I never thought I'd find myself defending Terry Jones. But as offensive as his agenda is, the manner in which his scheduled protest at a Dearborn mosque was shut down is even more offensive because it is so patently unconstitutional.
A controversial Florida pastor and his associate were released from jail tonight after being held briefly for refusing to pay a $1 "peace bond" after a jury ruled they would "likely breach the peace" with plans to protest a mosque.
Judge Mark Somers of Dearborn's 19th District Court jailed pastors Terry Jones and Wayne Sapp about 7 p.m. The order came after a six-member jury at 6:30 p.m. sided with prosecutors who argued the Quran-burning minister's demonstration outside the Islamic Center of America could spark a riot.
[snip]
The pair were tried under a rarely used law originally passed in 1846 that requires those who are likely to breach the peace to post "peace bonds."
A "peace bond"? Sorry, but that sounds like the definition of prior restraint. Especially since it's based on what you may do. No way, no how, this stands up on appeal. The ACLU is representing Jones, and the way it sounds, this is gonna be appealed--and at some point, I'm betting it'll be overturned.
To my mind, Dearborn would have been well within its rights to send Jones a bill for any expenses it incurred in making sure no violence broke out at the planned protest. Heck, if Jones had burned a picture of Muhammad, an arrest for disturbing the peace would have been more than justified. But if what Dearborn is doing here isn't an unconstitutional violation of free speech, I don't know what is.
A lot of landmark civil rights cases have involved some pretty unsavory people. Something tells me that Jones' case just got added to that long list.