Pastor Jailed for Displaying Anti-Abortion Sign

A Christian legal group is defending a pastor who was arrested for protesting outside an abortion clinic in Mississippi.

Liberty Counsel says police violated Pastor Stephen Joiner's First Amendment rights when they jailed him for holding a sign stating abortion kills children. Joiner pastors the Church of the Nazarene in Columbus, Mississippi.

Capt. Frederick Shelton of the Columbus Police Department claimed the pastor refused to leave the area after being told he was obstructing traffic though he was a good distance from the street. He also accused him of violating a city parade ordinance despite the fact he was alone.

Liberty Counsel Attorney Mat Staver said Joiner is being harassed because someone didn't like his message.

"The First Amendment protects the rights of citizens to express themselves in public ways free of government interference," Staver said.

"The city's actions were entirely unjustified and are an affront to the fundamental rights of all Americans. Even unpopular speech is protected when peacefully expressed, as Pastor Joiner did here," he said.