SAN FRANCISCO — The City College of San Francisco has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by an Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney on behalf of Jews for Jesus. After arresting a Jews for Jesus employee for handing out literature on its campus without a permit, the college will now allow access for the ministry to distribute literature and express its Christian message on its campuses without unconstitutional permit requirements.
“Christians shouldn’t be arrested for expressing their beliefs on public college campuses,” said ADF-allied attorney Frederick Nelson of the American Liberties Institute. “We are pleased that the City College of San Francisco will allow free speech on its campuses in accord with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”
While distributing literature on several occasions at the City College of San Francisco’s Ocean Campus in 2007 and early 2008, Jews for Jesus employee Robert Wertheim was approached by campus security officers and district employees who demanded that he either show a permit to hand out literature or cease his activities. Wertheim, who did not have the permit, left the campus each time.
When Wertheim returned to peacefully distribute literature in April 2008, campus police told him he couldn’t distribute literature without a permit and threatened him with arrest if he continued. Believing the permit requirement violated his constitutional rights, Wertheim did not comply. Police arrested and handcuffed him before detaining him for more than an hour at the campus police department, where officers confiscated his literature, wallet, watch, and wedding band. He was then transferred to San Francisco County Jail and placed in a holding cell for three hours. The charges were dropped the next day.
- Judgment issued by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Wednesday in Jews for Jesus v. City College of San Francisco
- Map of CCSF Ocean Campus areas now open for literature distribution and free speech
- Preliminary injunction order issued by the court on Jan. 12
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.
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