Supreme Court upholds preacher’s First Amendment lawsuit

By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, upheld that a street preacher can sue over a city ordinance that prevented him from exercising free speech rights.

The case, Olivier v. City of Brandon, focused on Gabriel Olivier, a man who regularly preached in public outside an amphitheater in Brandon, Mississippi. In 2019, Olivier was restricted from speaking outside the theater and using signs or speakers during live events.

In 2021, Olivier was arrested for violating the town’s ordinance that placed restrictions on where he could publicly speak. He later sued, claiming the city violated his First Amendment free speech rights.

Olivier did not sue over the $350 fine he was charged. Instead, he sued to ensure the city ordinance would not block him or someone else like him from preaching outside the theater.

“Assuming a credible threat of prosecution, a plaintiff can bring a[n] action to challenge a local law as violating the Constitution and to prevent that law’s future enforcement,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the court’s majority opinion.

The case challenged precedent set by Heck v. Humphrey, where the Supreme Court determined an individual cannot proceed with a lawsuit to challenge a previous conviction.

Kagan said a lawsuit seeking future relief from an activity, like Olivier exercising his First Amendment rights, was valid under the court’s precedent. She compared it to a prisoner seeking a more fair trial in the future.

“Olivier’s suit merely attempts to prevent a future prosecution, so the Heck bar does not come into play,” Kagan wrote.

“There is no looking back in Olivier’s suit; both in the allegations made, and in the relief sought, the suit is entirely future oriented – even if success in it shows that something past should not have occurred,” Kagan continued. “His suit to enjoin the ordinance, so he can return to the amphitheater, may proceed.”