JONATHAN TURLEY

Rev. Edward Pinkney is a minister who relishes the wrath of God — particularly as an extension of his own criminal case. Pinkney recently ordered down fire and damnation upon the head of Judge Alfred Butzbaugh. Judge Butzbaugh took the extraordinary (and unlawful) step of ordering that Pinkney refrain from “defamatory and demeaning” communications as part of his probation. The court revoked his probation after Pinkney wrote the article below calling Judge Butzbaugh a “racist,” “dumb,” and “corrupt,” and predicting his demise at the hands of the Almighty. The Michigan Court of Appeals wisely found the order and revocation to be obvious violations of his first amendment rights.

The case began after Benthon Harbor Commissioner Glen Yarbrough was recalled in a campaign of Pinkney and oters. Yarbrough accused Pinkney of paying people $5 for their votes. Pinkney was ultimately convicted of giving valuable consideration to influence the manner of voting by a person, MCL 168.931(1)(a), influencing a person voting an absent voter ballot, MCL 168.932(h), and three counts of possessing, returning, or soliciting to return an absent voter ballot, MCL 168.932(f). He was given five years probation.

The 15th condition of the order mandates that the defendant was not to “engage in any assaultive, abusive, defamatory, demeaning, harassing, violent, threatening, or intimidating behavior, including the use, through any electronic or print media under [his] care, custody or control, of the mail, e-mail or internet.” It is unbelievable that any prosecutor or judge would include such a blatantly unconstitutional provision in an order. A first-year law student could recognize the provision as an obvious violation of the first amendment.

Pinkney unleashed a diatribe (below) that included the following bizarre passage:

Judge Butzbaugh, it shall come to pass; if thou continue not to hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all that is right; which I command thee this day, that all these Curses shall come upon you and your family, curses shalt be in the City of St. Joseph and Cursed shalt thou be in the field, cursed shall come upon you and your family and over take thee; cursed shall be the fruit of thy body. The Lord shall smite thee with consumption and with a fever and with an inflammation and with extreme burning. They the demons shall Pursue thee until thou persist.

It is nice to see the minister adding Judge Butzbaugh’s family in the hateful curse.

It should have been clear that Rev. Pinkney’s “demons” may be a subject for psychological treatment, but not judicial review.

Butzbaugh has been active in the state bar and has a distinguished record, making this excessive order all the more difficult to understand. He held a variety of state bar association positions and helped launch the Access to Justice Campaign to raise funds for civil legal aid services. He was awarded the State Bar’s highest honor, the Roberts P. Hudson award and served as the 65th President of the State Bar of Michigan and on the Bar’s Board of Commissioners from 1992 until 2000. He is a fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation and the American Bar Association Foundation. He is also a member of the State Bar of Texas, American Bar Association and the Federation of Insurance and Corporate Counsel.

What is particularly bizarre is that Judge Dennis Wiley (Butzbaugh recused himself) held a probation revocation hearing where it held from Rev. William Wylie Kellerman, a minister in the United Methodist Church, who gave expert testimony that the “threatening” paragraph in the editorial was a paraphrase of several verses from the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Bible. Specifically, Deuteronomy 28:15-22 (King James Version) states:

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. . . . Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body . . . . The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

Kellerman went on to explain that Deuteronomy described a covenant between God and men and that the curses are visited upon men by God. That appears to have been enough for the court which revoked his probation over the use of childish curses. It is hard to see which is most abusive Butzbaugh’s original order or Wiley’s revocation hearing.

For his ruling, Wiley was ultimately awarded the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression’s award for Jefferson Muzzles — an ignominious award for those who attack or restrict free speech.

