City Kept Preachers Too Far From Pride Fest Event They Were Protesting

In World Wide Street Preachers' Fellowship v. Reed, (MD Pa., May 8, 2006), a Pennsylvania federal district court issued a declaratory judgment (but not a permanent injunction) after finding that Harrisburg, Pennsylvania authorities violated the free speech rights of two ministers who wished to talk or preach in opposition to homosexual conduct near PrideFest, a gay pride festival being held in the city's Riverfront Park. The city's permit ordinance was treated as allowing the permit holder to exclude individuals for any reason-- including speech-- from the permit area. Here plaintiffs were barred from preaching in an unused space within the area covered by PrideFest's permit. The court found that this restriction was not narrowly enough tailored to serve the city's interest in merely protecting use of space by a permit holder. The court also found First Amendment problems with enforcement of a 50-foot no-speech zone by a city police officer at one end of the PrideFest event area. Alliance Defense Fund, which represented the preachers, issued a release on the decision.