Posted: 03/05/2007 at 6:34pm | IP Logged

Free Speech Restored to Florida Man Arrested After Sharing His Faith

Alliance Defense Fund

JACKSONVILLE, FL - Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund representing Jacksonville resident John Schaffer have secured a consent order in his lawsuit against the city that will allow him to once again share his religious beliefs in public.  Schaffer was arrested in October 2005 after he shared his Christian faith on public property at the Jacksonville Landing shopping center.

“Christian speech is simply not second-class to other viewpoints,” said ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman.  “The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office should not have violated this fundamental constitutional protection when it chose to arrest Mr. Schaffer for exercising his First Amendment right to free speech.  The city has done the right thing in agreeing to uphold the free speech rights of Mr. Schaffer.”

ADF attorneys filed suit on Schaffer’s behalf after negotiation efforts with city officials failed (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3989).

Schaffer was arrested by local police on Oct. 5, 2005, while standing on public property at the Jacksonville Landing shopping center speaking to others about his faith in Jesus Christ.  Officers approached Schaffer as he was talking with passersby about his faith.  The officers told Schaffer to either stop speaking or to leave the premises.  When Schaffer attempted to educate the officers that he had the constitutional right to speak in public just like any other citizen, he was arrested and jailed overnight.

Facing a preliminary injunction request filed by Schaffer, the city agreed to the consent order, which ensures that Schaffer will no longer be prohibited from sharing his faith on public property at the Jacksonville Landing shopping center.  A copy of the order issued in the case Schaffer v. City of Jacksonville by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division, can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/SchafferConsentOrder.pdf.