Dearborn Mayor’s Open Letter to Pastor Terry Jones
Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. has written an open letter to Pastor Terry Jones, who is planning a protest in Dearborn.
Earlier, the mayor did a video interview with the Dearborn Press & Guide. Mayor O’Reilly does a nice job of explaining why the location for such a protest isn’t suitable. The mayor also explains how Dearborn is not preventing free speech, despite what others have said. In fact, Dearborn is one of the only cities that has established, by ordinance, “Permit Free Zones” intended for demonstrations and free speech. The video begins right after a short commercial.
The mayor’s open letter to the pastor begins below. With all of the nonsense being misreported by media on this protest, someone needed to explain the facts and defend our city. Mayor O’Reilly does just that in his well-written letter:
Dear Pastor Jones:
I watched you on television speaking about the Constitution and Dearborn, and it appears you need more information about both before you come to our city. I can provide insight on the Constitution, and expertise on Dearborn.
First of all, Dearborn supports the Constitution as well as any city in America. Our commitment to the Constitution is unwavering, not merely convenient, which makes your hyperbole about Sharia Law being practiced in the courts or civil law of Dearborn nonsensical. So, you are coming to protest against an imaginary threat that doesn’t exist in our community. Not in our courts, not at our City Hall, not on our streets and not in any of our places of worship.
Still, because we do understand the Constitution here, we are not preventing you from expressing your free speech. In fact, in Dearborn, we’ve even gone one step farther than most communities in support of free speech. We established, by ordinance, “Permit Free Zones” intended for demonstrations and free speech.
One of those zones is at City Hall, where from my office I have heard many rallies being conducted in response to international, national or regional issues. This is a high visibility spot, seen by thousands of motorists but safe from traffic, with plenty of public space for protestors, supporters and the media. It is where we are asking you to conduct your demonstration. The steps of City Hall even make an impressive platform for speeches.
And, if you are unhappy with what you think is going on in Dearborn, than what better place to protest than with City Hall as the back drop?
Instead you insist on protesting in an area that has no public property to accommodate crowds, spectators, parking or the media. There is just a small public road with limited access which can’t be blocked and an adjacent grassy area for drainage. It is parallel to a major state road, but the small shoulder can accommodate people only when they have auto emergencies.
And, this property you are focusing on, in front of the Islamic Center of America, is also adjacent to four Christian churches, all of which will be hosting Good Friday services, adding to the traffic flow and congestion. It is ironic that the road that you want to protest near is called Altar Road, so named because it was first constructed to provide access to a row of churches constructed in the 1950s reflecting Dearborn’s diverse faith communities.
But I can understand if you don’t know the details of the site, or the particulars about Dearborn. But you should know about the Constitution that you claim to be defending.
The Constitution says that your rights must be balanced with the rights of others under the same document. Your free speech rights do not allow you to trespass on the private property of others or prevent them from the Constitutional right to freely practice their religion. I am not just talking about Muslims but members of all faiths.
The members of the Christian churches on Altar Road asked me last week if they should cancel their Good Friday services because of your planned visit. I assured them that they should not because the Constitution does not allow you to violate their rights. I don’t know why you selected Good Friday but it wasn’t very considerate of the significant Christian services being held at that time. I assure you that you will not make them forfeit their services.
You claim that you are coming to protest the radicalism of Islam. Like all of America, we are concerned about the radicalization of any religion that would rationalize extreme actions. However we have not let this concern turn into a twisted paranoia that promotes fear-mongering and misleading generalizations. You state that you are coming to the Islamic Center of America because it is the largest mosque in America. What does that have to do with the radicalism of Islam? While size may matter to you, we prefer to focus on actual behavior. And according to our Police Department and the anti-terrorism agencies they work with, there has never been evidence of any wrongdoing in any of Dearborn’s mosques.
It appears your choice of the Islamic Center of America is not because it has any relationship to the stated object of your free speech but because it symbolizes the Islamic faith in general. If so, that is not truly in line with the Constitution you say you are defending.
