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LOUSVILLE, Kentucky, June 25, 2021 (Thomas More Society) – A Kentucky police officer will return to work after the Louisville Metro Police Department confirmed that it will not formally discipline him for quietly praying the rosary in front of a Louisville abortion clinic last winter while off-duty.
On February 20, 2021, before dawn on a Saturday morning, the officer quietly had prayed alone with his father for less than an hour in front of the EMW Women’s Surgical Center. (The officer’s name has not been publicly revealed.)
Shortly after starting his regular patrol duty later that morning, the officer was ordered to return to his division’s office, where he was placed on administrative leave with pay, pending an investigation. The decorated 13-year veteran, with no prior disciplinary violations and a wife and four young children to support, had remained on indefinite leave.
“We are happy for the officer that the Louisville Police Department finally did the right thing and put a good policeman back on the streets,” said Thomas More Society attorney Matt Heffron. “But it is astounding to those of us defending him – shocking actually – that the police department would treat a hardworking, loyal officer this way. They left him twisting in the wind for four months because of off-duty prayer.”
LMPD sent the officer notices of potential violations of LMPD’s Standard Operating Procedures and a Kentucky statute.
“None of the officer’s off-duty prayer was covered by the LMPD allegations, and any formal punishment, under these circumstances, would violate his First Amendment rights,” Heffron said.
In March, the Thomas More Society, working with Louisville attorney Blaine Blood, sent to LMPD a detailed analysis of applicable provisions of the collective bargaining agreement, the LMPD Standard Operating Procedures and the First Amendment, requesting that the matter be resolved quickly and that the officer be allowed to return to work. The attorneys also sent an open-records request to LMPD and confirmed that the department has not taken disciplinary action against on-duty, uniformed officers who marched with Black Lives Matter protestors and in LBGT parades.
The Christian baker, Jack Phillips, needs your support as he is again being targeted by LGBT activists, despite the fact that his stand against compelled speech and being forced to bake a "wedding" cake for homosexuals was vindicated by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Now, a gender-confused man, "Autumn" Scardina, has succeeded in getting Mr. Phillips fined $500 by Denver District Court judge, A. Bruce Jones, for refusing to make a cake celebrating the man's attempted "transition."
The LGBT mob just won’t leave this Christian baker make his living in peace!
But, Phillips and his legal counsel say they will appeal this ruling.
Please SIGN and SHARE this petition which sends moral support and prayers to Mr. Phillips after this latest assault on his right to free speech and not to be forced, in his work, to promote an ideology with which he disagrees.
The fact that the court pursued the complaint by this gender-confused man, after Phillips' right to reject such compelled speech was confirmed by the Supreme Court, is nothing short of targeting by LGBT activists and harassment by the District Court.
In 2018, the Supreme Court overruled an earlier District Court ruling and determined that forcing Phillips to create a homosexual "wedding" cake was a violation of the First Amendment.
But, just before the Supreme Court's ruling, Scardina (the LGBT-activist-plaintiff in this latest miscarriage of justice) demanded that Phillips create a cake celebrating his “transition.” Upon being refused, Scardina sued Phillips.
"The request was for a custom-designed cake, pink on the inside and blue on the outside, to reflect and celebrate a gender transition," Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a legal organization protecting religious freedom and Phillips' legal counsel, said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Phillips’ shop declined the request because the customer specifically requested that the cake express messages and celebrate an event in conflict with Phillips’ religious beliefs," ADF continued.
"Jack Phillips serves all people but shouldn’t be forced to create custom cakes with messages that violate his conscience," ADF stated. "The harassment of people like Jack … has been occurring for nearly a decade and must stop."
Please SIGN and SHARE this petition which supports Jack Phillips against the latest LGBT efforts to persecute him because of this sincerely held religious beliefs.
Thank you!
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
'Court forces Christian baker to make cakes celebrating a transgender ‘transition’' - www.lifesitenews.com/news/court-forces-christian-baker-to-make-cakes-celebrating-a-transgender-transition
'Jack Phillips back in court over refusal to bake transgender cake' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/jack-phillips-back-in-court-over-refusal-to-bake-transgender-cake
ADF Statement - https://adfmedia.org/case/scardina-v-masterpiece-cakeshop
**Photo Credit: YouTube screen grab
“The facts have been undisputed from the start – the whole event was captured on the abortion clinic’s security video,” said Heffron. “It showed two men, nondescriptly dressed, walking quietly back and forth as they said the rosary. The abortion clinic was closed and the street in front of it was practically deserted.”
“It was quickly clear to our lawyers, LMPD did not have a foot to stand on,” said Heffron. “It’s too bad it took LMPD four months to figure it out.”
Reprinted with permission by the Thomas More Society