Got Permits? Sharing Faith Made Difficult
By Michael F. Haverluck
CBNNews.com
November 5, 2007
CBNNews.com -In a country that was founded on the quest for religious freedom, some Christians are being required to get permits to share their faith.
This was the case on August 10, when Michael Boardley and three other men were passing out Christian tracts near Mt. Rushmore's front entrance.
After noticing the group distributing tracts the previous day, a park ranger of South Dakota's famous national monument told them they could not hand out tracts without a speech permit.
The Park Service gave the four men a phone number to call if they wanted to obtain such a permit.
That's exactly what Boardley did after returning to his Minnesota home. But the numerous phone calls he made were to no avail.
Access Denied
The requested permit was never delivered to Boardley, who met resistance from park officials every time he attempted to get one.
"It is unbelievable that the National Park Service would deny freedom of speech at the foot of Mt. Rushmore, where four men who represent America's freedoms are immortalized," said Heather Gebelin Hacker, litigation staff counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal alliance representing Boardley.
"Christians should never be treated as second-class citizens, regardless of the venue, but the Park Service was doing just that when they denied our client's continued requests to peacefully distribute literature there," she said.
ADF lodged a complaint on behalf of Boardley with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in the suit Boardley v. United States Department of the Interior.
Sharing one's faith is not a right that Christians surrender when setting foot on government property, ADF attorneys argue.
"The Park Service should know that its denial of Mr. Boardley's request for a permit was clearly unconstitutional," Hacker added. "It's our hope that this lawsuit will restore free speech and religious freedom not just for Mr. Boardley, but others at the national monument as well."
Arrested for the Gospel
ADF is no stranger to battling attempts to silence Christians.
The legal group successfully represented a 67-year old man who was illegally arrested in April for handing out Gospel tracts on a public street in Cumming, Ga.
Fredric Bauman was told by police that he was breaking a city ordinance that required organizations to acquire permits before distributing such literature.
ADF discovered that the permit did not specify what provisions were to be made. They also pointed out that the "mandatory" permit was only required for private organizations or groups consisting of three or more members.
Bauman asked to see the ordinance numerous times before being detained, but his requests were denied. He was then locked in jail for two days and finally convicted before being given access to legal counsel, ADF attorneys said.
Although he pleaded not guilty when brought before the judge, he was convicted for violating city ordinance and sentenced to the time he had already served.
"Christians have the same First Amendment rights as anyone else in America and cannot be treated as second-class citizens," ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman said. "The government should not force them to get special permission before practicing their constitutional right to free speech."
A Georgia Superior Court overturned the wrongful conviction in Baumann v. City of Cumming in August at ADF's request.
"The fact that the court dismissed the charges against Mr. Baumann is not just significant for him, but for all citizens who cherish their First Amendment rights," Cortman said.
Can't Hold Back the Word of God
Earlier this year, handing out the Word of God was treated as a crime in Florida as well.
Two members of the Gideons were arrested and taken to jail for distributing Bibles on a public sidewalk near Key Largo School in Florida on Jan. 19.
Even though Anthony Mirto and Ernest Simpson were granted permission to hand out Bibles by the school and local sheriff's office, they were arrested and mocked by officer John Perez, who told them they could "pray to Jesus all the way to jail."
After ADF successfully had the charges dropped in court, the state filed new charges against them under a different statute.
ADF's second motion to dismiss the charges in State of Florida v. Simpson called the new allegations disgraceful, especially in a nation founded on religious freedom.
"These two Gideons have the same constitutional rights as everyone else to pass out literature on a public sidewalk," ADF's Cortman said. "We are pleased that the court agrees that these men should not have been arrested and dismissed the charges against them."
Another Gideon, Thomas Gray, was passing out Bibles next to Key Largo School the same day, and a Monroe County sheriff's officer said that he had "no right" to come within 500 feet of public school property.
Cortman recognized the officer's assertion as erroneous.
"The First Amendment ensures that all persons and groups, including Gideons, have the right to engage in free speech on a public sidewalk," said Cortman, who filed suit April 20. "We are asking the court to halt the unconstitutional harassment of Gideon members while this lawsuit moves forward."
Are policemen resorting to intimidation tactics to keep Bibles out of the hands of children?
"Officers cannot be permitted to bully law-abiding Christians, or use fear of arrest as a means of silencing them," Cortman argued. "Their actions were fully protected under the First Amendment."
Despite laws protecting the rights of Christians to spread the Word of God, government agencies across the U.S. continue to find ways to keep them from sharing their faith.
Sources: Alliance Defense Fund, World Net Daily, CBN News
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