Earlier this summer, pro-life activist Titus Folks was cited for trespassing because he was at the same public park in Nampa where an LGBTQ+ pride event was taking place:
The Idaho Family Policy Center announced this morning that it is defending pro-life evangelist Titus Folks, who was cited for trespassing at Canyon County Pride at Lakeview Park in Nampa last June. According to Caleb Pirc, director of the IFPC Legal Center, Folks was in the process of setting up a table at the park when organizers demanded he leave and called the police. Folks moved his table across the street, but police still cited him for trespassing.
The IFPC Legal Center represented Folks in the case and yesterday announced that Canyon County Prosecutor Christopher Boyd moved to dismiss the case. Boyd’s motion draws on extensive case law and concludes that the organizers of the pride event were attempting to exclude Folks based on the content of his speech, even though the park remained public property during the event:
Thus, Folks could only be properly excluded if the reserved portion of the park was no longer a public forum because the permit holders had exclusive control of the property such that it was effectively their right to exclude whomever they wanted. Because this event was advertised and permitted as open to the public in a location that is traditionally a public forum, Folks could not be properly excluded for the content of his speech.
The motion notes that Folks asked for the citation, presumably hoping to maintain a paper trail rather than simply leaving despite his belief that he was standing on solid constitutional ground.
Another trespass case was in the news yesterday as well. A jury found Sara LaWall, the activist Unitarian reverend who led an occupation of Gov. Brad Little’s office following the signing of House Bill 752, which mandated that people use the restroom corresponding with their biological sex, guilty of trespassing. According to a sympathetic article from the Idaho Capital Sun, LaWall was arrested on the evening of April 1 after refusing to leave the governor’s office. In testimony, LaWall’s attorney tried to argue that it was unclear whether the governor’s office was potentially private property because it was part of the public Capitol. However, police bodycam footage showed LaWall and the other protesters receiving multiple warnings and admonitions to leave the office.
I’m sure left-wing commentators are already firing up their word processors to denounce the injustice of a pro-LGBTQ+ activist being found guilty of trespassing while a pro-life activist had his charges dropped. But it’s clear that the two situations are remarkably different.
Titus Folks was outside the fenced area set aside for the Nampa pride event, speaking to passersby and handing out literature. He was told to leave because pride organizers did not like what he was saying. Sara LaWall and her cohorts were inside the governor’s private office, remaining there even after being told multiple times to leave. She was told to leave not because of the content of her speech, but because she was occupying a private area.
Folks was at the park to share his faith with others. LaWall was in the governor’s office to draw attention to her cause, attention that outlets like the Idaho Capital Sun were only too eager to provide.
Juxtaposing these two cases brings the cultural battles we face in Idaho into sharp relief. Will we be a state that affirms the traditional values that made our civilization great in the first place? Or will we follow blue states like California and Washington down the road to Hell, where innate differences between men and women are erased, children’s innocence is eliminated, and unborn babies face death for the crime of being inconvenient? No, our laws and societal expectations should reflect reality and our shared values, not the delusions of mentally ill activists.
Justice was done in both cases this summer. Idaho needs more people like Titus Folks, and fewer like Sara LaWall.
Feature image created with Grok, based on photographs of Titus Folks and Sara LaWall.
The Gem State Chronicle delivers daily analysis, op-eds, press releases, and Idaho Insider updates — free to your inbox.
Free newsletter · Unsubscribe anytime · View on Substack
About Brian Almon
Brian Almon is the Editor of the Gem State Chronicle. He also serves as Chairman of the District 14 Republican Party and is a trustee of the Eagle Public Library Board. He lives with his wife and six children in Eagle.
