PALM BEACH, Fla. — Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed suit Friday on behalf of a Christian threatened with arrest for expressing a religious message on a public sidewalk in Lake Worth. An officer told Martin Mikhail the Bible was a “work of fiction” and threatened him with arrest. He was also informed that he would need to obtain a permit before he could share his faith with passers-by.
“Christians shouldn’t be discriminated against for expressing their beliefs,” said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum. “Choosing to exercise your First Amendment rights on a public sidewalk is not a crime. The government has no right to harass or threaten citizens simply because they exercise those rights.”
Roger K. Gannam, of Lindell & Farson, P.A. in Jacksonville is serving as co-counsel in the case.
On Sept. 8, 2007, Mikhail informed a Lake Worth police officer of his intention to speak on a public sidewalk in the city. The officer stated that he had no objection. Mikhail stood on the edge of the sidewalk and did not block pedestrian or vehicular traffic, where he expressed a religious message for approximately 30 minutes. The officer then told Mikhail that he did not want to hear him preaching, and that if he continued, he would be taken to jail. Mikhail walked away out of fear of arrest.
Mikhail then called the Lake Worth Police Department. A sergeant told him that he supported the actions of the officer and said that he needed a permit in order to share his message on the sidewalk.
“The government can’t require Christians to obtain permission before they exercise their First Amendment rights,” Kellum explained.
A copy of the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Mikhail v. City of Lake Worth is available at www.telladf.org//UserDocs/MikhailComplaint.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
www.telladf.org