HAMPTON, N.H. — Alliance Defense Fund allied attorneys filed suit Wednesday in federal court on behalf of two Christians arrested for sharing their faith and singing worship songs on a public sidewalk in the Hampton Beach area. Police arrested the two men, charging them under a state law against “unreasonable or loud” noise, but the law has not been used against other much louder activities in the very busy beach district, including bands sponsored by the village precinct to increase business in the area.
Criminal charges against the two men were dismissed, clearing the way for a civil suit challenging the vague state law.
“Christians shouldn’t be arrested for expressing their beliefs. Arresting someone simply because he chooses to exercise his First Amendment rights in a public place is unconstitutional,” said ADF Senior Counsel Joseph Infranco. “These young men wanted to tell those who passed by about their faith. They were singled out and arrested for sharing their faith and worshipping God while much noisier activities have not undergone the same scrutiny. It is our hope that this suit will result in a more properly worded state statute.”
On Aug. 4, 2008, Mark Frost, Jayson Gardner, and Craig Gardner were preaching to pedestrians on Ocean Boulevard in Hampton Beach. Because of the loud noise emanating from a rock concert at the beach boardwalk, the men rolled up a piece of paper to speak through so they could be heard. They were then approached by a police officer who informed them that they were in violation of a town noise ordinance, even though the men were preaching in an extremely noisy area and were told to stay quiet and stop using their paper “megaphone.”
The men complied with the request and moved to a different location two blocks away, where they preached without the rolled up paper and sang the Christian song “He Set Me Free.” The same officer reappeared and arrested Frost and Jayson Gardner for being too loud. While in custody, the police asked the men, “Where is your God now? There’s no God behind these walls.”
The men were subsequently charged with disorderly conduct under state law instead of being cited under the town’s noise ordinance. The Hampton District Court dismissed the charges, but as a result of the arrest, Frost and Gardner have not exercised their constitutional right to free speech on public sidewalks in Hampton for fear of arrest because of the arbitrary enforcement of the state law.
ADF-allied attorney Michael Tierney of the Manchester firm of Wadleigh, Starr & Peters, PLLC, is lead counsel in the case, Frost v. Town of Hampton, filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire. ADF-allied attorney John Anthony Simmons of Hampton is co-counsel.
Complaint and motion for preliminary injunction
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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