There is no Sharia Law in Dearborn, only Constitutional Law. Sharia Law is church- or faith-based law that is applicable only to the followers of that faith. For me it is Cannon Law of Catholicism, in Judaism it is Torah Law, and for Muslims it is Sharia Law. The actual originator of the event you plan to hold in Dearborn, Frank Fiorello of the Fraternal Order of the Dragon, accepted my invitation to learn more about Dearborn, and after seeing the truth, he canceled his protest.
But, if you don’t believe that Dearborn follows the Constitution, here are some realistic facts for you. Businesses in Dearborn lawfully meet the diverse needs of our Greater Detroit area, but if Dearborn practiced Sharia Law, would we have three adult entertainment bars and more alcohol licensed bars and restaurants per capita than most other cities? None of that should be allowed under Sharia Law.
How about this? A business we boast about, the nationally known Dearborn Sausage, opened more than 60 years ago across the street from the first mosque in Dearborn and is famous for its sausages and spiral sliced hams. It is one of many meat packing operations in our City and no one has ever objected.
Dearborn is also famous for The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, where more than 1.5 million visitors come each year from across the country and the world to learn about the foundations of our American way of life.
Dearborn is a diverse, safe and unified City that is addressing its future in a proactive manner. We cherish the American Dream that brought so many people here during the last century to earn a decent wage and enjoy a high quality of life thanks to Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company. And for Dearborn, our success and our identity is tied to welcoming people of all backgrounds who have chosen to make America, and our community, their home. We are proud to have welcomed them.
As we work hard to balance your rights with the rights of others in Dearborn, you will be extended every courtesy during your visit – as long as you follow the law based on the Constitution’s protection of everyone’s rights. That should be a familiar statement to you.
You have said over and over that “Muslims are welcome as long as they follow the Constitution.” Surely, then, you wouldn’t ask less of yourself.
April 20th, 2011 at 1:33 pm
Who wrote that B.S. for u Big Fellow? Why not just tell the ahole the rules and regulations, and not following the rules, be prepared to pay the consequences? Take a firm stand, with some bite behind the stand, instead of letting your speech-writer, do a song and dance. Terry Jones must of got a real belly laugh at your comments. Be a man and go to the scene, and represent your residents properly (Mayor Hubbard would have done so). Stand up and be counted, and tell your speech-writer to take a back seat.
April 20th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
While everything the mayors says is true. Why is Rev. Jones being asked to post a peace bond? The imam on the Frank Beckmann show said the !.5 billion Muslim in the world would be provoked, if so, then the muslims should be the ones to post the peace bond.
April 20th, 2011 at 1:51 pm
If no one shows up and this man and his followers don’t have an audience and reporters, then it will be like a tree falling in the woods and no one there to see or hear it fall. Did it really happen. Don’t give these people the publicity they are coming here for…..Stay home. Pray to whomever you want and be happy.
April 20th, 2011 at 2:28 pm
What a pompous longwinded bunch of malarky. No wonder O’Reilly failed as a lawyer. It takes him two pages to summarize what can be stated in one paragraph. Just tell this pathetic blowhard go trumpet his nonsense somewhere else. This jackass, jobless, preacher only has forum because people give him the time of day. I just wish this lowlife freak took his carnival sideshow somewhere else, and O’Reilly left with him. Go back to work O’Reilly, this grandstanding is not what we pay you for.
April 20th, 2011 at 2:35 pm
Barr – I couldn’t agree with you more. The more fuss that is made over this visit the happier Rev. Jones will be.
Abe – do you honestly think that Mayor Hubbard would ever let him inisde Dearborn, now there was a man that stuck by his convictions.
April 20th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
Abe, surely that’s a joke, you can’t be that misinformed and simple minded. Where in the world did you come up with this? A speech writer? Your obvious personal dislike for him aside, by now you should be able to recognize that he has always been well spoken and educated. Just because you can’t put together a gramatically correct paragraph doesn’t mean others with more education and experience can’t. Say what you want about the mayor and his polices within the city, but I for one am a proud citizen of Dearborn, and as such I’m glad to see that we have a strong puplic voice standing up for our city on this issue. It’s ridiculous to have to hear some of the blatant lies that are being told to people on a national level about our city. I’m glad there is at least some voices out there that set the record straight on this issue. However considering some of the insanely negative and vitriolic commenters on this site, I’m sure the mayor and city of Dearborn bashing will ensue.
