A Dallas man was told he had to buy a transit system ticket before he could talk about God to passengers waiting at a bus station, but officials quickly backed down when issues of free speech were raised.
The man, Daniel Bailey, is disabled but for two years had peacefully expressed his Christian faith by witnessing to passers-by at a Dallas area transit station, and distributing Gospel tracts, according to the Alliance Defense Fund.
Then officers at the system's West End DART station approached him and told him that a policy change would not allow him to continue witnessing, the ADF said. The officer reportedly told Bailey to either purchase a ticket or leave, so Bailey left, and contacted the ADF.
The organization, a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the truth, wrote a letter to Gary C. Thomas, president of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit, over concerns the situation raised.
"Two years ago, Mr. Bailey received permission from Morgan Lyons with DART to be at the station and distribute tracts and talk to people. After the police … recently told Mr. Bailey that he could not pass out tracts and talk to people about his faith at the station, he contacted Mr. Lyons for clarification. Mr. Lyons responded in an e-mail that the recently passed Code of Conduct applied to prohibit Mr. Daniels from being at the station to pass out tracts and talk to others about his faith unless he was actually waiting on a bus or train himself," the letter, from ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik W. Stanley, said.
"It appears that DART is applying this section of the Code of Conduct to prohibit individuals from exercising their First Amendment right of free speech at DART facilities," he continued. "This prohibition is unconstitutional."
The response from Thomas noted that the Code of Conduct "is not intended to abridge any person's First Amendment rights."
He noted DART has a "right and duty" to regulate its property and operations "to ensure that any expressive activity does not impair the delivery of safe and efficient public transportation services."
But he said DART policy allows Bailey to distribute his message, and there must have been a misunderstanding.
"Please convey to Mr. Bailey that he may continue to hand out his religious material provided he does so in a lawful manner and follows the enclosed policy," he wrote.
"Christians should not be treated as second-class citizens simply because they choose to exercise their faith in public," Stanley said.
"We appreciate the quick and courteous response of DART officials in resolving this matter and are pleased that Mr. Bailey will now be able to return to his activities.
The policy itself requires those involved in "expressive activity" to follow state and federal laws, and avoid distributing materials inside DART vehicles.
Additionally, those people need to have permission from DART, and must not "hinder" passengers, the policy states.
"I appreciate you bringing this matter to my attention and I will communicate the above to my staff, including the DART Police," Thomas said.
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