Gideons Win Religious Freedom Case

If you read this blog with any regularity, then you know my husband and I are very active members of the Gideons International, and that I posted on the unbelievable treatment that two fellow Gideons received in Florida earlier this year. Today I am happy to report that the Lord gave the ADF and Gideons the victory! Read the press release from the ADF and congratulations Attorney David Cortman for doing a stellar job!

ADF successfully defends religious freedom for Gideons
Judge dismisses all charges against two Gideons members who handed out Bibles on public sidewalk
Friday, July 27, 2007, 12:00 AM (MST) |
ADF Media Relations | 480-444-0020

PLANTATION KEY, Fla. — A judge dismissed all charges Friday against two members of The Gideons International who were arrested while attempting to distribute Bibles on a public sidewalk outside Key Largo School. Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman represented the two men.

“Christians cannot be treated as second-class citizens,” said Cortman. “These two men have the same constitutional rights as everyone else to pass out literature on a public sidewalk. We are pleased that the court agrees that these men should not have been arrested and dismissed the charges against them.”

On Jan. 19, police arrested Ernest Simpson and Anthony Mirto and charged them with trespassing after the principal of Key Largo School complained that they were handing out Bibles on the public sidewalk outside the school. Following the initial motion to dismiss filed by ADF attorneys, the state dismissed the charges but then filed new ones under a different statute (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4079). At Friday’s hearing, the court granted the request of ADF attorneys to dismiss the new charges.

A fact sheet on the case, State of Florida v. Simpson, is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/SimpsonFactSheet.pdf.

ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.