by Jorge Gomez • 1 minute
First Liberty will be at the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 3, arguing for the freedoms of Mississippi evangelist Gabe Olivier. With this case, we have an opportunity to advance the constitutional rights of millions of Americans.
Gabe is a husband and father to five beautiful, young children. He’s a hard-working family man who runs a lawn-care business. He’s also a Christian who is deeply passionate about sharing his faith with others in public. Gabe is a Christian because a stranger was willing to tell him about the gospel. And since that defining moment, he’s felt called to make sure others hear God’s message of salvation—the message that radically changed his life.
Like many people of faith in our country, Gabe never thought he’d end up in a years-long lawsuit—and much less having to fight all the way to the nation’s highest court for his religious freedom.
We recently visited Gabe and his family in Brandon, Mississippi. He took us to the park and local amphitheater where this legal journey began. He showed us the sidewalk in the park where he wanted to evangelize and the “protest” zone where a city ordinance said he had to go to share his beliefs.
For Gabe, telling others about his faith is a divinely inspired calling, which is why he couldn’t relocate to a remote “protest” zone where no one could hear or see his message. He believed he had every right to speak in the public park. But for refusing to limit his evangelism to the “protest” zone, Brandon police arrested Gabe and charged him with a crime. For which, Gabe paid a fine.
Following this troubling incident, Gabe’s passion for the gospel did not wane. So he could go back and share his faith, Gabe brought a lawsuit challenging the ordinance. However, to his surprise and great disappointment, the federal court refused to even consider his case. The court held Gabe forfeited his ability to challenge the law just because he had paid the fine in state criminal court.
Undeterred, Gabe refused to let this matter go, persevering through appeal after appeal in what’s been a long and winding road to the Supreme Court. But for Gabe, it’s all been worth it. He is fighting for the right to share the gospel.
Watch below:
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