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Today, May 29, Judge Paul Higginbotham will sentence
Pastor Ralph Ovadal for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ on the
parking lot of the Mazomanie nude beach, a well-established fora for free
speech. The judge will also be commenting on a 33-page brief and motion
filed by Pastor's attorney James Donohoo. The motion requests Higginbotham
to vacate his decision and recuse himself from the case. Should the judge
refuse to do so and go ahead with the sentencing of Pastor Ovadal, Mr.
Donohoo will file an appeal of the decision.
Mr. Donohoo's brief and motion, which will be available
to the press today, contains multiple examples of Judge Higginbotham's
bias, animus, and prejudicial conduct towards Pastor Ovadal, including
instances in which he relied on "evidence" which was never
presented in court and misrepresented evidence which was presented in
court, did not allow relevant evidence to be admitted on Pastor Ovadal's
behalf, and further violated fundamental rules of evidence by relying in
part for his decision on a criminal complaint which is not admissible in
court. In addition, the language used by Judge Higginbotham in his written
guilty decision clearly shows him to be anything but impartial with regard
to Pastor Ralph Ovadal and other Christians opposed to the beach. Here are
a few more examples of comments made by Judge Higginbotham in his written
guilty verdict:
"Ralph Ovadal . . . has for a number of years carried on a
campaign that eschews societal mores and norms regarding the treatment
and respect offered to others."
"The erstwhile agrarian turned pastor . . ."
"Ovadal and his devotees . . ."
"Nicolas Bergum, a young adherent to Ovadal's sect . . ."
"Ovadal and his clique's pronouncements, driven by deep-seated
and somewhat captious convictions . . ."
"In bringing his truculent message to the 'wicked,' Ovadal and
his coterie have pushed the limits of protected speech."
"He also came to spread his version of the 'gospel' to beach
goers."
". . . what he and his group claim to be a gospel message."
". . . repeatedly spewed out his short litany . . ."
"If a group of angry fundamentalists surrounding an individual
is not intimidating, the Court is unsure what is."
"His actions directed toward Erickson did not benefit society
whatsoever."
". . . the Defendant's preaching has generally leaned toward
confrontation rather than traditional sermonizing."
". . . for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh." Matthew 12:34
The sentencing hearing is scheduled for 1:30 PM in Room 323 in the City
County Building (210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Madison).
Related articles:
If this is justice, Christians are in big trouble.
Pastor Ovadal to Be Sentenced Tomorrow
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