by Jayla Ward • 2 minutes
First Liberty Institute recently sent a letter to the City of Tucson, Arizona, demanding that our client and local resident, David Hoffman, be allowed to share his religious beliefs on public streets during the Winterhaven Festival of Lights.
“The City of Tucson is unlawfully suppressing Mr. Hoffman’s speech by removing his religious expression from public property and separating his speech from fellow attendees by placing a barricade between them,” said Nate Kellum, Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute.
“The city isolates religious speech for censorship. It’s unconstitutional. Like any other kind of speech, religious speech is protected under the First Amendment,” he continued.
The festival of lights is an annual holiday event occurring on the public streets, sidewalks, and rights-of-way of the historic Winterhaven neighborhood in Tucson, Arizona. Each year, the general public is invited to walk through the public ways that wind through the neighborhood to take in and enjoy light displays with food and drink supplied by local vendors.
On December 13, David and his friends visited the Winterhaven neighborhood in Tucson during the festival to share their faith with attendees. They held conversations about their Christian beliefs with passersby who were willing to listen or take their written materials.
Shortly after they began, police officers approached the group and told them to stop, citing the festival’s solicitation policy as the basis. This solicitation policy, enforced by the City, prohibits all “political, religious, or commercial materials or messaging.”
The police then threatened to arrest David and his friend unless they confined their religious activities to a barricaded zone, titled “Designated Space for Peaceful Messaging and Literature Distribution,” set up outside of the festival footprint near and far away from event attendees.
Fearing arrest, they decided to leave the festival. But now, they wish to resume sharing their faith for the remainder of this year’s festival and all future Winterhaven Festivals.
In the letter, First Liberty attorneys informed the City that its actions are restricting David’s First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and free exercise of religion. Our attorneys also informed the city that its ordinance violates the Arizona Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
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