-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Michael Salman, a pastor from Phoenix, Arizona, is currently serving 60 days in prison. He was also sentenced to three years probation and was ordered to pay a $12,180 fine. Salman’s crime? hosting weekly Bible studies on his 4.6 acre property. Salman is being represented by John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, who has petitioned the Arizona Supreme Court.
Whitehead said: “That Michael Salman and his family and friends are not allowed to gather in private to study the Bible goes against every founding principle of the United States of America.” Sounds like a serious violation of the First Amendment.
The City of Phoenix doesn’t agree that this is an issue of religious freedom:
- [Salman’s] case is about the building that is used for regular assembly does not meet construction and fire code requirements for assembly
- All houses of worship in the City of Phoenix must conform to the same codes
The City of Phoenix investigated neighbors’ repeated complaints and found numerous fire safety standards violations. Salman has repeatedly ignored opportunities to comply with fire safety standards. Whitehead responded: “I don’t think God intended on us to obey unlawful ordinances. If so, He must be pleased with Hitler huh?”
Apparently those “unlawful ordinances” include taxes since Salman claimed church status for property tax exemption purposes.
Salman was found guilty of 67 Class 1 Misdemeanors, out of 96 civil code violations. Salman appealed and the Maricopa County Superior Court which upheld the convictions stating:
[T]he Defendant was engaged in public or church activities, and further that Defendant’s convictions did not violate his Constitutional right to religious freedom.
H/T: Alethian Worldview, examiner, azcentral, examiner.
Yes, about misusing a code violation prosecution to claim “witch hunt” is a certain kind of dishonesty that really makes me mad. If you are working within a system, not CHALLENGING that system, but using the benefits that come to you from participating in that system (tax exemption), then you should not be allowed to scream, “I’M A VICTIM I’M A VICTIM” when the regulations applicable to participants in that system come down on you too. You have to accept that along with the benefits.
So screaming, “They’re taking away my right to worship” when they’re just taking away your “right” to violate the code that everyone else has to follow is FOUL. Go ahead and worship, and remember: “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s” as you do so.
bettykath
I agree with you. My beef is putting this guy in jail. That is trully a waste of public dollars. I also do not like governments who pick and choose whom they will enforce the law on and allow others to get away with it.
BettyKath, Jim, I just misspoke. I DID mean that they had called it a church with the IRS and had the IRS call it a church as well. I meant that if it’s a church for taxes, it’s a church for all other purposes. I just didn’t phrase it right and my editor is on vacation (I have worked her way too hard making her put in all those “alleged” words and so forth).
🙂
ROGER LINDHOLM,
I think he was trying to do good. I never saw him do anything wrong. I stopped going there, but I thought they were good people. They were Baptists. They went to church in Oakland.
Jim 1, July 21, 2012 at 3:25 pm
Malisha
You said , “But if somebody starts calling their home a church and using it as a church, then it’s a church, and the codes applicable to churches are applicable to it.”
WRONG! How is it classified at the tax office and who approved it is what matters.
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Actually you are both right, but sort of talking past each other.
The pastor called it a church, used it as a church, and needed to use the codes applicable to a church (but did not, the crux of the problem and why he’s going to jail).
Since he has a tax exemption on the basis of the building being a church, it is a church and only supports the city’s contention that he applied for the wrong permits and built to the wrong set of codes. As Mike pointed out, the guy is gaming the system. I’d go one step further, he’s trying to make a test case based on the first amendment to publicize his church as the victim of a witch hunt.
Alameda, California. Out of business.
http://businessprofiles.com/details/compass-and-helm-christian-servicemens/CA-C0527517
A person, with a pasture, with a flock, with a set of shears, and a lying sack of rap mouth, can fleece the flock and make a living. This guy does not have a big pasture for the flock. I bet the zoning ordinance would not let him keep sheep in the house either. Baptists are just as bad as sheep. Rules are rules. Could not have a kennel either. Not without a permit. Not in my neighborhood. The next door neighbor will open a Chick Fil Ahole to serve em dinner after church. The next guy down will open a car lot in his front yard to sell them cars. Pretty soon its a commercial strip mall and not a residential neighborhood. Earplugs aint gonna cure it. Loud wailing, gospel singers right next door.
