TRI In The News
Pastor Serving Time in Jail for Backyard Church
From AZ Family
Original article available here
PHOENIX -- For the past six years, Michael Salman and his family and friends have diligently documented every chapter of their fight against the City of Phoenix over a building in the Salman's backyard.
In a YouTube video shot July 9th, 2012, Salman is surround by his daughters inside the building, saying goodbye before turning himself into jail.
He was sentenced to 60 days in jail after a judge found that he was holding church services in the building, without the proper permits, and in a space with dozens of code violations. Later that day, he reported to the Sheriff's department to start his stint.
"Being in Tent City's not a good place to be, especially if the charge against you is some kind of zoning violation," said John Whitehead, Salman's attorney.
On Tuesday, Whitehead filed a writ of Habeas Corpus, asking Arizona's Supreme Court to step in. He calls Salman's time in Maricopa County's Tent City cruel and unusual punishment.
"It says if someone is being held in a facility they should not be, they should be brought before a judge and the state has to convince the judge why that person's in jail," said Whitehead.
If a judge sides with them, It could spring Salman out early, but the court's decision still stands, that Salman knowingly held church services in a building with the wrong permit.
Still, it's not a fight Salman or his team are ready to finish. Salman's attorney says he's also fighting the constitutionality of the City's case in the Ninth Circut Court of Appeals.
The City of Phoenix declined to comment.
