Gideons handing out Bibles on public sidewalk arrested after school officials complain
Posted on February 8, 2007
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Two men who are members of Gideons International, the Christian organization that is famous for, among other ministries, placing Bibles in motels and giving them to children, have been arrested after trying to hand out Bibles on a public sidewalk in Florida, according to a law firm.
Officials with the Alliance Defense Fund have confirmed they will be representing Anthony Mirto and Ernest Simpson, who were arrested, booked into jail and charged with trespassing.
Jeremy Tedesco, one of the ADF’s lawyers on the case, confirmed to WND that the organization’s clients were on a public sidewalk when they were handing out Bibles and school officials summoned police.
Yes, it reads public sidewalk and yes, it reads school officials. I hope you’ll also notice that it doesn’t say anything about sex offenders, child molesters or military funerals.
“The First Amendment protects the right to engage in religious speech on a public sidewalk,” ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman said. “Members of the Gideons have been highly respected for decades as peaceful providers of free Bibles to those who want them.”
The arrest happened Jan. 19, when Mirto and Simpson were on the sidewalk outside of Key Largo School in Key Largo, Fla., and were distributing copies of the Bible to those interested.
“Neither man entered school grounds,” the law firm said. “After the school’s principal called police, a Monroe County sheriff’s officer asked the men to leave immediately or face trespassing charges. As the men prepared to leave, the officer decided to arrest both individuals.”
A hearing is scheduled March 5 in Monroe County Court in the cases, and ADF attorneys are preparing motions to dismiss the charges.
“Officials cannot use fear of arrest as a means of bullying law-abiding Christians into silence,” Cortman said. “These men broke no laws when they decided to communicate their message on a public sidewalk.”
Tedesco noted that sometimes school officials have a misconception about whether they can control activities on school grounds and adjacent public sidewalks. But the First Amendment does provide a protection for speech on those parcels of ground that are public, he said.
Lets see… public schools, public grounds, public sidewalks, public officials and public law enforcement.
“There’s no reason why they should be put in jail,” he said.
The ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the truth, through strategy, training, funding and litigation.
The Gideons, a group founded in the late 1800s, has as its “sole purpose” the goal “to win men, women, boys and girls to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through association for service, personal testimony, and distributing the Bible in the human traffic lanes and streams of everyday life.”
Members of the Gideons, who pay their own expenses so 100 percent of the donations to the group go toward Bible purchases and distributions, have placed the Bible in 181 nations in 82 different languages over the years.
The organization focuses on hotels and motels, hospitals and nursing homes, schools, colleges and universities, the military and law enforcement and prisons and jails.
“The demand for Scriptures in these areas far exceeds our supplies that we are able to purchase through our donations. Much more could be done – if funds were available. However, we are placing and distributing more than 1 million copies of the Word of God, at no cost, every seven days in these areas” the group said.
The organization only gives away the Bibles with the Gideon logo on the covers, but plain Bibles are available for consumers to purchase at its distribution center at P.O. Box 140800, Nashville, Tenn., 37214-0800. Information about the products is available on the group’s website.
The Gideons serve as an extended missionary arm of the Christian church and are the oldest Christian business and professional men’s association in the United States.
Great! Get those laws keeping sex offenders away from our school kids and daycares overturned. Get those laws that permit our loved ones to grieve and honor our dead in peace, overturned.
But get them Christians, handing out Bibles, in jail. Got to protect the kids and…
Did they legalize drugs in Florida or are they putting something in the water? The Dixie County Ten Commandments issue, immigration raids in Miami, and now this.
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11 Responses to “Gideons handing out Bibles on public sidewalk arrested after school officials complain”
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If WND characterized the events accurately, it should be a slam-dunk win for the Gideons.
If they were giving out condoms they would have been given an office.
“What exactly does this story have to do with the ACLU?”
The fact that this blog covers a few stories that have nothing to do with the ACLU aside…
You’re right. It’s got nothing to do with the ACLU because they’re not jumping to the defense of these men like they would if the men were atheists.
What exactly does this story have to do with the ACLU? -Smitty
Well, since the ACLU is supposed to protect citizens against things like this. Them not protecting the Gideons makes it about them, does it not?
