UPDATE: Free Speech Victory in Michigan

I want to inform you about our victory in a lawsuit we recently filed to challenge a Michigan criminal statute.  We represent Ronald Brock who travels the public roads of this country in a truth truck. 

On his truck he displays large signs and photographs to express various messages, including those involving crimes against humanity.  Ron was displaying a photograph of the victims of the Nazi Holocaust to demonstrate its parallel with Americas Holocaust of abortion. 

Because of his Nazi Holocaust display, he was threatened with arrest and prosecution under Michigan Compiled Law 750.38, which makes it a misdemeanor for any person to display on private or public property, any sign, picture, or other representation of murder, assassination, fighting, personal violence, or the commission of a crime.

Soon after we filed our lawsuit, the Michigan Attorney General agreed that the statute did not apply to Rons mode of free speech.  With the approval of the court, we entered into a consent judgment with the Attorney General in which the Attorney General stipulated that the statute only applies to commercial speech, that is, speech intended to sell something, and does not apply to Rons displays. 

ACLJ Senior Counsel, Ed White, has informed me that now that the statutes scope has been limited to commercial speech, people who use photographs and the like to protest in Michigan no longer have to fear prosecution under section 750.38.  Before the Attorney General had narrowed the scope of the statute, people could have been arrested and prosecuted for publicly displaying a painting of Jesus Christ being flogged or the famous photograph of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald.

This is a great victory for Ronald Brock and for free speech in Michigan.