St. John’s Attorneys Try to Throw Out Free Speech for “Sensibilities”

Ken Scott, Cliff Powell and attorney Jim Rouse went before a panel of three judges in the Colorado Court of Appeals.  It was a surreal experience.  The extravagant fifteen foot high, twelve foot wide doors leading into the court room are veneered in bronze and are sculptured to look like the bark of an oak tree.  The doors opened into a courtroom that reminded me of scenes that I’ve seen in over dramatized movies.  You know the ones I mean, with the judge’s bench set high above the rest of the seats in the court room looking down on anyone that dares to address them.   Psalms calls them gods and they very well may believe that they are gods. 

The room quickly filled with pro lifers in support of the defendants and lawyers of all ages, sizes and shapes.  When all the seats were taken, men and women lined the walls and filled the doorways to watch as each defendant was given ten minutes to speak.

And then it began.  First up was Cliff Powell, who did an amazing job discussing case law pertaining to their injunction.  The judges Alan L. Sternberg, Russell E. Carparelli, and Alan M. Loeb asked Mr. Powell some tough question and he defended his points superbly. 

Next up was Ken Scott, wearing a Jesus is the Standard tee shirt.  He began by giving God all the glory and then he recounted the facts of the case including facts that the lower court judge decided to overlook.  Scott reserved the last few minutes of his time for a rebuttal to St. John’s attorneys.  It played out to be one of the most strategic moves of the day.

Amicus brief Attorney, Jim Rouse did an awesome job of delineating the flaws in the lower court ruling.  We praise the Lord for attorneys that will take the time to represent simple Christian witnesses.

I’d like to take a moment to refresh your memory of the case, so that when I recount the testimony of St. John’s attorney Stewart it won’t confuse you.  The case against Scott and Powell is a civil suite initiated by St. John’s Episcopal Church in Denver. St. John’s is a pro abortion, pro homosexual church that disdains peaceful picketers outside of their church services proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ.   There were more than a half dozen police supervising the protest at the church on the day in question.  There were no laws broken during the protest.  No arrests were made, and no citations were given to any protester.

When St. John’s attorney Stewart presented his arguments before the appellate court judges things went from the real to the surreal.  Attorney Stewart of Fargre & Benson LLP stated several times that the defendants assaulted the parishioners of St. John’s.  Stewart quoted case law such as the Madsen case, indicting Scott and Powell for blocking an abortion clinic and using an amplification system that had absolutely nothing to do with the case at hand.  He repeatedly talked about the defendant’s assault on their parishioners.   Finally Judge Carparelli told Stewart that he was unaware of any assault and asked him to explain what he was talking about.  Stewart stated, “It was an assault on their sensibilities”.  The confused judge Carparelli asked Stewart what he was talking about a second time only to hear the same answer.  If it wasn’t so devastatingly sad, I would have fallen out of my chair laughing.  In his mind sensibilities supersede free speech.  I understand that he believes that our right to free speech comes from the government and not God, but even so, he’s willing to throw it away to win a case or protect some abhorrent church’s sensibilities.  Folks, St John’s Episcopal is a church where men proudly carry purses instead of Bibles into their church services.  Truthfully, I felt like I was in the “Twilight Zone” where everything hinges on the misconceptions of the moment rather than an Absolute. 

Thank God that Ken Scott thought to reserve some of his time for the rebuttal.  Ken was able to set the record straight in regard to the Madsen Case and even pointed out to the panel that Stewart had lied several times about the case law that he presented. Scott was able to talk to the judges about God, the truth and Salvation before his time was up.

In spite of the imposing entrance doors and the lofty seats in their courtroom the judges are finite just like the rest of us and they will return a verdict, when they return a verdict.  Anyone who’s been to court knows how that goes.  So, we’ll wait. 

I know that I’m Ken’s wife and you might think that I’m biased, but he did a phenomenal job and Jesus did get the glory on June 11, 2008 in the Colorado Court of Appeals between 1:30 and 3:00 pm.  Halleluiah! 

Ken Scott, Cliff Powell and attorney Jim Rouse would like to thank everyone for their prayers.

God Bless,
Jo Scott