April 20th, 2011 at 3:17 pm
Too bad the city and county didn’t practice damage control and ignore this lunatic. Instead, they played into his hands, and in the process, seek to violate his constitutional rights to freedom of speech. I’m all for the pastor paying for public safety—but why haven’t other non-Dearborn taxpayer funded organizations that use Dearborn as their playground for political and popular causes been requested to post bond?
Another legal nightmare for Dearborn.
April 20th, 2011 at 6:23 pm
The Mayor and the City will be taken to the cleaners by another group of constitutional lawyers just like in the case of the Christian group that the dearborn police arrested. The Mayor stood in front of the media and talked about how it was a rock solid case and a few months later a team of Constitutional lawyers fed him his lunch.
Everyone needs to look at the bigger picture as to what the pastor is trying to prove,mainly that there is a double standard and a media bias in our country right now. Nobody wants to say that the Muslim religion is violent. Yeah i am sure some one will say its only 5 or 10 percent of Muslims that are violent, considering that there are over one billion Muslims in the world that would mean that 500,000 to 1 million are violent extremists,and that’s acceptable? Why is the pastor the problem? If there are violent reactions to him by Muslims then why aren’t they the problem?
I am not shocked considering that Imam Obama wont even utter the words “Islamic extremists”. Last week someone burned a Koran in the United states and somewhere in the middle east Muslims went wild and killed innocent non Muslim aid workers for it.
Didn’t hear much about that on the news though did ya?
Why isn’t there an outcry by the media when people burn the American flag?
That seems to be ok doesn’t it?
When it comes to burning the American flag all of a sudden its their constitutional right to do so,but burn a Koran and the Mayor and the Muslims are outraged and the pastor must have a permit.
Once again the Mayor is on the wrong side of the issue as usual.
April 21st, 2011 at 7:53 am
everyone just stay home. or better yet, ladies, show some skin, go have a drink and a pulled pork sandwich to show that we’re not under muslim law
April 21st, 2011 at 7:56 am
Thank you Mayor O’Reilly for giving this mustaschioed buffoon the credibility he craves. Your longwinded harangue only shows your inability to create concise and compelling arguments. This mishmash of competing ideas and poorly reasoned logic clearly show why your law career ended in failure. Not being content only subjecting your self and family to the punishments of a misunderstanding and misapplication of American case law, you deliberately involve the citizens of Dearborn in what will most assuredly result in an expensive federal lawsuit. This lawsuit will compound the costs of your other legal follies including the current federal lawsuit concerning the Arab Festival, public access TV, West Dearborn development, CSO development etc etc. There is a difference between upholding the law and using public resources to advance your political interests. This grandstanding only brings attention to those desperately seeking a platform. It should be clear to any reasonable citizen of Dearborn that this attention seeking Mayor brings most of these problems upon himself. Let this man speak, and then get the he’ll out of town. It is his constitutional right. Clearly Dearborn does not need either of these craven attempts to curry media attention.
April 21st, 2011 at 8:18 am
I support everything that the mayor said.
Shame on you for taking out your dislike for him or your veiled anti-Muslim sentiments in this way.
We live peacefully in Dearborn with a very diverse population.
This Pastor is nothing more than a hate monger trying to get publicity. I am a Christian Catholic. This nut-case pastor does not represent any thoughts that I have nor does he represent the two laws that Jesus set down.
1 – Love God above all else.
2 – Love your neighbor as yourself.
True Christians in Dearborn support their Muslim brothers in their freedom of worship. How could we not? It is what Jesus commanded us to do.
April 21st, 2011 at 8:21 am
BacktotheFuture: You are entitled to your own opinion, but you can not create your own facts.
The “someone” you say burned a Koran, is the person coming here tomorrow. Say his name and identify him as the zealot he is – just like you were quick to identify Obama as an Imam.
Secondly, it is Constitutionally allowed to burn an American Flag, Koran, Bible, Bra, Selective Service Card etc. Just because it’s not illegal, that doesn’t mean it’s not right. What you obviously haven’t grasped is that actions carry weight and Jones is only coming here for one reason only, to sit in the spotlight as he spews his venom.
As to your point about not seeing the coverage on the news about the violence in the middle east, perhaps you should pick up a newspaper, watch the news or something, because I seen it covered everywhere from social media to the newspaper.
