U.S. v. Ballinger
| Citation | 153 F.Supp.2d 1361 |
| Decision Date | 13 July 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 2:01-CR-32-WCO.,No. 2:99-CR-26-WCO.,2:99-CR-26-WCO.,2:01-CR-32-WCO. |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. Jay Scott BALLINGER, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia |
O'KELLEY, Senior District Judge.
The instant case is presently before the court for consideration of defendant's objections [27-1; 33-1] to the magistrate judge's report and recommendation of February 20, 2001 [26-1] and his report and recommendation of April 13, 2001 [32-1]. Defendant requests that this court grant his motion to dismiss the charges against him for lack of jurisdiction.
As part of a widespread church arson campaign, defendant Jay Scott Ballinger, a self-proclaimed "missionary of Lucifer," deliberately set fire to five churches in the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia between December 22, 1998 and January 16, 1999 [Stip. at 4]. Defendant's fires completely destroyed the Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Chatsworth, Georgia ("Amazing Grace"); the New Salem United Methodist Church in Commerce, Georgia ("New Salem"); and the fellowship hall of the Sardis Full Gospel Church in Monroe, Georgia ("Sardis Full Gospel") [31-1]. The New Salem fire resulted in the death of one volunteer firefighter and bodily injury to three other firefighters [31-1]. Defendant's two additional fires badly damaged the Johnson United Methodist Church in Watkinsville, Georgia ("Johnson United") and the fellowship hall of the Mountain View Baptist Church in Chatsworth, Georgia ("Mountain View") [31-1].
In connection with these arsons, defendant pleaded guilty on April 13, 2001 to four counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 247(a)(1) and (b), which proscribe "intentionally defac[ing], damag[ing], or destroy[ing] any religious real property, because of the religious character of that property," provided "that the offense is in or affects interstate or foreign commerce." 18 U.S.C. § 247(a)(1) & (b) (2001) [30-1]. Further, defendant pleaded guilty to one count of violating § 247(a)(1), (b), (d)(1) and (d)(2) [30-1]. See 18 U.S .C. § 247(a)(1), (b), (d)(1)-(2) (2001). Sections 247(d)(1) and (d)(2) provide for enhanced penalties under the statute "if death results from [the defendant's] acts," 18 U.S.C. § 247(d)(1) (2001), or "if bodily injury results to any person ... and the violation is by means of fire...." 18 U.S.C. § 247(d)(2) (2001).1
Pursuant to Rule 11(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, see Fed. R.Crim.P. 11(a)(2), however, defendant conditioned his April 13, 2001 guilty plea upon a judicial determination of the constitutionality of § 247, both on its face and as applied to him, under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution [31-1]. See U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3. Defendant contends that although he committed these arsons, this court must dismiss the indictments against him because (A) there is an insufficient nexus between each of the burned churches and interstate commerce, such that defendant's offenses were not "in or affect[ing] interstate ... commerce," 18 U.S.C. § 247(b) [33-1]; or (B) section 247 regulates noneconomic intrastate criminal activity, rather than interstate commercial activity, and therefore the statute is an unconstitutional exercise of Congress' power "[t]o regulate Commerce ... among the several States...." U .S. Const. art. I., § 8, cl. 3 [27-1].
For purposes of addressing defendant's constitutional challenges to § 247, the parties stipulated to the following additional facts [31-1]: Prior to its complete destruction, Amazing Grace had purchased song books from Knoxville, Tennessee; pew coverings and hymnals from Cleveland, Tennessee; and fund-raising supplies (candy) from Montgomery, Alabama. Its 300-member congregation, some of whom resided in neighboring Tennessee, had recently purchased the church building and one acre of land from the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church, headquartered in Evanston, Illinois. To finance this acquisition and repair storm damage, the congregation held yard sales, bake sales, and sold cookbooks. The congregation commissioned the printing of these cookbooks in Collierville, Tennessee. Amazing Grace also collected donations for the poor, some of which were provided to needy travelers in the form of food, household items, and hotel or motel lodging.
