St. Michael’s Media v. Baltimore

St. Michael’s was a Catholic organization that wanted to have a prayer rally in Baltimore.   But the City government didn’t want Catholics organizing and praying in their city, which was really ironic given the reason that Maryland exists at all.  

St. Michaels planned the rally at a city-owned pavilion, and the company that managed it approved them.  But once the City got wind of St. Michaels’ religious and political views, they commanded the management company to cancel the contract.  

The city’s veto was based on the content of the message that Church Militant wished to present at the rally, and feigned concern that the group would incite a riot. The city lied that the group was involved in the January 6 events at the US Capitol.  When that lie was debunked, they tried to lie that the group would incite a riot, in part because Milo Yiannopoulos was expected to speak about his faith at the event.  

Church Militant sued in Maryland federal court and sought an injunction requiring Baltimore to allow the organization to hold their rally. 

The district court granted Church Militant’s injunction, allowing the protest to proceed. 

The City of Baltimore threw an additional tantrum and requested an expedited appeal at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.  It got one, and the appellate court rapidly slapped down Baltimore’s dishonest and unethical arguments.  

The case was remarkable for how unethically the City litigated the case.  Its attorneys Renita Collins, and Hanna Marie Sheehan were so personally invested in their hatred for St. Michael’s that they were quite possibly some of the least ethical and least competent attorneys RLG has ever litigated against.   For example, they took an excerpt of a broadcast that St. Michael’s put out and took a sentence from the beginning of the broadcast, then one from 24 minutes later, and stitched them together to try and create the false impression that St. Michael’s had engaged in wrongdoing.  An ellipsis represented nearly 24 minutes of a broadcast.   The images above discuss this.  Throughout the litigation they resorted to dishonest tactics and near tantrums, apparently unaccustomed to being told “no.”  

It was only because the District Court Judge, Eileen Hollander, stuck true to her ethics and her oath that we were able to prevail.  The City was forced to suffer the indignity of peaceful Catholics coming together to pray.  

The event took place without incident.  The scumbag attorneys who tried to stop it still have their jobs and their law licenses, much to the disgrace of the legal profession.