To everybody else bashing the mayor, I feel the letter he wrote was well spoken and concise to the point. Perhaps you should look a little inward of yourselves and see that you are beating on one man for defending his city from someone who is beating on a religion.
April 21st, 2011 at 10:34 am
Jason u must have some kind of man love for O’Reilly because all he did was grandstand, and drew more attention to Terry Jones. Abe was correct, if Orville and his rat pack were around, they wouldn’t be giving this idiot an esscort from the airport, like Big Jack is doing or trying to win him over with words in a letter. Let the jerk go on without playing into his hands. O’Reilly never has tried a case in court, and he has shown he evidentally doesn’t realize that words don’t mean nothing to this idiot. I agree with Abe and others let him go, and if he violates the law, arrest his fanny.
April 21st, 2011 at 12:58 pm
Thanks John B. O’Reilly, you respect others and I agree with you one hundred%
April 21st, 2011 at 4:17 pm
Hey Jason…..my first comment after I read what the Mayor had to say was this, ” How can the Mayor of city have grammatical errors in a letter?” So, either he wrote it with errors or someone on his staff wrote it with errors. Either way, it is inexcusable and embarassing. By the way, as much as I think this “pastor” is a fraud and a trouble maker, he has the same rights as the rest of us, including that disrespectful Imam who came to Dearborn to launch his fundraiser for the mosque at ground zero. Keep in mind that Christians and others opposed to his speech as well as his mosque did not cause any trouble. What goes around comes around….even if you are NOT an American. Let’s see if people that live here respect our Constitution. Let’s hope so.
April 21st, 2011 at 7:08 pm
Was it really necessary for the Dearborn Police to escort the pastor from Metro to Dearborn?? Was it really necessary for the Dearborn Police and the MI State Police to be in the court room?? At one time I counted 8 of them in the court room – no wonder I didn’t see any of them in my neighborhood today and I usually see at least 2 patrol cars and 1 unmarked. Just seems like an awful lot of wasted taxpayers money going down the drain. Bunch of B.S.
April 21st, 2011 at 10:12 pm
To “Backtothefuture”: When Muslim extremists in Pakistan killed those innocent non-Muslim aid workers, that tragedy was all over CNN, MSNBC and the three major network newscasts. Please don’t resurrect that old conservative cannard that the press is a bunch of bleeding heart liberals tha talways give “the enemy” a more than fair shake. It’s not ok when a flag or a Koran is burned, truly. And I agree that moderate Muslim leaders do seem to be deafeningly silent when extremists react so violently to the burning of a book. I wouldn’t murder people because someone burned a Bible or issue a fatwa against an author who made fun, however obliquely, of Mohammed. Is it too glib to ask our Muslim brothers to lighten up?
April 22nd, 2011 at 7:25 am
I’d rather have the police escort this fool everywhere he goes so that in the event some idiot tries to do something to him they can prevent it, rather than having a scar on Dearborn that the whole world will see. Well worth the cost.
April 22nd, 2011 at 8:41 am
Maybe i should have been more clear in my comment about the media,yes they reported on what happened and all of the blame went to the pastor,why didn’t one of these networks look into the real issue about the Muslims who murder innocent people in the name of their religion? Rob, i wont even waste my breath too much about the Liberal media bias on our news networks,some have even came out and admitted they are because it was so obvious. When there is one christian nut that kills an abortion doctor its the main story on almost all networks for 2 weeks but any of the Muslim violence is a 1 minute story without any real questions involved. Why wont Obama utter the words “Islamic extremists”? Look back to all the death threats made on authors or cartoonists that just say something about Mohamed, look at the liberal bias media that tried to hide the fact that the Fort Hood shooting was done by a Muslim in the name of his religion. The media never mentioned what he yelled before he shot people and labeled him a lone “nut job”.
The truth was that he told people he was a “soldier of Allah” and before he killed innocent people he shouted ” Allah Akbar ”
As for “james”, just because its venom or hate he is spewing doesn’t mean his right should be taken away,i disagree with all these idiots but if the constitution allows one hate idiot to spew venom then it allows all to do so. The Supreme Court just proved this by what i think was wrongfully siding with these despicable ” west baptist church” group that disrupts and shouts “hate” at funerals of dead soldiers. I don’t think there is anything worse than these people but the Supreme Court said they have the right to protest.