Mountain View, a 372-member congregation, had acquired Bible school materials from California, building supplies from Alabama and other out-of-state vendors, and plumbing and electrical supplies from Collierville, Tennessee. The church belonged to the 14-member Coosawattee Baptist Association and donated money to the Georgia Baptist Children's Home, which provided housing, clothing, food, and classroom instruction to foreign children intercepted by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, as well as children from other U.S. states. In 1998, Mountain View donated $1,536 in such funds. The church contributed an additional $1,536 to Georgia Baptist Hospital's indigent-care fund which, in part, provided medical services to children whom its doctors brought to Georgia from the Dominican Republic, Russia, and various South American countries. At the time of the fire, at least one of Mountain View's members was living out-of-state; this member was serving in the U.S. military but returned to the church when on leave. Mountain View also used a 15-passenger van shipped from Orlando, Florida to transport its youth choir and elderly women's groups.
Sardis Full Gospel, a 60-member congregation, regularly held week-long revivals, hosting visiting pastors from Canada, Florida, Mississippi, Ohio, and South Carolina. These out-of-state pastors would either stay with church members, in local hotels, or in the church itself, which was equipped with showers and sleeping facilities. Further, the congregation prepared and served meals to the visiting pastors in its fellowship hall, which defendant destroyed on December 25, 1998. The church had also acquired, via donation, a fax machine/copier from Panasonic, Inc., a donation that was specifically approved by the company's New Jersey headquarters.
Like Amazing Grace, New Salem was a member of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church, whose national headquarters were in Evanston, Illinois. Through this conference, New Salem, which had roughly 120 members at the time of its destruction, regularly sent money to the national office. The national office used these funds for a variety of purposes, including foreign and domestic missions. To subsidize its pastor's pension, New Salem also contributed, through the conference, to the Illinois-based pension administrator—United Methodist Church's General Board of Pension and Health Benefits. The church property itself was held in trust for the General Conference of the United Methodist Church in Illinois.
Prior to its destruction, New Salem had acquired office supplies from Ottawa, Illinois; Bible school materials from Grandview, Missouri; banners from Nashville, Tennessee; church bulletin and newsletter-making materials from Canton, Ohio; and a steeple from Alabama. The congregation had several out-of-state members and several out-of-state recipients of its monthly newsletters. To finance youth group trips and outings, including trips to Orlando, Florida and Chattanooga, Tennessee, New Salem members held fund-raising barbeques, bake sales, and car washes and sold candy.
Johnson United, a 132-member congregation, also belonged to the North Georgia Conference of the Evanston, Illinois-based United Methodist Church, to which it regularly sent monetary apportionments. Like New Salem, Johnson United subsidized its pastor's pension plan and health insurance by contributing, through the conference, to the United Methodist Church's General Board of Pension and Health Benefits. The church property itself was held in trust for the General Conference of the United Methodist Church in Illinois, and several of Johnson United's members lived in other states, including Illinois, yet continued to attend services. Additionally, the congregation purchased Sunday school and Bible school materials from Nashville, Tennessee; Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops used the church for meetings; and the church also served as a voting precinct for citizens in its district.
All five of the damaged or destroyed churches received annual visits from the Nashville, Tennessee-based Gideon Bible Ministry, which conducted worship services and collected monetary donations used for placing Bibles throughout the United States and in 175 different countries. Further, all five of the churches purchased all of their propane gas from out-of-state suppliers, though local services delivered it. Mountain View was also insured by an out-of-state carrier, Church Mutual Insurance Company of Wisconsin.
To commit the aforementioned arsons, defendant and his girlfriend, Angela Wood ("Wood"), drove from Indiana to Georgia via interstate highways in defendant's Indiana-registered Ford Aerostar van. While en route to Georgia, defendant and Wood spent the night in hotels, purchased gasoline and other supplies, and intentionally set fire to three churches between December 20 and December 22, 1998; the Mt. Eden Christian Church in Scottsburg, Indiana; the Bolton Schoolhouse Missionary Baptist Church in Bonnieville, Kentucky; and the Little Hurricane Primitive Baptist Church in Manchester, Tennessee. Once in Georgia, where they stayed from December 22, 1998 until January 16, 1999, defendant and Wood purchased a plastic gasoline container from K-Mart using defendant's Indiana VISA card and, on separate occasions, set fire to each church at issue by breaking a ground-level or low-level window, pouring gasoline through the broken...
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