Malisha
You said , “But if somebody starts calling their home a church and using it as a church, then it’s a church, and the codes applicable to churches are applicable to it.”
WRONG! How is it classified at the tax office and who approved it is what matters.
Id707 and Matt Johnson
Is it a mark of intelligence to use profanity, name-calling and personal attacks on people whom you have never met (and, therefore know nothing about) as a defensive mechanism to protect your bruised egos? The intelligent are those who can continue a debate without lashing out with personal attacks, utilizing only the facts of the topic which they percieve to be true. I became a fan of this blog because, like many other readers out there, I am curious about the legal aspects of the world as seen through the eyes of the honorable Professor Turley and, whether or not I agree with all his views (or those of the readers), I still hold his and other’s opinions in the highest respect. You may use all the “million-dollar-words” you wish, you may even try to impress everyone with your demonstrations of transparently boisterous intellect, but your attempt of proving intellectual superiority is sadly diminsished by your inability to escape immature character bashing.
This is sad because you both have an obvious strong intellect which could have a much stronger impact if you could just get over your hostilities!
As for my implied need “to be noticed”, I have nothing to prove to you or anybody. I am secure enough in my intelligence that I don’t have a desperate nedd to prove it to others. I contribute (and will continue to contribute) because, like you, I have opinions and have every right to give them without feasr of personal reprisals.
One more thing, interesting that you should label me a “troll”. I haven’t heard that attck since it came from the mouth of an emotionally crashed celebrity (who, incidentally, I still respect and find to be quite humorous)!
Perhaps before we launch an attak, we should really see who our enemies are?
The points about many people coming to a house for a wedding or graduation party are not very important in this case because there is no zoning, code, or other law that deals with the issue, and there is no law making any of that an issue on which somebody either pays taxes or fines or has to get permits for. If you want to run a demonstration in downtown DC, on PUBLIC LAND, you get a permit if you bring 25 or more individuals to the spot at the time designated. You do NOT need a permit for 24 such persons. You DO need a permit for 25 such persons. In that case, if you were to have a demonstration every day for two months with only eight persons per day, and on the ninth, have 26 persons, you would need a permit for the ninth day. That ninth day would be a demonstration requiring a permit, although the prior demonstrations, held for the same purpose but not the same, did not. That’s OK; gotto abide by that.
There is no (I am guessing) law in the area where that church is located saying that a residence, listed as a residence, and having no special tax-free designation as a non-residence, cannot, on any particular Sunday, host a party at which 80 Christians gather to pray or preach or hear a particular preacher — even that one who got arrested. But if somebody starts calling their home a church and using it as a church, then it’s a church, and the codes applicable to churches are applicable to it.
bettykath
The attendance is what creates a problem. How many times does one have to sin to be a sinner? Once!! It makes no difference on how many times it occurs.
Bill,
Thanks for the note of appreciation. It’s only thru respectful dialog that we can reach understanding of each other.
Zoning and code enforcement tend to be involved in the permitting process. Building inspectors check out the building in process to be sure it is being built to code. Otherwise, they tend to respond to complaints.
You bring up other instances: “While there is still murkiness concerning such meetings as book club meetings, chess club meetings and other such concurring gatherings held in private residences”
I don’t see these examples being meetings of more than a few people getting together once a month, usually with rotating meeting places. But my experience is with small groups in smallish houses. Larger groups tend to meet in community halls or conference rooms in churches, fire stations, libraries, senior centers and the like. If the group is large enough to be a neighborhood nuisance I would hope that a creative solution would be found, e.g. invite the complaining neighbor(s) to join the group : ) or move the meetings to a public place of assembly or split the group into two or more smaller groups.
Matt mentioned a business being run out of a residence that was causing parking problems. A complaint to zoning enforcement might find that his business requires too much parking for the neighborhood. The solution might be a choice: he move his business or he find somewhere else to park his vehicles.
