Supreme Court to Hear Evangelist’s Challenge to Protest Ordinance

High court considers pastor’s lawsuit over previously violated law

The Supreme Court considered on Wednesday whether to allow a Mississippi pastor to challenge the constitutionality of a law for future enforcement despite facing punishment for a previous violation of the law. Gabriel Olivier filed a lawsuit against a local law in Brandon, Mississippi, which bans protesting near a public amphitheater outside of designated zones, for which he has previously been punished for violating, in a bid to protect against…

Street preacher asks Supreme Court to overturn law limiting public protest

WASHINGTON — “Drunkards!” “Jezebel!” “Nasty!” The street preacher condemned people as he proselytized on the sidewalks outside public events. But after the town of Brandon, Mississippi, adopted an ordinance dictating where people are allowed to protest, Gabriel Olivier was arrested, fined and placed on one year of non-supervised probation. This was just the beginning of Olivier’s legal fight. He later filed a First Amendment lawsuit in federal c…

Supreme Court Justices Hear Street Preacher Who Challenged Law After Pleading No Contest to Breaking It

Justices didn’t seem to break along predictable lines Wednesday, when they presented critical questions to both sides in a case regarding a Christian pastor’s free speech challenge to a Mississippi city ordinance.  In Olivier v. City of Brandon, the U.S. Supreme Court is weighing whether someone convicted under a law has standing to challenge the constitutionality of the law to prevent its future enforcement without nullifying a prior conviction…

Justices weigh legal precedent and a street preacher’s plight

Mississippi preacher argued city law squelched his speech rights

Supreme Court to decide if Mississippi street preacher can challenge Brandon protest ordinance

The U.S. Supreme Court will weigh whether a Mississippi street preacher should be protected by the First Amendment.

Today, Supreme Court hears silenced evangelist Gabe Olivier’s case

Gabe Olivier was minding his own business one day when he heard a stranger preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ on a nearby street corner. Those words changed him -- dramatically and forever.