NEW YORK — Alliance Defense Fund attorneys today notched another victory for free speech in the public square, securing a victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit on behalf of a man who came under the threat of jail time for exercising his First Amendment rights.
“Christian speech is not second-class speech. Our victory today helps ensure that religious Americans not only have the opportunity to speak, but the opportunity to be heard as well,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Nate Kellum. “We agree with the court’s decision declaring the City of Ithaca’s application of their noise ordinance to our client unconstitutional.”
Soon after he began speaking at a pedestrian mall on Oct. 9, 1999, Kevin Deegan was told by a city of Ithaca police officer to stop preaching or face arrest. Acting on a complaint, the officer warned Deegan he must lower the volume of his voice so as not to be heard from 25 feet away. Rather than face arrest, Deegan peacefully left the area.
“To our knowledge, this law has only been applied once—to Mr. Deegan,” said Kellum. “The Constitution knows nothing of unheard-of restrictions such as the one placed upon our client by the city of Ithaca.”
A noise expert who testified in court on behalf of ADF attorneys asserted that the 25-foot threshold would outlaw many forms of speech and everyday sounds, including the clicking of high-heeled boots, a small child playing on a structure, a ringing cell phone, and typical conversations.
“Noisy free speech abounds here, yet Mr. Deegan was limited to a whisper,” Kellum said. “We are pleased that he and other speakers with a religious point of view will now have the opportunity to speak as freely as anyone else.”
In its opinion, the 2nd Circuit wrote that Ithaca officials “cannot justify their even stricter regulation of Deegan’s speech in the Commons, which is a public forum bustling with the sounds of recreation, celebration, commerce, demonstration, rallies, music, poetry, speeches, and other expressive undertakings. Nor does the record demonstrate that Deegan’s preaching is incompatible with these activities.” The full text of the opinion can be read at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/DeeganOpinion.pdf.
ADF attorneys filed the case,
Deegan v. Ithaca, in 2001. They appealed the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in August 2004.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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