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April 5, 2012

ANN ARBOR, MI – Late this morning, Detroit Federal District Judge, Denise Page Hood, granted the Thomas More Law Center’s motion for an Emergency Temporary Restraining Order and enjoined the City of Dearborn from requiring Pastor Jones to sign a Hold Harmless’agreement before approving his application to speak in front of a mosque on Saturday, April 7^th.    [Click here for Motion]

Referring to a provision in the Hold Harmless Agreement which the City demanded that Jones’s organization sign before he would be allowed to speak, Judge Hood stated, “This is clearly an unconstitutional clause which impedes Plaintiffs’ First Amendment right to free speech and assembly.”  [Click here for Order granting motion]

Judge Hood’s order went on to state:  “The ordinance requiring the indemnity agreement and the “Hold Harmless” presented to Plaintiffs are unconditional and violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution as to Plaintiff and others who wish to exercise their rights to speak and assemble in the public fora.”

As late as last Friday afternoon, March 30^th, the City was insisting that Jones’s organization, Stand Up for America Now, sign the Hold Harmlessagreement before he would be allowed to speak.  The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor Michigan filed its federal lawsuit on Monday, April 2^nd; the Emergency Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order was filed on Wednesday, April 4^th when a satisfactory resolution could not be reached with city attorneys.

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center commented, “Dearborn has a history of discriminating against Christians who want to speak out against the internal threat of Sharia law and Islam.  And every time the City attempts to curtail the Constitutional rights of Christians, we will confront them in a court of law.  There is no doubt in my mind that the City knew the Hold Harmless agreement they were trying to get Jones’s organization to sign was unconstitutional.”

Ironically, minutes before Judge Hood’s order was received, the City approved the application without the need of the Hold Harmless Agreement.  However, the City’s insistence that the entire case be dismissed was rejected by the Law Center.  The reason:  the “Indemnification agreement (Hold Harmless) ordinance and the unfettered discretion given the legal department were still in place.  Consequently, the City could again violate the constitutional rights of Pastor Jones and others who may want to exercise their free speech rights in the future.

With this order, Pastor Jones and his associate Wayne Sapp have been given a green light to proceed with their speech in front of the Islamic Center of America (the largest mosque in North America) in Dearborn, Michigan.

Stand Up America Now is established for the purpose of proclaiming the Holy Bible to Muslims and educating people about the threat of Sharia Law for our Nation’s fundamental principles of freedom. As part of its outreach efforts, Stand Up America Now travels around the country speaking about Christianity at Muslim events and mosques.

ANN ARBOR, MI – Yesterday afternoon, the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) filed a federal lawsuit in the Federal District Court against the City of Dearborn, and its police chief over the City’s new tactic to stop Pastor Terry Jones from speaking out against Sharia law.   The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Pastor Terry Jones, Stand Up America Now, (an organization he founded), and Associate Pastor Wayne Sapp.

In February 2012, an application for a special events permit was filed with the City to allow Pastor Jones to speak this Saturday, April 7^th in front of the largest mosque in North America located in Dearborn, Michigan.

However, Dearborn demanded Jones and his organization sign a ‘Hold Harmless’agreement as a condition to granting the permit.  [Link to Agreement]  The agreement requires Pastor Jones to surrender all of his legal rights if he wants to speak on public property.  TMLC’s lawsuit claims the Defendants’ Hold Harmless agreement places an unconstitutional restriction on Pastor Jones’s First Amendment rights. [Link to lawsuit]

The Thomas More Law Center is a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan whose mission is to restore and defend America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and moral values and to promote a strong national defense.

Erin Mersino, TMLC’s attorney handling the case claimed in the lawsuit, “Plaintiffs should not be forced to sign a one-sided, unconscionable contract subject only to the unbridled discretion of the city’s legal department in order to exercise their constitutional rights,” She continued, “the city’s free speech restriction imposes an unconstitutional burden on plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.”

TMLC represented Pastor Jones and his associate Wayne Sapp last November after they were jailed in Dearborn before uttering a word.  In that case, a State District Court judge ordered that they sign a ‘Peace Bond.’   However, the Law Center overturned that order on appeal.

The Thomas More Law Center currently represents several Christian missionaries whose first amendment rights have been trampled upon by the City of Dearborn, home to the largest Muslim population in the United States.

Stand Up America Now, headed by Pastor Jones, was established for the purpose of proclaiming the Holy Bible to Muslims and educating people about the threat of Sharia law to our Nation’s fundamental principles of freedom. As part of his outreach efforts, Pastor Jones travels around the country speaking about Christianity at Muslim events and mosques.

On Friday, March 23, 2012 Richard Thompson, President of the Thomas More Law Center, addressed a huge and enthusiastic crowd of Michigan citizens who gathered for the ‘Stand Up For Religious Freedom‘ rally held in Detroit.

“Christians were born for combat.” Christ said ‘I did not come to bring peace, but a sword'”.

“Peace is not our goal. Righteousness is our goal.  It is our duty to resist.”

Friday, March 23, 2012, Richard Thompson, President of the Thomas More Law Center addressed an estimated 1000 who gathered for the ‘Stand Up For Religious Freedom‘ rally held in Detroit.  The Rally took place in front of the McNamara Federal Building in downtown Detroit to protest the Obama administration’s HHS mandate.  Mr. Thompson was one of nine speakers who addressed the crowd.  He drew a roar of applause as he told the crowd,

“Christians are born for combat”. Christ said ‘I did not come to bring peace, but a sword‘”.

Thompson continued,

“When Christ saw the money changers in the Temple, he did not keep quiet in the presence of this wrong to keep the peace.   He broke the peace by driving them out.  He armed himself with a scourge of cords and drove them out. Peace is not our goal.  Righteousness is. It is our duty to resist.”

See the articles in the Detroit Free Press and USA Today about the event.

The Detroit rally was emceed by Dr. Monica Miller, who co-founded Citizens for a Pro-life Society. Religious leaders and other public figures spoke out strongly against the HHS Mandate. Holding signs reading “Stand Up for Religious Freedom” and “Stop the HHS Mandate,” participants offered hymns and prayers for our nation.

Peaceful rallies, organized by the Pro-Life Action League and Citizens for a Pro-Life Society drew more than 50,000 participants from a broad cross-section of America.  The rallies were staged to oppose the new mandate from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that requires all employers provide free contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs through their health plans, even in violation of their consciences.

This week the United States Supreme Court takes up the Obamacare case in a rare three days of hearings.  Two years ago, on March 23, 2010 the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) filed the first lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare. In 2011, TMLC was also the first to petition the Supreme Court to hear the case.