"Am I therefore become your enemy,because I TELL YOU THE TRUTH...?"
(Galatians 4:16)

Pastor Fights Fine for Pre-War Iraq Trip

TRENTON,N.J.-A New Jersey pastor who defied government restrictions and traveled to Iraq in 2003 to protest the pending U.S.-led invasion wants a judge to declare the fine he received unconstitutional.Lawyers for the Rev. Frederick Boyle, 58, were expected to ask a federal judge on Wednesday to nullify the $6,700 fine and declare the travel restrictions violate his constitutional rights.His lawyers also argue Boyle is being singled out due to his vocal opposition to the war, and was never given the opportunity to defend himself."Rev. Boyle never received an opportunity to make his case and was fined for exercising his constitutional rights," said Jonathan Hafetz, a lawyer from the Brennan Center for Justice, a New York-based advocacy group, who is arguing Boyle's case."It appears as if this case is an attempt by the government to punish a religious leader for speaking out against the war."John Rankin, a Treasury Department spokesman, said the department does not discuss investigations or lawsuits.Boyle took a nine-day trip to Iraq in February and March 2003 to protest the coming war. At the time, U.S. government restrictions effectively barred American citizens from traveling to Iraq except in limited circumstances. Those restrictions have since been lifted.The Methodist minister was fined $6,700 by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control for the trip.In addition to fines, Boyle could face up to 12 years in prison, Hafetz said.Boyle sued the U.S. government in 2005, asserting violations of his First and Fifth amendment rights and international law.The pastor lost his ministry in Randolph after his Iraq trip. After being transferred to a Titusville church, Boyle began a hunger strike in 2004 to protest alleged human rights abuses by U.S. troops in Iraq. That led to his eventual transfer to another parish in Nyack, N.Y.He's currently pastor at the United Methodist Church in Linden, N.J.
http://www.thecronline.com/news_article.php?nid=3296&ndate=28/02/2008
As in the days of Noah....