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Blaine: I knew you would want the honor of
finishing the article Kevin, so I saved it for you. We haven't been
hearing too much from you, so I wanted to get you rejuvenated (:>)Where
you been? Sleepin?
See how well I know you? LOL
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2004 3:55
PM
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] street
preachers/free speech
Hey Blaine how come you censored out the rest
of the story?
Not Faith
promoting?
Here it is:
But Anderson said the Constitution likely
protects the preachers' ability to wear such garments. It would be similar to
protections on flag burning, he said.
"While it
induces outrage in a lot of people, the First Amendment seems to protect
against restrictions of that sort of thing," the mayor said.
Lonnie Pursifull, head of the Utah chapter of the Street Preachers
Fellowship, said any efforts to curb preachers' speech would be met with legal
action. Preaching, Pursifull said, is protected as "religious speech" under
the Constitution. Pursifull said he only calls LDS women "spiritual whores"
for "following after another God and another Jesus."
"(Anderson) can look at tightening any laws he wants. I guarantee it won't
stand up in federal court," Pursifull said. "The only reason he's doing it is
because of the Mormon Church. It's the Mormon Church that's pushing his
buttons! and telling him what to do. He's being led around by the nose by the
Mormon Church."
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Blaine Borrowman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
Deseret Morning
News
Following a
Monday meeting with Salt Lake City Attorney Ed Rutan, Mayor Rocky Anderson
said he thinks the city can censor some of the infamous street preaching
that goes on near LDS Church headquarters downtown.
In the "next couple of days," Anderson said, the city will produce a
document detailing what sort of speech, words and decibel levels are
constitutionally protected and what speech the city can prohibit. Following
the release of that document, Anderson said he will recommend to the City
Council some "fairly minor revisions" of city ordinances governing free
speech.
The changes come several months after
Anderson — dismayed by what he considers boorish behavior by street
preachers — asked Rutan to examine the city's rules governing free
speech.
Rutan, along with Deputy City Attorney Boyd
Ferguson, briefed Anderson Monday after examinin! g between five and 15 city
ordinances that govern various aspects of free speech, including the city's
ordinance on disturbing the peace.
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| "We are taking a look at ordinances that
potentially impact free speech," Rutan said.
For
years now, Christian street preachers have descended on The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints headquarters during semi-annual conferences and
other church events to preach against the LDS faith. In recent years, street
preaching has become more controversial with reports that the preachers have
called LDS women "whores" and "harlots."
After his
meeting with Rutan, Anderson, himself a former civil rights attorney and
ex-American Civil Liberties Union of Utah board member, said that language
is likely illegal — not protected by the Constitution.
Calling someone's mother, wife or new bride a "whore" or "harlot,"
Anderson said, wo! uld likely be considered part of the so-called "fighting
words doctrine" — a body of case law explaining that certain speech is not
protected by the First Amendment. These are words that are so inflammatory
they are reasonably likely to incite another person to violence.
"The concern that I had arose when I first heard accounts of
so-called street preachers yelling at new brides that they are whores and
harlots and telling children that their mothers are whores and harlots,"
Anderson said. "That kind of speech is very likely not constitutionally
protected and would be considered fighting words."
This past October, during the church's general conference, two conference
attendees were incited to violence after street preachers donned sacred
religious clothing worn by LDS faithful. The two men were cited for assault
and theft after ripping the clothing off the
preachers.
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