Voices From Benton Harbor, MI

Rev. Edward Pinkney
PHOTO/Lennette Evans

By Dorothy Pinkney

James Madison is described as one of the great bulwarks of liberty. He is known for his  impassioned speech in favor of the First Amendment prior to it being signed into law. The First Amendment arose from the historically justified fear that government would punish people for speaking out against it. For this reason, the freedom to speak out against government and against public officials is the most inviolate protection the first amendment affords. Indeed the balance the judiciary has struck between the interests of the state and the interest of a citizen has rarely tipped in favor of the state.

      This has proven to be true even where the government has tried to characterize a political criticism as speech so injurious to the public that it deserves no constitutional protection at all. The Supreme Court has recognized certain excommunicated categories of speech, namely, true threats, obscenity and incitement of violence. Even so, the court has been reluctant to condemn public statements of political dissatisfaction, even when replete with the most unequivocally violent language as true threats unprotected by the first Amendment.

      My husband only published an opinion in a Chicago newspaper expressing dissatisfaction with how Judge Alfred Butzbaugh carried out his official duties. Berrien County would have the rest of the world believe that the invocation of the wrath of Reverend Pinkney’s GOD makes his political opinion a threat.

The religious freedom brief filed on behalf of my husband encompasses the views of numerous faith-based organizations including the National Association of Evangelicals, the American Jewish Congress, the Christian Legal Society, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty,the General Assembly of Presbyterian Church and the National Baptist Convention among others. Another brief was submitted by 18 law professors from various universities.

The brief states that under the U.S. Constitution, my husband, Rev. Pinkney, must not be imprisoned for speaking his conscience. Also the Thomas Jefferson Center for Protection of free expression argued in its brief, “In finding that Rev. Pinkney’s newspaper editorial violated his conditions of probation, the lower court punished speech at the core of the first Amendment protection of publishing criticism of the judiciary.”


Attend June 9 Hearing!

Please attend the Appeal Hearing at the Court of Appeals Third District in Grand Rapids, State of Michigan Building, 350 Ottawa, NW., Grand Rapids, MI, 9 am, June 9, 2009.
 

Banco Says: Remove Judge Wiley

Rev. Pinkney and BANCO of Benton Harbor are calling for the removal of Berrien County Judge Dennis Wiley for contempt of court and defying the Michigan Supreme Court order to “articulate” the reasons for keeping Pinkney under house arrest, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with electronic tether. Simply call, email or write to the Judicial Tenure Commission and the Supreme Court asking for (demanding...) Wiley’s removal. Judicial Tenure Commission, 3034 W. Grand Blvd., Suite 8-450, Detroit 48202, 313-875-5110 or email: judicialtenure@courts.mi.gov ; Michigan Supreme Court, Michigan Hall of Justice, P.O. Box 30052, Lansing 48909; 517-373-0130 or email:msc-info@courts.mi.gov


Send Donations For Appeal

When you fight the Berrien County level of corruption, racism and injustice, legal fees keep mounting.  Let’s all join in the struggle for justice in Benton Harbor. $10, 000 is needed for legal defense fees, but any donation is appreciated.  Please send all tax-deductible donations to BANCO, 1940 Union, Benton Harbor, MI 49022.

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“St. Joseph exists as the stronghold of a modern day feudal satrapy with the liege’s courts running interference for Upton/Whirlpool plundering. Benton Harbor, at least the portions of it not coveted for Harbor Shores exploitation, is their dumping ground, the City Commission an extension of the boardroom, the newspaper a corporate organ, the law enforcement agencies largely a vicious occupying army residents are compelled to finance. The games judges play there, like the extremely petty one that Wiley is using to toy with the ACLU, are non-stop. Justice remains nonexistent and the law but a shield for scum to hide behind and use as their very own.”
                 — John Mann


“The ulitimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy, said Martin Luther King.There has never been a man like Rev Edward Pinkney who has sacrified everything for the people.We can’t let this racist courthouse get away with this racist action.” 
             — Rev D. Smith and family


“The soft minded man always fears changes. He feels security in the status quo and he has an almost morbid fear of the new. For him, the greatest pain is the pain of a new idea. Let’s stand together and stop Whirlpool, Cornorstone Alliance, Harbor Shore Developer and Benton Harbor City Commissioners. If your pastor and your church is not standing up for the community leave that church.”        
                — Doris L. Miller