Unitarian leader convicted for role in protest
The head of the Unitarian Universalist Association has been convicted
on misdemeanor charges for participating in a protest rally against
Arizona's controversial immigration law.
Peter Morales, the first
Latino president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, was found
guilty on August 5 of failing to comply with a police officer at a July
2010 event where he and others blocked the entrance of the Maricopa
County Jail in Phoenix.
"My conviction as a result of that civil
disobedience in no way alters my commitment to opposing this legislation
that targets and dehumanizes some of the most vulnerable among us,"
said Morales, who is an ordained minister.
The protest—whose more
than 1,500 participants included UUA members and representatives from
local immigrant advocacy groups—criticized Arizona's hotly debated
immigration bill that was passed in April 2010. —RNS
