Another Appeal To 5th Circuit Filed In World Wide Street Preachers Case

According to the Monroe (LA) News Star, an appeal to the 5th Circuit has been filed in World Wide Street Preachers Fellowship v. Town of Columbia, Louisiana. The Fellowship is seeking reversal of a determination by a Louisiana federal district court that the town of Columbia should be dismissed as a defendant because the court found no widespread municipal practice of infringing speech rights. (See prior posting.) A claim under 42 USC Sec. 1983 can be brought against a municipality only if it has a policy or custom of infringing constitutional rights. Regardless of the outcome of the appeal, the trial court has allowed plaintiffs to proceed against a police officer who broke up the Fellowship's protests. The Fellowship generally protested against abortion, homosexuals and the ordination of women ministers. The case has already been on appeal once before the 5th Circuit.