Notice: it says, “have been arrested after trying to hand out Bibles on a public sidewalk” — that is possibly true, but the key word I noticed was “after” — there’s something missing here that you need to be aware of: in other accounts of this story I found and in the official police report, they were actually arrested for trespassing, and that only after they went and sat in their vehicle and called police headquarters to complain instead of getting off the property. Again, it was not because they passed out Bibles on the sidewalk, but because they did NOT have the legal right to park their vehicle on the school property after the school asked them not to do so.
This is a very important distinction. Whereas I personally disagree with the school authorities in refusing to allow a peaceable activity to continue, it seems quite unfortunate that our Gideon friends failed to use wisdom in their activities after the distribution ceased.
In addition, please notice that the Alliance Defense Fund is the legal representative. If the arrest was related to Gideon activities, it would be The Gideons International who would be providing legal defense. And finally, if they really were defending a Gideon activity, they would NOT be issuing public statements concerning the defense.
So the only conclusion to draw is that it appears that two men who had been performing an activity in relationship to the Gideon program were arrested, as was was stated, “AFTER” a Gideon activity, but what they were arrested for was not at all Gideon related.
Very sad indeed. Please pray for these men, and for a minimizing of the damage their action may do to the cause to which they were obviously committed.
Frank,
It would be helpful if you would provide sources for your statements… in other accounts of this story I found and in the official police report…
sat in their vehicle and called police headquarters to complain instead of getting off the property.
Was their car parked on “school property” such as the school parking lot or was it on the public street?
it seems quite unfortunate that our Gideon friends failed to use wisdom in their activities after the distribution ceased.
While I admit that anything is possible, it is widely known that Gideons have always complied with requests or orders of law enforcement and all other authority.
If you can show that not to be true, it would lend more weight to your contentions.
Actually, Aside from your statements of the parties involved, everything else is just speculation.
If you have some actual facts to refute any part of the article…post them.
William T, (or more accurately, “Floppy Shoes”)
Profanity is not permitted on this site.
Ironically, deleting your post has the same result as what you proposed for the Gideons. All things being equal.
Read the updated WND article.
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54150
It doesn’t exactly back Frank up, but it does go into detail about the officer’s report. Apparently there is a dispute over whether the road & sidewalk in question are public property. If it is a private road, the trespassing charge is going to stick.
There’s nothing wrong with branching out into other stories, but this article is “Filed under ACLU, …”
That’s quite a stretch. The men in question have competent representation in the ADF and I’m sure they trust the ADF a lot more than they trust the ACLU, so it’s disingenuous to suggest the ACLU’s lack of involvement in this case is tantamount to siding with the police.
The ACLU has represented neo-nazis and klan members in free speech and free assembly claims. they’sve even sidded for Rush Limbabaugh. Also, the ACLU doesn’t get involved with directly representing someone unless they are asked. They do file friend of the court briefs and wiegh in on issues but they have to be asked for direct help.
Actually, Lobo, you are the one who published the story here and should provide sources … not just press releases from publicity seeking law firms. Fortunately, you can all look up the public records easily on the web yourselves. Another interesting twist is that these two dear men who were arrested were NOT wearing a suit and tie in the arrest pictures. This is quite unusual — I’m pretty sure that Gideon attire is always a suit and tie when giving out Bible — I guess it just looks more professional than a couple guys in golf shirts hanging out around a school …
Actually, Lobo, you are the one who published the story here and should provide sources … not just press releases from publicity seeking law firms.
When I published the story, all I had was a “press releases from publicity seeking law firms.” of which I provided the link to.
You commented with additional information which consisted of…in other accounts of this story I found and in the official police report and If the arrest was related to Gideon activities, it would be The Gideons International who would be providing legal defense. without providing the sources or links to those sources.
Does Gideons International even have a legal arm in their organization to provide a defense?
Keep in mind, not all put as much faith and credence in “police reports” as others do.
The “Border Agents” issue is one example.
It is an evolving story that is shedding some bad light on the Dept. of Homeland Security and the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case.