Court order puts unconstitutional St. Louis literature distribution policy on hold
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4584
ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND NEWS RELEASE
June 26, 2008 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom
Order stops enforcement of unconstitutional St. Louis
literature distribution policy
ADF-allied attorney represents Christian ministry
that sought to share faith at “PrideFest” event
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — A federal judge issued an order Tuesday that will permit a Christian ministry to hand out literature and speak about their religious viewpoint at an annual “PrideFest” event celebrating homosexual behavior. The court order, requested by an Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney, restrains city officials from enforcing an unconstitutional policy they used two years earlier at a city park to ban the same group from distributing literature and expressing their views.
“Christian groups shouldn’t be penalized for expressing their beliefs,” said ADF-allied attorney Rick Nelson, who represents the ministry, Apple of His Eye. “Being threatened with arrest simply for expressing a religious viewpoint is something we’d expect in other nations, but not in the United States. We are encouraged that the court is allowing our client to exercise their First Amendment rights while this case moves forward in court.”
In June 2006, members of Apple of His Eye were threatened with arrest by St. Louis officials for handing out Christian literature and speaking about their faith at Tower Grove Park’s “PrideFest” event, which celebrates homosexual behavior. In April 2008, Nelson filed a lawsuit and a motion for preliminary injunction on behalf of AHE against the city of St. Louis. The order against the city was issued just four days before the 2008 PrideFest event takes place on June 28 and 29 at the city park, allowing AHE to once again freely express its viewpoint.
“Christians have the same First Amendment rights as anyone else in St. Louis,” said ADF Senior Counsel Joe Infranco. “They shouldn’t be prevented from peacefully exercising their free speech rights in a public park.”
A copy of the court order granting the preliminary injunction in Apple of His Eye v. City of St. Louis, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division, is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/AppleOfHisEyePIOrder.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.