free speech vs property rights now in court; 

 

Do the First Amendment protections of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly mean that a group of people can assemble in your living room without your permission and speak their mind? I don’t know of anyone—no matter what his political persuasion—who would affirm such a thing.

But what about assembling and speaking in “public accommodations”; that is, facilities that are open to the general public and offer goods and/or services for sale? Opinions differ, and are usually based on the content of what is spoken.

And what about assembling and speaking in a church to which a group has not been invited? Again, I don’t know of anyone—no matter what his religious persuasion—who would affirm such a thing. But we are living in strange times.

Back in January, anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activists entered Cities Church—a non-denominational church in St. Paul, Minnesota—during a church service and disrupted the service, traumatized children, blocked the walkways, and chanted: “Who shut this down? We shut this down!” The reason? One of the church’s pastors worked for ICE.

A federal grand jury indicted dozens of people on two counts:

Count One: Conspiracy Against Right of Religious Freedom at Place of Worship 18 U.S.C. § 241

Count Two: Injure, Intimidate, and Interfere with Exercise of Right of Religious Freedom at Place of Worship U.S.C. § 248(a)(2),(b), § 2(a).........more.............