Philadelphia 11
On October 10, 2004, eleven members of Repent America were arrested and charged under Pennsylvania's hate crimes law while protesting at Outfest, a gay pride event in Philadelphia. The charges against the members of the group could have resulted in up to 47 years in prison each. All the charges were later dismissed by Common Pleas Court Judge Pamela Dembe as being without merit. Repent America has since filed a federal lawsuit against the city and its officials over the incident.
On November 15, 2007, following a legal action brought by Repent America, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in a 4-to-1 decision struck down amendments to the state's "hate crimes" law, formally known as the Ethnic Intimidation Act, under which the members had been charged in 2004. The published opinion, Marcavage, et al. v. Rendell, et al., declared that the amendments enacted in 2002, protecting people based upon "actual or perceived . . . ancestry, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity," were "unconstitutional and therefore null and void" due to the process in which the law was passed. Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell and the state Legislature then appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which ruled in favor of Marcavage, affirming the lower court's ruling that the Legislature acted unlawfully. Repent America claims that such laws are promoting the "criminalization of Christianity."
Read more about this topic: Repent America
Famous quotes containing the word philadelphia:
“I’d like to see Paris before I die. Philadelphia will do.”
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