Court rules witnessing is still free speech
Charges have been dismissed against a man who was arrested last year for sharing the gospel and distributing religious literature on the campus of Schenectady County Community College in New York state. According to attorneys for minister Greg Davis, a Schenectady city court judge acquitted him of alleged criminal trespass that led to his arrest in September.
Davis's attorney Brian Raum says his client has a regular ministry of public evangelism on college campuses, but on the day in question last fall, an assistant dean at the school told him he "had no right to be there and had to leave."
"After a little while," Raum explains, "they called the police and the police handcuffed Reverend Davis and arrested him for what amounts to preaching the gospel in a public place."
Raum says the case was tried in January of this year, with the judge's decision being released this week -- a decision which acquitted Davis of any charges and affirming that the college had no right to ask him to leave just because he exercised his First Amendment rights.
"The Supreme Court has said time and time again that religious speech is protected like any other speech," says the attorney, "and in this case there's obvious hostility toward that message -- but the First Amendment prevailed in this case and we're very grateful."
Good to hear this!!
Author