The Mayors grandstanding might get him a few votes but when this is said and done constitutional lawyers will take him to the cleaners again!
April 22nd, 2011 at 9:36 am
Kim Worthy and the mayor should go back to law school and read the Supreme Court decisions that state “prior restraint of free speech is unconstitutional.” Since Reverend Jones has not spoken yet, how does anyone know that he is going to offend anyone?
April 22nd, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Today, let us stand together and show the world that Dearborn is made up of moderates, and that the only extremist here is Pastor Jones.
Now is our time to shine.
April 22nd, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Judge Somers is a study in contrasts, isn’t he? The man who was publicly offended, because of his Christian beliefs, that another judge lived in ‘sin’ with a woman, declined to stand up for the freedom of Christians to seek converts in Dearborn last summer. He should have dismissed those charges immediately after seeing the video evidence that proved the police, and our Mayor, were lying about the facts. Today, he is holding a mock trial of Terry Jones in an attempt to prevent that man from demonstrating against radical Islam. Now, Somers may find Jones’ actions and previous words distasteful, but to use his power as a judge to uphold the illegal denial of First Amendment rights is outrageous. What does it mean that this action marks the second time in less than a year that Somers is acting against Christians who are dealing with Muslims?
April 22nd, 2011 at 4:41 pm
Just to chime in,
We know ultimately what will happen. Pastor Jones, whether permitted or not to protest will bring up a civil lawsuit against the city. Even an elementary student who has had a Government class knows that Mayor McCheeese and company trampled the Pastors civil rights.
Guess who will have to foot the bill? All of the Dearborn residents (those tax paying residents that is). We will face an even worse budget crisis because of a monetary award that will be rightfully awarded to the Pastor.
When I think the city Government cannot do anymore stupidity, they do. Does the Mayor really think he is doing the right thing or is he wanting to be a likable Mayor by a minority, yet powerful, people in this city.
Nice comments by the Mayor. Now Dearborn is seen globally as a city that prides itself on titty bars and meat markets. Get his guy out of office, he is ruining the city!!
April 22nd, 2011 at 5:09 pm
All one has to do is look at the public campaign finance records to see a glimpse of who our judges are beholden to..
April 22nd, 2011 at 6:57 pm
Is it me or is this an eerie parallel,
Here we are on Good Friday, the day that Jesus Christ was persecuted and crucified for committing no crime, rather, the leaders listened to the demands of the mob and today, Pastor Terry Jones, a Christian preacher who has committed. no crime was jailed because or “fear”.
He is certainly no Jesus Christ, but I find it eerie that here is a Christian being persecuted on Good Friday because he wants to exercise his freedom of expression, something guaranteed (or at least it used to be, until today) in the Constitution.
I said it before and I’ll say it again, Dearborn will be sued big time and all of us taxpayers will be paying for our City Governments ignorance.
April 22nd, 2011 at 8:14 pm
As someone pointed out above, Muslims are not made to post bonds or pay for security costs when they demonstrate in Dearborn, even when it is known that they will cause many police hours to be expended on their behalf. When Christians are treated less favorably than Muslims, time and time again, we have a problem.
Twice now, in less than a year, the Dearborn city government has violated the constitutional rights of Christians who wanted to speak to Muslims. The two Christian groups are very different and have different goals – indeed, the only similarity is that both groups are small – but the city action against them has been consistently repressive. Is it any wonder that, to an outsider, it appears that Dearborn is allowing Islam to shape our law enforcement?
April 23rd, 2011 at 7:23 am
Sigh… Our public officials have played right into the hands of this bigot by giving him all the publicity he could wish for and more.
Now Jones is going to tell the world that he was jailed for attempting to protest Islam in Sharia-controlled Dearborn. (The national media won’t care about details like the $1 bond or any public safety-related reason for denying the permit.) In the long run this is only going fuel more anti-Muslim paranoia & hatred. As if we don’t already have enough of that, even here in Dearborn (just read some of the previous comments).
