British Barrister to Speak at November 16 Hate-Crimes Protest at Justice Department

British Barrister to Speak at November 16 Hate-Crimes Protest at Justice Department

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 /Christian Newswire/ -- Paul Diamond, a British barrister specializing in religious liberty, will participate in a November 16 press conference preceding a protest of the newly expanded federal hate-crimes law outside the U.S. Justice Department. The press conference will begin at 1:30 PM.

An expert on the impact of hate-crime laws on religious liberty, Diamond works with the Christian Legal Centre in England. The Centre promotes and protects the freedoms of Bible-believing Christians in the United Kingdom.

Diamond's cases have included representing: a Christian teenager who wore a "purity ring" at school, an employee of British Airways who was told she could not wear a cross at work, and a Christian magistrate who wished to be exempted from placing a child in a same-sex household. He regularly provides advice to Christians who have been discriminated against for expressing their beliefs.

Others who will speak out for First Amendment rights at the November 16 event include: Bishop E.W. Jackson of STAND America (an African-American cleric on the board of Exodus International, which ministers to homosexuals who wish to leave the lifestyle), Brian Camenker of Mass Resistance (who's fought the homosexual agenda in the Bay State for more than a decade), Dr. Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, and Jim Garlow, a leader of the Prop 8 battle in California, which overturned judicially imposed gay marriage in the Golden State.

On October 28, President Barack Obama signed into law a measure extending the federal hate crimes statute to include so-called sexual orientation. The ministers who will be speaking out on November 16 believe this will criminalize all criticism of homosexual conduct, including that contained in the Bible.

To test this belief and protest a clear violation of First Amendment freedom of speech and religion, various clergy will preach short sermons and read passages from the Bible regarding homosexual behavior. Like Dr. Martin Luther King and the Sixties Civil Rights movement, they will engage in civil disobedience to protest injustice.

Legal challenges to the unconstitutional law may also be announced at that time. Mat Staver, Esq., founder and president of Liberty Counsel and dean of Liberty Law School, has been retained as their counsel and will be present at the press conference preceding the event.

Pastor Rick Scarborough, president of Vision America Action, commented, "We are heartened that a distinguished barrister like Paul Diamond, who has litigated extensively for religious freedom in the U.K., will travel across the Atlantic to uphold the same principle in the United States."

For more information or to schedule background interviews, contact Misty Allmond at 866-522-5582 or visionamerica1@yahoo.com or Dr. Gary Cass at 866-508-2232 or drgarycass@christianadc.org