-Caveat Lector-
http://www.afajournal.org/cover/pro-life_issues_1.asp
November 1999; Volume 23 Issue 11
College student jailed for pro-life stand
It wasn't for grand larceny, possession of
cocaine, or assault and battery. In August a
Christian college student began serving a six
month jail sentence for simply sharing the
gospel and speaking the truth about abortion
on a high school campus in Lynchburg,
Virginia, before school started.
Liberty University student John Reyes, who is
represented by the AFA Center for Law &
Policy (CLP), went with 150 other college
students to the E.C. Glass High School in
Lynchburg on November 10, 1997. In front of
the school, the group prayed, sang, handed out
gospel tracts and counseled with students
about alternatives to abortion.
School officials told the group to leave
immediately. However, according to court
records, because school personnel never
identified themselves as E.C. Glass officials, the
Christians refused to go. When police arrived
and asked the protesters to leave, Reyes and
the others complied.
Later, however, prosecutors employed an
obscure and little-used legal mechanism,
obtaining a grand jury indictment against
Reyes. He was convicted of trespass, even
though some 45 police officers at the scene
testified that he and the other demonstrators
were well-behaved, orderly and promptly
obeyed when asked to leave. (The original
indictment contained three counts. On two of
them--failure to obtain a permit and disorderly
conduct--Reyes was found not guilty.)
Stephen M. Crampton, chief counsel for CLP,
said trespass under Virginia law required a
specific intent to violate the law, or knowledge
that one is on another's property without
permission. "John did not violate either aspect
of Virginia law. Until the police asked him to
move, John thought he was on public property,
since he was standing on the street sidewalk,"
Crampton said.
Remarkably, he added, Reyes' harsh sentence
was imposed despite the fact that the police
did not arrest or even cite anyone at the scene.
Prosecutors said afterward that the convictions
and sentence sent the "correct message" to
future protesters.
"What message is that? Is it that Christians
who dare to share the gospel at or near
government schools will go to jail?" Crampton
said. "The harsh sentence meted out against
John for simple trespass is unprecedented."
According to court records, Judge Richard S.
Miller, who sentenced Reyes, has allowed
individuals convicted of grand larceny,
possession of cocaine, and assault and battery
to serve no jail time. Others convicted of felony
hit and run and felony escape, assault and
battery received only three months' jail time
from Judge Miller.
"Apparently it would have been better had
John been selling crack cocaine--presumably he
would have received a lighter sentence," said
Michael J. DePrimo, staff attorney for CLP
© Copyright 1999 • American Family Association, all rights
reserved.
--
-----------------------
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