Paul Johnson Case

Meet Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson is a lifelong resident of Tennessee. He often expresses his faith by reading his Bible in public. As a bus driver, Mr. Johnson cannot afford to travel on an overseas mission trip. Instead, he views his home state of Tennessee as his mission field and has a heart for sharing God’s word with people where he lives. Mr. Johnson has read the Bible out loud without incident at many popular Tennessee events, including town festivals and University of Tennessee football games.

Johnson Prohibited from Reading the Bible Out Loud on a Public Sidewalk

In August 2017, Mr. Johnson traveled to the nearby town of Sweetwater, Tennessee, hoping to read his Bible on a public sidewalk during a festival celebrating the 2017 total solar eclipse. Upon arrival, Mr. Johnson was met with resistance from local authorities. Police officers informed Mr. Johnson that reading the Bible on a public sidewalk qualified as a “demonstration” as defined by a twenty-five-year-old Sweetwater city ordinance and that he needed a permit from the city. However, a local city official promptly denied Mr. Johnson’s permit request, and Mr. Johnson was forced to leave Sweetwater without being able to publically read the Bible.

“I was shocked that a city had a law banning anyone from reading the Bible on a public sidewalk without their permission,” said Johnson. “All I want to do is tell people about the love of Jesus by reading my Bible, but I was worried I might be arrested if I tried.”

First Liberty Legal Action

First Liberty and the Center for Religious Expression (CRE) sent a letter to the City of Sweetwater on November 14, 2017, asking the city to allow Mr. Johnson to publicly read the Bible at future events and to apply its laws in a constitutional manner.

Three days later, on November 17, the City of Sweetwater responded, noted the defects in their ordinance, and agreed to make the necessary revisions to bring their policy in compliance with the First Amendment and the relevant case law.

“Every American has the right to share earnestly-held views in public,” said CRE Chief Counsel Nate Kellum. “No one should need government permission to preach.”

“Mr. Johnson does not need permission from the government to express his faith in public,” said Chelsey Youman, Counsel for First Liberty. “The First Amendment is permission enough for any citizen in any city in America to peacefully read the Bible out loud on a public sidewalk. We’re grateful to the City of Sweetwater for their cooperation and efforts to quickly resolve the matter so that Mr. Johnson and people of all faiths are able to exercise their constitutional right of free speech.”