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Louisiana Street Preachers' Suit Against City Dismissed

By Howard M. Friedman

In World Wide Street Preachers Fellowship v. Town of Columbia, Louisiana, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90674 (WD LA, Nov. 7, 2008), a Louisiana federal district court-- in a case on remand from the 5th Circuit-- held that a police officer was not motivated by the content of the speech of a group of demonstrators when he dispersed the group, arrested one of its members and threatened to arrest others. The group, an organization of street preachers, on several occassions carried signs protesting abortion and the ordination of women as ministers. The court held that because the officer, in dispersing the demonstration, did not offer protesters any alternative other than ending their demonstration, his interference was not narrowly tailored to further a significant governmental interest and leave open alternative channels of communication. However the court found no widespread municipal practice of infringing speech rights. Therefore it dismisssed plaintiffs' Section 1983 suit against the city. (See prior related postings 1, 2 .)

Full post as published by Religion Clause on November 11, 2008 (boomark / email).