GRAND RAPIDS, MI. (AP) -- A Benton Harbor community activist who unsuccessfully ran for Congress from prison will be freed while his case is appealed. Edward Pinkney was convicted last year of paying people to vote in a local election and sentenced to five years of probation.
He wrote an article months later for a small Chicago newspaper saying God might punish the judge in his case.
Another judge ruled that the comments violated the terms of Pinkney's probation and sentenced him in June to three to 10 years in prison.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan filed an appeal, calling his imprisonment a violation of free-speech rights.
The Michigan Court of Appeals on Thursday granted the group's request that Pinkney be freed on bond during his appeal.
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