Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) recently filed a lawsuit against officials of Pennsylvania’s Kutztown University and its police chief. The officials punished a police officer who refused to arrest a group of Christians sharing their faith on campus. Steven Armbruster was ordered by K.U. police chief William Mioskie to remove the group of Christians from campus for “disorderly conduct.”
Armbruster, who said he saw no evidence of disorderly conduct by the Christians, explained to Mioskie that he believed this would violate the group’s constitutional rights. Armbruster was placed on administrative leave, suspended without pay for five working days, and threatened with termination. “Police officers who understand and respect the constitutional rights of American citizens should be commended, not punished,” said ADF-allied attorney Randall L. Wenger. “Corporal Armbruster honored his conscience as a Christian and his duty as a civil servant to protect—not violate—these citizens’ free-speech rights.”