Notably, one would have to believe in such curses and Pinkney’s ability to call down such judgments to establish a true threat. We have seen other religious fanatics use such curses as part of their political expressions recently, here. Likewise, neither Wiley nor Butzbaugh can use probation orders to prevent people from speaking poorly to them.
The three judge appellate panel found that the condition “was not directly related to defendant’s rehabilitation or to the protection of the public.” However, it upheld Pinkney’s conviction for voter fraud. Notably, the appellate panel held that some restriction on speech might be appropriate but not restrictions on criticizing the court:

In the present case, defendant was convicted for paying $5 to persons to vote in favor of the recall of Yarbrough and for possessing AV ballots. The 15th condition of defendant’s probation prohibited defendant from engaging in defamatory and demeaning communications. The condition was a blanket prohibition on such behavior; defendant was prohibited from making defamatory or demeaning communications about any person, including coworkers, neighbors, and congregants. Such a blanket prohibition is not directly related to defendant’s
rehabilitation of the election law crimes he committed, which impugned the integrity of the electoral process, or to the public’s protection from a repetition of the crimes. Crandon, supra at 128.37 Prohibiting defendant from engaging in any defamatory or demeaning communications is not primarily directed at preventing defendant from engaging in subsequent crimes that impugn the electoral process. Moreover, a prohibition on defamatory and demeaning communications could be narrowly tailored so that it relates directly to the election law crimes committed by defendant. For example, defendant could be prohibited from engaging in any defamatory or demeaning communications regarding Yarbrough and the other city commissioners.

While the opinion is a commendable rejection of Judges Wiley and Butzbaugh, I do not agree with that last line. I fail to see how “demeaning communications” about the commissioners would be part of a narrowly tailored order.

Pinkney is obviously an unhinged religious zealot who loves to talk about “not taking any prisoners” in his political screeds — such as this video:

For the opinion, click here.

Here is Pinkney’s diatribe:

It is our constitutional duty as American citizens to hold our elected officials accountable for their words, actions and inaction of wrongdoing. We must draw the line and decide what to do if that line is crossed, and we must use our Constitution. Most judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials have crossed the line in the sand many times. It’s time for the people: poor whites, Blacks and Hispanics to stand together and fight for what is right.

We must fight for justice for all anytime you have a Judge like Alfred Butzbaugh, who is a racist. It took over 53 days to render a fifth-grade decision denying me a new trial. I am a man of God, and an innocent man, convicted by an all-white jury that violated the sanctity of their oath and were motivated by something other the pursuit of truth and justice.

The corruption and the deceitfulness continues in Berrien County Courthouse. In my motion for a new trial, I argued that I was charged but never arraigned, nor did I receive due process by the dumb Judge and prosecutor. I was denied a public trial when the Judge locked the courtroom doors. One of the jurors reported to the Court that during the recess, she saw one of Rev. Pinkney’s attorneys make a drug deal in the parking lot. She lied, saying several Black people came up to her and her husband and asked for money. She was not removed from the jury. The Berrien County Courthouse is so blatantly corrupt that even the legal establishment has been forced to recognize it. It does not provide a just legal system. The corruption starts at the top. They customarily and regularly deprive Blacks and Hispanics of due process.

The corruption and the deceitfulness continues in Berrien County Courthouse. Judge Butzbaugh has violated his oath. I support the constitution of the United States and the State of Michigan; we are still waiting on this racist corrupt judge to do the same. Judge Butzbaugh has failed the people, the community, his duties and his office.

Judge Butzbaugh, it shall come to pass; if thou continue not to hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all that is right; which I command thee this day, that all these Curses shall come upon you and your family, curses shalt be in the City of St. Joseph and Cursed shalt thou be in the field, cursed shall come upon you and your family and over take thee; cursed shall be the fruit of thy body. The Lord shall smite thee with consumption and with a fever and with an inflammation and with extreme burning. They the demons shall Pursue thee until thou persist.

The Herald Palladium is known as the “Herald Pollution” because of all the racist garbage the newspaper writes. It is led by Julia Swida, Scott Aikens and Dave Brown.

When does it all stop! When are the people going to take a stand? The challenge is clear. The case of Rev. Edward Pinkney is a concentration of the criminalization of a generation of people. This is not a Black issue, nor is it just a person of color issue. It is a whole country issue.

For articles on the case, click here and here.