Judge dismisses charges in case of one man's 'witnessing parade'

Judge dismisses charges in case of one man's 'witnessing parade'

Charges against a Georgia man have been dropped related to his witnessing efforts and distribution of tracts. A Forsyth County Superior Court judge agreed that a parade ordinance cited in the arrest of Frederic Baumann did not legally apply.

Attorney David Cortman with the Alliance Defense Fund says the arrest of his client in April was invalid because the parade and permit ordinance only applied to private organizations and groups of three or more persons. Cortman explains what happened to his client when he attempted to share his faith outside the City of Cumming fairgrounds.

"Frederic Baumann was arrested, jailed, tried, and convicted -- all in a two-day time span -- for merely distributing religious tracts on a public sidewalk," says the attorney. "And what laws did he violate, you ask? A city parade ordinance. And the bottom line obviously is: one man does not a parade make."

He also interprets the ruling by Judge Jeffrey Bagley to affirm that passing out religious literature on a public thoroughfare, as Baumann did outside the city's fairgrounds, is not illegal -- but arresting him for that act is.

"This is another installment of the continuing saga entitled, 'Do Christians have First Amendment rights of free speech?'" Cortman says. "[And] although the obvious answer is yes, some government officials don't seem to think so."

According to a statement released by the Alliance Defense Fund, Baumann was denied requests to read the ordinance under which he was charged as well as the opportunity to obtain legal counsel -- then served two days in jail before a municipal court judge convicted him and sentenced him to time already served. Cortman says that amounted to denial of his client's constitutional right to due process under law.