Christian preacher ejected from public park sues city

The Pacific Justice Institute has filed a lawsuit against the city of Portland, Oregon, "to send a message to the city that further infringements on freedoms of speech and religion will not be tolerated."

"For more than 200 years, the Constitution has protected the freedoms of speech and religion in the public square," explained Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice, which is representing Mark Mayberry.

"City officials do not have the authority to silence Christians because their message causes some people discomfort. The city clearly has not learned its lesson; therefore, it’s going to pay a very steep price – that’s the point of this lawsuit."

Mayberry was in Portland's Waterfront Park holding a sign defending the unborn and passing out related brochures when a park officer approached him and ordered him to leave the public park.

When Mayberry refused and asserted his constitutionally protected right of free speech, the officer issued Mayberry a citation forbidding him from coming to the park for 30 days, PJI said.

Mayberry already has obtaining a ruling overturning the citation. Ray Hacke, a lawyer based in Oregon for PJI, appealed Mayberry's citation to the city auditor, who agreed it violated Mayberry's free speech rights under both the Oregon and federal constitutions.

"Accordingly, the hearing officer invalidated Mayberry’s exclusion from the public park, which is a traditional public forum where free speech is supposed to be at its freest," PJI said.

Mayberry filed the lawsuit, however, because he he wanted "to send a message to the city that further infringements on freedoms of speech and religion will not be tolerated."

PJI said Portland "has a history of showing hostility toward Christian evangelists, with the city's mistreatment of Mayberry as the latest example. Further, the city violated a permanent injunction which prohibits the ejection of preachers from city parks without probable cause."

The action brought by PJI on behalf of Mayberry under the 1964 Civil Rights Act seeks more than $300,000 in damages.

The city has been defeated several times in its attempts to censor Christian messages.

In Gathright v. City of Portland, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a permanent injunction preventing the city from removing without probable cause street preachers from city parks, which are traditional free-speech public forums.

Dacus, at the time, explained, "The city of Portland doesn't get to shut them down just because some people find their views distasteful or offensive."