Free speech back after ordinance withdrawn

Free speech back after ordinance withdrawn

A Jacksonville, Alabama, man who was prevented from speaking on a public sidewalk about his faith while using a speaker for amplification has won the repeal of a city ordinance that was responsible. The repeal was part of a settlement in the lawsuit he filed in U.S. District Court over the incident.

In March 2006, Wesley Sewell, an ordained minister, was sharing his faith on a public sidewalk using a ten-inch speaker when he was told by local police he was in violation of the city's noise ordinance because he could be heard more than ten feet away.

Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney David Cortman, legal counsel for Sewell, says that was an attempt by the city to make Christian speech "second-class speech."

"The First Amendment protects everyone's right to speak in the public square, including religious speakers," says Cortman. "But Jacksonville's speech policy was so restrictive, it prohibits any amplified sound that can be heard ten feet away -- which covers nearly all speech that exists."

ADF says as part of the settlement, Jacksonville officials agreed to a permanent injunction barring future enforcement of the old ordinance, and passed a new, less-restrictive law that will allow Sewell and others to share their faith publicly, with or without amplification.

Cortman says the settlement strengthens protection of free-speech rights. "The First Amendment does not require citizens to adhere to arbitrary restrictions before engaging in the free-speech rights on public property," he states. The case is Sewell v. The City of Jacksonville.