney to refrain from “defamatory and demeaning” communications infringed on his First Amendment right to free speech, the court held in its opinion (PDF) dated July 14.
Pinkney was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison for writing the article criticizing the judge who oversaw his trial and conviction for paying patrons of a soup kitchen to vote. “The Lord shall smite thee with consumption and with a fever and with an inflammation and with extreme burning,” Pinkney wrote. He also called the judge “dumb,” “racist” and “corrupt.”
Pinkney's probation had been revoked for the remarks. The appeals court reversed, saying the probation condition was “was not directly related to defendant’s rehabilitation or to the protection of the public.”
However, the appeals court upheld the underlying voter fraud conviction.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan represented Pinkney on the First Amendment claim. “The court of appeals opinion reaffirms the basic American value that citizens cannot be imprisoned for criticizing government officials or expressing their religious beliefs,” Michael Steinberg, legal director of the ACLU of Michigan, said in a press release.