The issue of free speech was fiercely debated Thursday in a Detroit courtroom, where a judge said he would decide next month whether it was OK for authorities to have jailed Quran-burning pastor Terry Jones and ordered him to stay away from a local mosque for three years.

Jones of Gainesville, Fla., was convicted in April by a Dearborn jury of being likely to breach the peace because of his plans to protest outside the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn. He was ordered to stay away from the mosque.

Attorneys for Jones appealed the decision, saying it violated his constitutional rights.