Canadian professor loses bid to muzzle complaint he filed against pastor for “hate speech”
Human rights panel refuses to stop pastor represented by ADF-allied attorney from posting complaint against the pastor on the InternetFriday, May 05, 2006
CALGARY, Alberta — Siding with Pastor Stephen Boissoin, who is under fire by a University of Calgary professor for expressing pro-family views, an Alberta human rights panel ruled Thursday against a critical application filed by the professor. The application sought to bar publication on the Internet of the complaint the professor filed against Boissoin.
“The ability to express one’s conscience is a fundamental human right,” said ADF Litigation Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “The pastor cannot be muzzled simply because someone else does not share his viewpoint.”
The Calgary professor, Dr. Darren Lund, reported Boissoin to the Alberta Human Rights Commission four years ago for published letters Boissoin wrote on homosexual behavior. Lund claimed he had since become the victim of harassment as a result of the availability on the Internet of the complaint he filed against Boissoin. The panel stated, “There is no evidence that Dr. Lund has been harassed or that his family’s safety is in jeopardy.”
Lund accused Boissoin and a local group, Concerned Christian Coalition, on July 22, 2002, of violating a Canadian human rights law with regard to “sexual orientation” after two letters from Boissoin appeared in the Red Deer Advocate in 2002.
“We are pleased the panel chose to recognize Mr. Boissoin’s right to express himself,” said Gerald Chipeur, an Alberta-based ADF-allied attorney. “Posting legal documents on a Web site is not a crime.”
Today’s ruling from the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission can be read here.
Last year, ADF attorneys assisted in winning the case of Ake Green, a pastor threatened with jail time after he was accused of violating a Swedish “hate crimes” law for presenting a Christian view of homosexual behavior in a sermon.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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ABOUT Jeremy Tedesco
Jeremy Tedesco serves as legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund at its headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he currently leads litigation efforts to protect the rights of Christian students, faculty, and staff at public schools across the nation. In 2004, he earned his J.D. from the Regent University School of Law. Tedesco is admitted to the State Bar of Arizona; the Supreme and District Court of Arizona; the District Court of Colorado; the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 9th Circuits; and the U.S. Supreme Court.