Appeals court rules in favor of preacher jailed for criticizing judge

BENTON HARBOR — Rev. Edward Pinkney’s campaign to draw attention to social injustice in this racially and economically segregated town has put him at odds with the local criminal justice system and landed him in prison but a Michigan Appeals Court ruling this week reversed a 3-10 year sentence imposed on him for writing an article that criticized a local judge.

Rev. Edward Pinkney

“This is a major victory,” Pinkney said by phone from his home. “I am so happy today.”

Pinkney, a 60-year-old Baptist preacher and community organizer, was convicted of violating election law in connection with a 2005 recall campaign against a prominent Benton Harbor city commissioner and put on probation in 2007, but his probation was revoked when a judge ruled that a article he’d published in a Chicago newspaper violated the condition of his probation that barred him from making defamatory and demeaning statements.

In this article, which ran in the Chicago People’s Tribune, Pinkney wrote that judges of the Berrien County Court “customarily and regularly deprive Blacks and Hispanics of due process.”

He said that his trial on the election-related charges was unfair and that he was “convicted by an all-white jury that violated the sanctity of their oath and were motivated by something other the pursuit of truth and justice.”

Pinkney called Berrien County Circuit Court Chief Judge Alfred Butzbaugh, who had presided over his trial “racist,” “corrupt” and “dumb” and, paraphrasing a Bible verse, warned that God takes action against those who persist in the path of injustice.

At a hearing last March, Judge Dennis Wiley found that by calling Butzbaugh “racist“ and “corrupt” and saying that he had “violated his oath of office” Pinkney had violated a probation condition — set by Judge Butzbaugh — that he not “engage in any assaultive, abusive, defamatory, demeaning, harassing, violent, threatening, or intimidating behavior, including the use, through any electronic or print media under [his] care, custody or control, of the mail, e-mail or Internet.”

Wiley also found Pinkney’s biblical statement to be a “true threat” against Butzbaugh and sentenced him to 3-10 years in prison.

Pinkney served a year of this sentence before the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan successfully argued that he be released pending an appeal of his probation violation.

In a unanimous decision released Tuesday, a three-member appeals court panel upheld Pinkney’s conviction on the election-related charges but struck down the revocation of his probation and the 3-10 year sentence imposed by Judge Wiley.

The judges ruled that the terms of Pinkney’s probation were too broad.

“To the extent that the prohibition of defamatory and demeaning behavior impinges on defendant’s first amendment rights, the prohibition was not proper, as it was not directly related to defendant’s rehabilitation or to the protection of the public,“ they wrote, “Because the prohibition was not proper, the trial court abused its discretion in revoking defendant’s probation based on a violation of the prohibition. We reverse the trial court’s order revoking defendant’s probation.”

The appeals court did not take up the issue of whether Pinkney’s Deuteronomy-inspired language about God’s actions constituted a threat against Judge Butzbaugh because Berrien County Prosecutor Arthur Cotter agreed that this statement could not serve as a lawful basis for revoking probation.

Cotter told Michigan Messenger that he did not feel he could in good conscience argue that quoting the Bible amounted to a threat.

“In retrospect, after reading all the briefs and case law I just felt that there was too much intermeshing of First Amendment and religious content. I wasn’t convinced myself that this constituted a threat,“ he said. “That would be possible only if you believe that Rev. Pinkney has some great power over God and the Divine One and he clearly doesn’t. Under these circumstances the argument that the defense made that it is hyperbole is probably accurate.”

The ACLU of Michigan praised the appeals court ruling on the free speech issues.

“The Court of Appeals opinion reaffirms the basic American value that citizens cannot be imprisoned for criticizing government officials or expressing their religious beliefs,” Michael J. Steinberg, the ACLU of Michigan’s legal director said in a statement. “To our knowledge, this case marks the first time in modern history that a preacher has been thrown in prison for predicting what God might do.”