When are we going to learn that attention-seekers are better off ignored? They should have let the guy have his silly protest and told everyone to stay away. Let him picket an empty street.
April 23rd, 2011 at 8:31 am
So I suppose it doesn’t really matter what the rest of the world thinks but in the big picture of things the City of Dearborn AGAIN looks like a place which makes it’s own rules irrespective of the law. I understand all of the arguments with regards to public safety, costs, the possibilities of “breaching the peace” and violent behavior.
All of that being said that kook Jones still has the right to say what he wants on public property. We cannot be in the business of telling people where they can express their opinions when public property is involved. Mayor Mr. French has coined the term “free speech zone” to designate where people can speak their minds. Newsflash sir, the whole country is a “free speech zone”. The mere mention of that term makes me cringe every time I hear it.
I just hope the next time that local community organizers insist on marching down Warren Ave creating traffic gridlock, angry motorists and other unsafe conditions that you demand that they first are dragged into court and made to pay a peace bond. Oh and they should be made to pay for the costs which the city shoulders for any such events. You can’t pick and choose which groups of people are allowed to demonstrate and express themselves. Clearly Judge Somers was aware that this is an extremely obscure application of the law. That’s why he only requested a $1 bond amount. Unfortunately he didn’t just throw this whole thing out of his courtroom. Now he is wrapped up in it too.
The smart move from the very beginning would have been to let that idiot speak his piece and get on a plane and get back to his home state. Instead we turned this into a circus and this buffoon got the stage and additional exposure that he wanted. Oh and the last thing and most important thing which was achieved, the City of Dearborn gets the image again that we make up our own rules (remember the Christian group which was arrested last summer?). We have once again made ourselves a lightning rod and a target for the kooks around the country. Can’t wait to see what this year’s Arabic Festival and Homecoming look like since we are quickly becoming destination number one for religious zealots from the whole country. Great job of mishandling another one sir!!!
April 23rd, 2011 at 11:03 am
Some of you seem to forget that a jury of YOUR peers made this decision. Maybe it’s you who need to revisit the constitution and how rights apply to everyone and not just Terry Jones and his faithful sidekick. Does anyone ever wonder why sidekicks are traditionally shorter than their masters?
April 23rd, 2011 at 12:59 pm
Some folks are stating that a double standard exists in that “Muslims” are not required to get permits to protest on public space.
When a fundamentalist Muslim cleric decides to protest Christian terrorism and Old Testament justice on the sidewalk in front of Divine Child on Good Friday, and after burning a bible, triggering riots and murders in stone-age Christian nations, the permit is approved and a peace bond is not required, then we can decide whether a double standard exists.
April 23rd, 2011 at 1:16 pm
The aquitted protestors from last years arabfest filed a federal lawsuit recently, Mayor expect to be served soon. Maybe the crazy christians should wait and make it a classs action suit they are growing in numbers.
April 23rd, 2011 at 2:26 pm
I’m by no means a fan of Pastor Terry Jones, but this whole affair was handled HORRIBLY by the mayor and his people (police chief, PR, etc). This has lawsuits written all over it. I’m reading today that the ACLU and Constitutional law experts are saying there were most definitely violations committed on the part of the city and county prosecutor. I used to defend O’Reilly by saying that he is a much better lawyer, and would make a much better judge, than he is a mayor. But now I’m starting to wonder even about his legal credentials and abilities.
Is anyone aware that public officials in Michigan are officially elegible for recall six months after they take office? That means Jack O’Reilly is elegible to be recalled in July. Just food for thought. When he’s not destroying public services with his utter lack of vision and creative thought, now he’s leading us into Constitutional nightmares and bad national public relations with his ineptitude. Again: July, recall, food for thought.
April 23rd, 2011 at 7:06 pm
the “mayor” has given Dearborn another black eye.
let the man do this protest, (as we are all protected under those rights) leave him alone, ignore him, whatever.
dont make a spectacle of this city again please.
If anyone should have been protesting him, its the Christians. It was our holiest Friday of the year.
I wish he did not come to Michigan, but he has the right to do so.
and Dearborn is now the most talked about city again. and not in a good way.
This is America, not another country. If you think he is a nut job, why pay attention to him? If you dont like what he is saying, dont listen. But we have a Constitution here in America that protects those who protest on public property.
