Charge Church -- Stifle Speech

I posted yesterday about the City of Simi Valley, CA charging a UCC church 40,000 for police protection after protesters showed up to picket the church, which was serving as sanctuary for a woman appealing deportation orders. Word in the LA Times today is that the City is standing by a City Council decision to bill the congregation, but in so doing is sending a chilling message to churches.

The City Manager made the following comment:

"We're sensitive to the moral issues here, but it's still against the law," to be in the country without proper documentation, Sedell said. "We warned [church officials] that if they flaunted it in the public, then these [protests] will occur and there will be consequences."

I'm not sure how the church flaunted in public. The protesting group -- Save our State -- had protested a Long Beach church the night before. They seem to be following the woman, essentially harassing her and anyone who is willing to giver her a place to stay.

What is clear from this action is that if you take any controversial stand, one that might draw protesters you'll be charged for it. If this is allowed to stand, it will likely encourage other government entities to do the same.

An ACLU attorney says that he doubts that this will hold up, because it is the job of the police to protect any one/group exercising their rights of free speech. That's the "price of living in a democracy" said Peter Bibring of the ACLU. "They're basically charging by the hour for political expression," Bibring said.

This is a sad day for our country -- that's for sure. But apparently some are willing to throw out the Constitution to "save our state."