The Supreme Court on Dec. 3 will take up a case examining when and how a street preacher who was already convicted for violating a city law can challenge the law to prevent further prosecution.
Gabriel Olivier, a Christian street evangelist, was arrested in 2021 after demonstrating outside a city amphitheater. According to a court filing by the city of Brandon, Mississippi, Olivier was part of a group of individuals heckling concertgoers through a megaphone, calling them “whores,” “sissies,” and “Jezebels.”
Although the city did not attempt to ban this speech outright, a local ordinance requires protesters to carry out their demonstrations in a designated area about 265 feet away from the amphitheater entrance. It also bans loudspeakers that are audible within 100 feet of the amphitheater. Olivier was charged with violating this ordinance….