Do not blame others for your actions, if decide to start violence.
No one can make a person do anything. You choose it.
So people stop trying to blame what you Choose to do on someone else.
Please do not for our tax dollars to go to private festival events, or clean up and then come looking for a tax increase, or close our libraries and pools.
I feel like our American Flag was figuratively burned.
And There goes the home values again.
April 23rd, 2011 at 7:23 pm
and Happy Easter.
April 24th, 2011 at 6:29 am
Johnny Christmas – could that be our “Christmas in July” present??
Happy Easter.
April 24th, 2011 at 8:52 am
Interesting, How can you have a trial about something that hasn’t or will happen as an outcome of one’s freedom of speech? All this crap that Sommers, O’Reilley and Worthy did just legitimized his stand. Let the guy protest and if no one goes to counter protest, he’ll look like an idiot being the only one there. If Dearborn gets stuck with paying for the violation of his constitutional right to free speech, then the mayor needs to get recalled. Sommers should be voted out both he and the McMayor aren’t constitutional lawyers. Oh, I probably shouldn’t have said that since their Kangaroo court will probably fine me for expressing my opinion. LOL.
April 24th, 2011 at 11:37 am
To me, the big questions needing addressing and clarification are – was Terry Jones protesting or preaching on public or private property? Do religious properties have the same basic rights as residential properties? I cannot seem to find detailed clarification on this issue online. Perhaps someone can locate this information to clarify it for us.
April 24th, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Mr. Albano, Terry Jones was going to be on the public sidewalk. The ACLU pointed out that years ago, Dearborn tried to enforce a thirty-day waiting period on permits to demonstrate, and were told by the Courts that for small groups on public property, no permits were required. Our officials acted as they have despite that knowledge.
This whole event is the ‘other side of the coin.’ Muslims in Dearborn are proud of the influence they have here. If you read the ‘Arab-American News’ or the literature of AAPAC you will see comments bragging about the Muslim influence and the concentration of Muslim population in this area.
Okay, so if someone wants to comment on Islam in the United States, doesn’t it make sense they would come here? If you set yourself up as the most important Muslim center in America, people will react to that.
By the way, did you see the big papers on Saturday? They carried quotes from the counter-demonstrators who appeared at the Civic Center. Apparently a diverse crowd, as citizens of all types were quoted saying they opposed Terry Jones because they saw him espousing ‘hate.’ Good people with good intentions…at least most of them were. Osama Siblani was quoted as saying something like “we are all loyal Americans, and we will die to defend his (Terry Jones’) right to free speech.” Nice words this week, but Siblani forgets that we can remember him defying the US Government in 2006, when he publicly supported the anti-American terrorist group Hezbollah. Some ‘loyal American.’
April 25th, 2011 at 8:27 am
Did the people on the site who opposed his view point waiting for him to show up have a permit? Why weren’t they arrested or not allowed to congregate.
April 25th, 2011 at 9:20 am
It is simply amazing the extant lapdogs will stoop to continue their access to important city officials. There is no constitutional right to protest on private property. Religious institutions are private property. Terry Jones was going to protest on public property. There is nothing unclear or ambiguous about Terry Jones rights to protest. The argument is what obstacles in the forms of bonds or permits constitute undue restriction of Jones 1st amendment. I believe as most constitutional scholars who commented in writing on this issue believe Dearborn was wrong. Most of the purposes Dearborn cited as reasons to limit Jones access to public property protest were problems Dearborn voluntarily created or irrelevant in a court anyhow. Simply put OReilly used city resources to limit an individuals most sacred rights as a citizen. Using scarce tax resources to curry favor with political special interests at the expense of a citizens bill of rights is completely wrong.
April 25th, 2011 at 9:42 am
“BacktotheFuture”
I don’t disagree with you on the first amendment. He should be able to speak. The connection I was making was, isn’t it ironic that the people who are saying we are a peaceful city, just let him come say what he wants and leave are turning around and screaming at the mayor for this that or the other thing. Just looking for a little perspective.
You’re a little twisted in the Court’s decision but got the gist right, plus it is the right decision. The first amendment doesn’t protect the speech that everybody agrees with – it defends the speech that everybody disagrees with.
