Court order stops Grand Rapids ordinance from prohibiting spontaneous Christian speech
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4568
ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND NEWS RELEASE
June 20, 2008 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom
Court order stops Grand Rapids ordinance
from prohibiting spontaneous Christian speech
ADF-allied attorneys settle lawsuit on behalf of group sharing Christian faith
during “Pagan Pride Festival” at city park
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After a negotiated settlement, Alliance Defense Fund allied attorneys secured a court order Thursday barring the city of Grand Rapids from using a local ordinance to prevent a group of Christians from publicly expressing a religious message at a city park. Police silenced members of the World Wide Street Preachers’ Fellowship at a public park after receiving complaints from attendees of a “Pagan Pride Festival.” The officers claimed the Christians needed a permit, a process that could take months.
“Christians shouldn’t be forced to wait days, weeks, or months before expressing their Christian beliefs in a public place,” said ADF-allied attorney Randall Wenger of the Camp Hill, Pa., law firm Boyle, Neblett & Wenger. “Our clients were exercising their First Amendment rights in a public park. We are pleased with this outcome that recognizes the fellowship’s constitutional rights.”
“Christians have the same First Amendment rights as anyone else in the state of Michigan,” said ADF Senior Counsel Joe Infranco. “The city’s ordinance can no longer be used to silence people who peacefully share their faith, as this group did. This is an important outcome for everyone who cherishes their First Amendment rights.”
In September 2006, eight WWSPF members were prevented from addressing attendees of the Pagan Pride Festival at Richmond Hills Park when a Grand Rapids Police sergeant insisted that their activity required a permit. Another sergeant forcefully pulled one member from the group’s platform before detaining him in a squad vehicle, handcuffing him, and charging him with disturbing the peace.
Wenger filed the lawsuit and motion for preliminary injunction in January 2007, with ADF-allied attorney Bob Flemming serving as local counsel in the federal case and lead counsel in the criminal case, which involved the disturbing the peace charge (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3990). In January of 2008, the judge in the criminal case found that the relevant subsection of the disturbing the peace ordinance was void because it was unconstitutionally vague.
A copy of the consent order from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division, in World Wide Street Preachers’ Fellowship v. The City of Grand Rapids is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/IckesConsentOrder.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
One Comment
GR is my hometown, and while we’re historically known for our conservatism in all matters except perhaps the treatment of city water (GR was the first to make the water more like toothpaste, adding fluoride), such has not been the case lately.
I would be interested in knowing who that Sergeant was, and if he was possibly from the Wyoming city police force. They’re *very* bored, generally….
-EW