I can't believe the courts fell for this.
Gated Communities in Puerto Rico now required to have a Security Guard and special entrance for Jehovah's Witnesses
by Alfred 37 Replies latest watchtower scandals
-
-
Refriedtruth
This is BIG on the news wires
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A U.S. court has ordered that all gated communities in Puerto Rico find a way to grant access to Jehovah's Witnesses so they can proselytize.
Communities with guards already had to let them in. Now those without guards manning gates must provide access by Tuesday.
The American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement late Friday that the ruling benefits all religious, political and social groups.
In Puerto Rico, streets inside gated communities are considered public thoroughfares.
The Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses in Puerto Rico estimates that its members have been barred from 587 gated communities in 57 municipalities. They say that about half of the island's gated communities have guards.
Puerto Rico has 318 Jehovah's Witnesses congregations, with a total of about 25,000 members.Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/12/4485367/ruling-favors-jehovahs-witnesses.html#storylink=cpy
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/12/ruling-favors-jehovah-witnesses-in-puerto-rico/
Ruling favors Jehovah's Witnesses in Puerto Rico
Fox News - 39 minutes ago SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A US court has ordered that all gated communities in Puerto Rico find a way to grant access to Jehovah's Witnesses so they can ...
Latin American Herald Tribune -
Finally-Free
Maybe the JWs should allow apostates to preach door to door in Bethel unobstructed.
W
-
Phizzy
Oh Finally-Free !! What a wonderful idea ! show up the hypocrisy 100% !
-
wha happened?
you know how this will blow up? Someone will be raped or killed, by someone who claimed they were a JW, and were granted access.
I have this issue in a building that my family owned. I wasn't trying to keep out religions, I was just trying to control who was accessing the property. The last thing I needed was people hanging out and the tenants assuming that someone in the building must know them.
I wonder how the No Trespassing laws were thwarted. I know here in Cali the cong received a letter that stated if there is a no trespassing sign, don't enter.
BTW I've read up on several no trespassing violations by JW's, but I beleieve there were for a single famliy residence
-
Refriedtruth
Want to be heard? This is the news article comment forum to post your comments and vote at.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/12/ruling-favors-jehovah-witnesses-in-puerto-rico/#comment
-
wha happened?
btw Refriedtruth, that is a cool name
-
Refriedtruth
Well its been 3 days since this hit the news wires and comments are 100% against the intrusive antagonistic JW ruling (that was decided among black robes not a popular jury ruling).The ONLY pro-JW comments are of course from JW apologist and their shills.
Typical of the WT's 'intimidation by litigation' is to go up against defendants with limited financial resources as they did in Stratton Ohio for their last big no trespassing verdict win.
So, I figure they win in Puerto Rico a US territory and then they will move into the 50 states.
I sure am happy that I am NOT a door to door recruiter for the Watchtower anymore.
-
Refriedtruth
Here we go more information:
Jehovah's Witnesses Win Access to Gated Areas
Jehovah's Witnesses Win Access to Gated Areas
Courthouse News/February 11, 2011
By Alexandra D'Angelo
Communities in Puerto Rico must revise local crime-prevention plans meant to keep out violent elements because they improperly bar Jehovah's Witnesses, the 1st Circuit ruled.
In recent years, many Puerto Rico urbanizations have responded to a serious crime problem by getting permits under a law that allows them to fence in their communities, manned by security guards or locked gates. Drugs, violent crime and police corruption have ravaged the U.S. territory, according the ruling, which notes that the median household income in Puerto Rico is one-third of the national average and half of every other state, while the homicide rate is quadruple the national average and more than double "virtually every state."
Two corporations that operate the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York and Congregacion de Cristiana de los Testigos de Joheva de Puerto Rico, challenged the controlled-access law in District Court. They claimed that the law has unconstitutionally kept them from their religious duty of spreading the Bible's message door to door, and subjected them to scrutinizing questions they should not have to answer. In 2004, they sued the governor of Puerto Rico and three other commonwealth-level officials, alleging unreasonable seizure and violations of their rights to the free speech, press, association, religion and travel.
By 2008, eight urbanizations had agreed to grant the Jehovah's Witnesses access to their communities, and the court entered a default judgment against three municipalities and 12 urbanizations, ordering them to grant the Jehovah's Witnesses unfettered access.
A year later, the court upheld the laws as constitutional and ordered the Jehovah's Witnesses to pay the attorneys' fees for the defendants. The court said it was acceptable for urbanizations with security guards to deny access to Jehovah's Witnesses without permission from a member of the community, and that locked gates were acceptable because Jehovah's Witnesses could acquire entry with permission from a resident.
On appeal, the Jehovah's Witnesses conceded that crime control is a serious governmental interest for Puerto Rico, but that this law creates a blanket restriction on unapproved entry that muffles free speech. They also pointed out that the crime rate has actually increased since adoption of the law.
The Boston-based federal appeals panel vacated part of that decision on Monday.
"Puerto Rico's crime problems are unusually serious and its legislature's solution, albeit an experiment, was democratically adopted and is far from irrational," Judge Michael Boudin wrote for a three-judge panel. "A court's task is to assure breathing room for legitimate communicative activity. Although we reject the facial challenge to the statute, the precedents on access to public places require fine tuning of the statute's local administration and, for that, further proceedings are required."
The court found that the buzzer system of entry among urbanizations that do not use security guards is not making the cut. Absent special justification, all gated urbanizations must begin to use manned gates, at least during daylight hours or on predesignated days. The security guards cannot bar Jehovah's Witnesses without just cause.
Adopting these adjustments may take some time, but Boudin warned that unnecessary delays may result in contempt orders or a judgment of attorneys' fees against the government defendants.
Security guards may only ask limited questions of Jehovah's Witnesses, according to the ruling.
"Compared to an airport search, a few questions about identity and purpose for entering an urbanization seem tame indeed," Boudin wrote. -
james_woods
Just wait until some criminal rapes or kills a gated community resident after being allowed in while pretending to be a JW.