Posted on 05/31/2005 8:39:54 AM PDT by Graybeard58
NEW HAVEN -- A 20-year-old street preacher has filed a federal lawsuit against city police, claiming they tried to halt him from spreading the word of God outside of bars and popular nightspots.
In court papers, Jesse Morrell says he has a constitutional right to recite Bible verses, sing hymns and pray on the sidewalks outside of bars. The lawsuit accuses police of violating his right to free speech and due process.
"The Bible is the true map to heaven and I want people to know that simple truth," Morrell, originally from Cheshire, said.
The lawsuit contends that he was threatened with arrest last year while preaching outside of four nightclubs. According to the lawsuit, he was reading his bible outside of a Temple street pub last May and an officer threatened to arrest him.
He picked up his stool and left that bar, the lawsuit said.
But when he went to sit a few doors down at Neat Lounge, he was approached by a second officer in an aggressive manner and was told to stop preaching, Morrell claims. He tried to tape record the conversation, but the officer damaged the recorder and threw it in a trash can, the lawsuit said.
Subsequent attempts to preach at Alchemy Club and Cafe and The Back Room at Bottega the same night were also foiled by police, the lawsuit said.
Bonnie Winchester, a spokeswoman for New Haven police, said she could not comment because it is department policy not to talk about ongoing lawsuits.
"There's no doubt if everyone agreed with what he had to say, no one would have bothered him," said Nate Ketchum, a staff lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based Christian law firm that is representing him.
Morrell, who said he found God while spending time at a Hamden drug rehabilitation center, is currently studying at Teen Mania Ministries, a Texas-based Christian youth group. He's also looking for a publisher for a book he has written called "Cleansing the Temple." He said he wants to return to Connecticut to continue preaching.
I believe he once stopped a van or a truck and impounded it for having a pro-life ad on the side of the vehicle, and arrested the driver for disturbing the peace or something.
i wonder if he's involved.
In my experience, street preachers, have mostly, not always, been well intentioned homeless types who are a can short of a six-pack due to their past indulgences in their steet drug of choice. The police are usually called out because they get boisterous and/or loud and disturb the peace. I know of one who used a bullhorn near residences a few times. Very nice guy, just didn't get the hint that he was making some folks angry. God bless Morrell, but I think this has more to do with disturbing the peace than prohibiting the reading of the Bible.
Well, he was outside bars, which are not usually the most serene places to begin with.
I met this young man last year while praying in front of an abortion mill in Bridgeport.
He was very passionate about his street ministry, so me and a Preacher laid hands on him and annointed him with oil.
God sometimes asks us to work for Him in unpleasant places - our response to Him is either as:
a) a "committed" Christian, or
b) as a "surrendered" Christian.
(I strive to be "surrendered").
You mentioned an a abortion mill which reminded me of a kindly old gent, 70+, who has since passed on (i think since I haven't seen him in two years.) He would carry protest signs and pray at the Planned Parenthood office in my town. The idiots would frequently call 911 on him if he came into the parking lot which was typically when he was tired and sat on parking curbage. I went out a few times and he recognized me after a while. He would immediately get up and apologize. I told him he was one of the good guys and reminded him to keep to the sidewalk. He said he'd pray for me every time. He was one of the legit ones that I'd come to know.
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