Pastor Jailed for Displaying Anti-Abortion Sign

Thursday, May 22, 2014

By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Worthy News)-- A Christian legal group is defending a pastor who was arrested for protesting outside an abortion clinic in Mississippi, according to CBN News.

Liberty Counsel charges that police violated Pastor Stephen Joiner's First Amendment rights when they jailed him for carrying a sign saying that abortion kills children.

Joiner, who pastors the Church of the Nazarene in Columbus, was accused of obstructing traffic and violating a local parade ordinance, even though he was all by himself.

Liberty Counsel Attorney Mat Staver said Joiner was harassed just because of his message.

"The First Amendment protects the rights of citizens to express themselves in public ways free of government interference. The city's actions were entirely unjustified and are an affront to the fundamental rights of all Americans. Even unpopular speech is protected when peacefully expressed, as Pastor Joiner did here."

Photo: Capt. Fred Shelton places Pastor Stephen Joiner under arrest for disobeying a police officer. (The Packet)