April 25th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
This whole thing was handled wrong. It was a debacle. Trying a person before the fact. Giving him a presidential escort from the airport. Writing a letter of apology to a fanatic and recognizing him before he gets here. I will not forget this fiasco and the other crazy happenings when election time comes around…..parking; sewer projects; excessive spending; incompetant leadership. This whole thing is an embarrassment to the city.
April 25th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Maybe the mayor will try to raise the millage rate a bit higher to cover the city’s liability for violating Jones first amendment rights.
April 25th, 2011 at 6:56 pm
We all post and vent about the idiotic moves this City Government has done. I truly believe it is time to put together serious steps to recall the Mayor. Enough is enough. The taxpayers of Dearborn deserve better. We cannot wait until the next stupid decision or the next “committee” be paid to make decisions for this Mayor’s lack of leadership.
What are the first steps that can be taken? Petitions? When can this be started? Would another election be held or would the second runner up become Mayor?
From what I have read through numerous posts, not just on this matter, and the voice on the street tells me that many, many people in this city are fed up with this Mayor. We deserve a leader, not a follower!
April 25th, 2011 at 7:06 pm
The US Supreme Court’s recent Westover Church decision, allowing the most outrageously hateful speech toward our killed-in-action American soldiers, gives our administration clear guidance of the remarkable extent of Free Speech. Prior restraint of assembly and speech in public is virtually indefensible in the absence of what used to be called a “clear and present danger” of violence. By any standard, its tough to limit even the biggest clown’s First Amendment rights – by definition, that’s why its called a right.
If you’ve seen the coverage of those folks taunting the veteran’s funeral procession while motorcycle groups drown them out with their engines, you realize that crowd control just comes with the territory. Its a very tough burden of proof to win a case where you limit where folks can assemble and protest, or how much the bond you have to post.
As a community (reading above), I think we can hold our head high for not overreacting to Jones – let him come, say his piece, and leave – while we all collectively ignore him.
My suggestion: next time he comes, don’t dignify his presence in any manner – he’s invisible, he doesn’t exist – as much of a tool as he is a fool.
April 25th, 2011 at 9:42 pm
The bottom line is ,that the tax payers of the city of Dearborn are going to left holding the bag to pay for all the court cost , fines and settlements ! This is another fine how do you do , brought to you by your mayor. Oh by the way did anyone see the way the mayor handled himself on the channel 2 News? wow !!
April 26th, 2011 at 7:44 am
Deep, there are often very good comments on your site. I particularly enjoyed reading the diverse viewpoints on this particular issue. Would you consider installing a “thumbs-up” or “like” button? Just asking.
Oh, and by the way, Dearborn prepare to foot the bill for more legal bills. This guy and his pal now have the Thomas More Law Center representing them (the same folks who wiped the floor with our legal dept on the Arab Festival problem). Not only will they undoubtedly prevail on this issue, but they, like the protesting “Christians” at the Arab Fest, will turn around and sue the city for violation of their civil rights after they prevail.
I for one would rather spend the money for important city services like police, fire, refuse pick up, and the librairies. This incredible over-reaction just illustrates the continuing poor judgment of this administration.
April 26th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
Dearbornette – thumbs up!!!!
May 6th, 2011 at 11:19 am
The irresponsible actions of Terry Jones have cost the City of Dearborn ($40,000?) in security costs. His history of Islam bigotry eliminates any doubt as to what his intensions are, and his grandstanding attempt to demonstrate in front of a Dearborn mosque is an obvious attempt at cheap national sensationalism. The “City of Dearborn” has the responsibility to protect its citizens and private property, and would have been remiss in its duties if a security force had not been deployed. His right to “Freedom of Speech “was never in question, he could have said whatever he wanted to in Florida! Terry Jones’ accusation of so called “Sharia Law” in Dearborn are not only unsubstantiated, but is also an obvious attempt to invoke expansion of his own misplaced paranoia.
I am neither Arabic nor Muslim, have lived in Dearborn for a long time and have found the Arabic population influx to the city as a very positive influence. My conclusion is that the Irreverent Terry Jones is not welcome in Dearborn and should be held accountable for past and any future financial damages as paid by the taxpayers of Dearborn.