Phoenix bishop sentenced to jail for ringing church bells
Church leader convicted under noise ordinance for hourly chimes praising God; ADF attorneys will pursue legal optionsWednesday, June 03, 2009
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PHOENIX — A Phoenix bishop received a suspended sentence of 10 days in jail and three years probation Wednesday for violating a Phoenix noise ordinance because his church rang its bells hourly as a way of praising God. The ordinance does not include an exemption for religious worship, though it does provide an exemption for ice cream trucks. Bishop Rick Painter of Cathedral of Christ the King has retained attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund to pursue legal options to defend his rights.
“Christians shouldn’t be punished for exercising their faith publicly,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “It’s ridiculous to be sentenced to jail and probation for doing what churches have traditionally done throughout history, especially when the sound of the church’s bells did not exceed the noise level that the law allows for ice cream trucks. We are reviewing the legal options available to us to defend Bishop Painter’s rights.”
The bells at the Cathedral of Christ the King normally chime at the top of every hour from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The bells have been registered to emit only 67 decibels from the nearest property line. A whisper is 30 decibels, and a normal conversation is about 60 to 70 decibels. Ice cream trucks are allowed to emit up to 70 decibels at a distance of 50 feet under an exemption to the city’s ordinance, but no exemption exists for church bells. In addition to Painter’s sentence, the judge issued an order restricting chimes at the church to no more than 60 decibels for two minutes on Sundays and specific religious holidays.
“The church bells chime a short, ancient melody of praise to God,” said Stanley. “It’s too bad that the value of the bells is lost on many in our society. In a busy neighborhood full of sirens, heavy traffic, and loud motorcycles, these chimes are a sound of peace that do not exceed the noise level of an average conversation. Certainly, that should be at least as acceptable as the sound of an ice cream truck.”
- Order issued by the Phoenix Municipal Court in State of Arizona v. Painter
RELATED MEDIA
- JD Hayworth Show 6/4/09: Doug Napier, ADF Senior Legal Counsel
- KFYI 6/4/09: Doug Napier, ADF Senior Legal Counsel
- KPXQ 8/27/09: Erik Stanley, ADF Senior Legal Counsel
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LEGAL DOCS
Court Order: State of Arizona v. Painter
IMPORTANT DATES
June 4, 2009 - Appeal filed in Phoenix Municipal Court
RELATED RESOURCES
ABOUT Erik Stanley
Erik W. Stanley serves as senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund at its Kansas City Regional Service Center in Kansas, where he heads the ADF Pulpit Initiative to empower pastors across the nation to speak freely from their pulpits on all matters of life, including how Scripture and church teaching have application to candidates and elections. He has focused his practice on appellate law, free speech, traditional family values, pro-life, and religious liberty constitutional law. Stanley has filed, briefed, and argued numerous trial and appellate cases on constitutional issues throughout the United States. Stanley graduated from Temple University School of Law in the top five percent of his class and is a member of the Florida and the District of Columbia bars, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court and numerous federal district and appellate courts.