Basically, a residence is a residence. What the pastor was doing was mixing his residential building, so specified in his building permits and actual building, with an assembly usage that required different permits and compliance with different codes.
If you’re planning to host large groups on a regular basis, check the zoning to make sure the site is so zoned. Get appropriate building permits and comply with the codes. The laws make the distinction between different usages with appropriate codes. As pointed out earlier, there is an International Building Codes standards that most communities use, sometimes with local variations due to local conditions.
Reblogged this on Glory to man in the highest.
Bill W. 1, July 21, 2012 at 12:45 pm
bettykath
While there is still murkiness concerning such meetings as book club meetings, chess club meetings and other such concurring gatherings held in private residences, I would like to extend to you my deepest respect for your concise, clear response to my post. Your response was clear, factual and respectful, unlike Id707 and mespo727272 who just can’t resist adding a personal dig in their rebuttals. A lesson to those whose lack of respect for thier fellow readers: don’t insult someone’s intellect until you fully know them. Kudos to bettykath and others who recognize this obvious courtesy!
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Billy Buddy,
If you want courtesy, you can pi** off. You don’t know your own intellect. You don’t have any.
The IBM computer Big Blue didn’t beat Garry Kasparov at chess. All the chess masters on the planet were connected via the internet feeding Big Blue suggestions.
You’re a fraud.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Blue_%28chess_computer%29
bettykath,
Regarding garage sales. We had a similar situation here. A family who lives not far from me were having a yard sale almost non-stop. In reality, they were running a flea market out of their yard. After several complaints, the city council and police came down on them with a cease and desist order. The neighborhood is now a lot more peaceful. I see some parallels in the instant case.
Jim,
Is what’s good for the gander good for the geese? Ask the geese.
This is not about freedom of religion, freedom of speech and/or freedom of assembly. It IS about a man trying to “game” the system and being called on it. That he lied about the purpose of the add on to his house, is proven by his claim of tax exempt status for his church.
Housing people in a structure that doen’t meet fire safety standards is a dubious proposition at best, since people could die from that. If one is unable to distiguish what is going on here then they are either hopelessly drinking spiked kool aid, or really have little understanding of prudent law.
“Bull” W.,
PS Personal dig. Yessiree! You deserve it fully.
You, with your crap posting are putting inflammatory
nonsense and fanning the smell into affronted nostrils of intelligent people, JUST to be noticed.
And that is my interpretation, of which of course has no greater value than yours. But I doubt the honesty of intent behind yours.
Jim,
“As for traffic concerns, people attending garage sales create more havoc. Finally, what about homes where there are many kids. Are fire codes inflicted upon those private homes to the same degree as commercial entities? This was a clear over-reach and only angers the base of the Republican Party acknowledging that government is out of control.”
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Garage sales sometimes do cause traffic problems but tend to be once or twice a year, not 2-3 times a week. If they are every week, a complaint could be made that it’s a commercial enterprise that may not be appropriate in a residential zone. A violation of zoning, not codes.
There are building codes that require all bedrooms to have more than one means of egress – 2 doors, a door and a window. Every family should have a plan and rehearsals on how to get out of every room in the house.
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Cheryl, Actually, there is no zoning restriction for churches in Phoenix. But you are correct that his problems were all about code violations.
Bill W.,
You seem to be using the “courtesy and respect” card—-and in the usual dishonest manner of false players who usually do so.
Have I affronted you? Just wait, there is more to come. And now it is not habitual nor driven by irritation, but like GeneH, of intellect.
You come here in troll-fashion, spewing such obviously false reasoning that one can only suspect you of being a troll. And you succeeded in your troll trick.
You got replies from many intelligent persons, who perhaps also in self-interest took pleasure in knocking down your house of cards. A Potemkin cruiser indeed, although in the robes of folk religions expression.
Now I take the pleasure to be extracted from “affronting ” someone who is not even worth that.
You came obviously on false premises, and rightfully shoold be ignored.
Unless you have something clever to say, your idiocy will be ignored by me.