Evangelist team allowed to witness without harassment in Colorado town

Evangelist team allowed to witness without harassment in Colorado town

One Colorado town's chief of police has instructed his officers to stop harassing two evangelists who were threatened with arrest for sharing their faith outside of a local bar. An attorney with a pro-family legal organization says the two Christian men were well within their rights, according to the First Amendment.

For the past seven years, Norman Robinovitz and Bill Phillips have shared their faith regularly on the public sidewalks in Canon City, Colorado. However, last month as the two were witnessing outside of two local bars, someone called police to investigate their activities.

After a third call, the men were threatened with arrest for disorderly conduct. They contacted the pro-family legal defense, education and policy organization Liberty Counsel, which sent a letter to the city attorney, outlining the evangelists' free-speech rights under the U.S. Constitution.

Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver says the town's police chief ordered his officers to leave the men alone. "I think sometimes political correctness or public pressure can lead to silencing peaceful voices in public places," he observes. But nevertheless, he says, "obviously, the Constitution protects these evangelists."

The law is clear in matters of this sort, the Liberty Counsel attorney insists. "You have a right, as long as you're not causing a public disturbance or blocking traffic, to stand on a sidewalk and peacefully engage in speech, whether it's verbal or through the distribution of literature or through the carrying of a sign," he says. "That is basic constitutional liberty that's protected and recognized by the First Amendment."

Staver says the complaints against Robinovitz and Phillips were nothing more than blatant attempts by the local bar's owners and workers to prevent the evangelists from speaking to bar patrons.