New Haven and the Naked Public Square
August 20th, 2009 by Peter
Twenty-five years ago in The Naked Public Square Richard John Neuhaus argued that an aggressive secularism was pushing religiously-grounded reasoning out of public discussion. In New Haven, it seems, police have been cracking down on the very expression of religion on public property.
But the city of New Haven has just agreed to a court order, issued Monday, that will allow one Jesse Morrell to resume expressing his Christian faith on public sidewalks. In 2005, Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a lawsuit against the New Haven Police Department after officers threatened to arrest the man for “annoying” passersby for preaching on public ways. You can read the ADF’s press release on their victory here. We could find nothing about ADF’s victory on the websites of The Hartford Courant or The New Haven Register.
This story was covered prominently at the top of front page of the New Haven Independent.
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/07/preacher_wins_2.php
For the record, Appellate Court judge Stoughton’s dissenting Opinion,
. . .the evidence and the inferences reasonably drawntherefrom do NOT support a conclution that the defendents, Robert Muckle, Stanly Scott and Mary Anne Sprague actually obstructed pedestrian traffic during their demonstration at the Planned Parenthood of Connecticut in New Haven. . . [Emphasis added]. July 09, 2005
This decision came down July 15, 2008 with a 2-1 decision to uphold the ruling so although I lost their is at least one pro-life Judge in the state of Connecticut,. All hope is not lost by the Grace of God.
Mary Anne Sprague
Stopp Planned Parenthood of Connecticut Represetative
Please join me Wednesday mornings 8AM – 11AM to pray and picket to save souls and shut PPC in New Haven down, on the corner of 359 Whitney Ave. and Edwards Street.