Why do police protect the westboro baptist church?
When you choose the profession of police officer you choose to defend everyone who needs it regardless of any personal feelings you may have. The westboro group has been to the Supreme Court to defend their freedom of speech rights. The westboro group actually makes their money by suing police departments for not protecting them. It's actually one family with a few relatives, all of them lawyers as opposed to a real church - which typically would help their community.
If the police are chasing a criminal and he runs into a church, can the police go inside the church to arrest him?
Yep. Not a problem.You see, this goes back to the old Sanctuary theory.But, there are two problems. The first is that it just doesn’t happen. Just setting foot in a church doesn’t do it.In the old days, you had to grab the Altar, something that used to be in all churches, in order to declare sanctuary.Today, fewer and fewer churches have altars, so the priest, minister, reverend, or whatever has to grant it, IF asked.But, here’s the snag. No church in the US will stand up to the police on this. They will protect their own, like the Catholic Church does, almost regardless of offense, but they won’t protect just anyone.It’s kind of like your medical records. In theory, they’re protected and the police, Sheriff, or government has to get a warrant. In reality, it doesn’t work. Few will stand up to protect anything in post 9/11 US of A. If you don’t get the priest or whomever to OK it, you can be arrested. They won’t lie for you or anything. I wouldn’t be bet on the sanctity of the confessional today.
Why are the police not allowed in churches, like agencies such as ICE?
To my knowledge, law enforcement is not prohibited from any church, mosque, synagogue, or any other building except upon the grounds that the property is privately owned and the owner(s) wish to exclude someone, which is one of the tenets of private ownership.If law enforcement is in pursuit of someone who ducks into a place of worship, there's nothing to stop law enforcement from pursuing that person into the building, but - especially at non-Christian establishments - it can turn into a Public Relations nightmare if law enforcement enters against the wishes of the flock. Best to just cover the exits and wait for the pursuit subject to come out on their own.
Does the U.S. government fund Christian churches?
Indirectly, yes. Unfortunately. Funny that the very same people who object to Planned Parenthood receiving government funds (no gov funds can be used for abortions) fail to see why some of us object to government funds going to religious organizations. Churches also don't have to pay property taxes so they get fire and police protection FREE, costing us taxpayers more. Some churches use this loophole to lease out space to for-profit business so those business get away with not paying their fair share as well.
Why should the Fire Dept. respond to a church fire when churches don’t have to pay taxes?
My ex-husband was/is a firefighter. They respond to all tones in their district, regardless of where it is located. It's their civil duty.
What are your thoughts on Alabama's attempt to allow churches to establish their own police force?
As a lifelong resident of Alabama, I feel that this has a lot to do with the present aggressive political environment. It’s not an accident that one of Trump’s first rallies was held a few blocks from my home and that my former senator (Sessions-R) is now his AG. The electoral outcome has emboldened conservative extremists here as everywhere.Southern conservative culture in general is suspicious of federal power for many reasons. In the post-war period, Federal power was exploitative and corrupt. Later, it took on a more colonialist character, our state being agricultural and still underdeveloped. The substantial Federal investment in our state and our utter dependency on Federal funds has not resulted in a sense of gratitude locally.Southern conservatives are proud and jealous about their rights, as they define them. Initiatives like these for church militias aren’t about an obvious threat nearly as much as they are about asserting local control and taking advantage of the perceived victory of conservative extremism, in whose cultural core my state obviously squarely lies.
Why doesn’t the Catholic Church turn their sex offenders over to the police to face due process instead of just demoting them to a life of prayer and penance?
They do. I won’t share names of the churches, families or the diocese where this happened (for the privacy of the victims and their families) however recently (2–3 years ago) there was a priest that was accused of sexual abuse, he was locked in a monestary (innocent until proven guilty after all) while the diocese performed an investigation, gathered alleged victims got their statements (it all happened some 20–30 years ago), investigated co-workers, etc… and turned it all over to the police along with the priest in question. In fact when you see a priest is sent to pray because of accusations it’s because there is an internal investigation going on before turning in any evidence over, and yes they always turn over evidence no matter how flimsy.Most of these terrible crimes happened before proper screening was in place for candidates to the priesthood; 30–50 years ago or so. People were more inclined to believe the priest over kids, it’s was and still is the case in other people that work with kids. Now there are criminal background checks, psychological evaluations for years during their formation and rules preventing anyone working in the church to be the sole adult in the presence of minors, hence why it’s very rare these days (far less than other professions working with kids).In fact kids in Church spend a few hours a week with Catechists or the choir director rather than with a priest.
Is it true if you run into a church while the cops are chasing you they can come into the church ?
Yes, religious sancuary has no legal standing in this country. Usually the police will just wait at all the exits and arrest the person without disturbing the congregation. But they can enter any public building without a warrent, and a church in service is open to the public.
If you're running from the police and you made your way into a church, are they allowed to enter?
Yes. According to the “Continued Pursuit” Exception to the 4th Amendment which protects a Citizen from a “Warrant-less Search” by the “State” (IE Police).The 4th Amendment protects you from being searched by the Police. There are however times that Police can set aside the 4th Amendment temporarily in order to best serve the common good. These are called “Exceptions”. Continued Pursuit is one of these specific exceptions. Just because you’re being chased by Police and say…make it home. This isn’t “safe base” because they don’t have a search warrant to come in (like they normally would). All buildings can be entered when in “hot pursuit” of a criminal.Here is an entire list of the exceptions and their respective explanations on how and when they may be used by Law Enforcement.Exceptions to the Warrant Requirement