Request denied to ban pastor from giving drug talk

MARION, Ill. — A federal judge has denied a request to ban a Texas pastor from delivering a secular, anti-drug speech to public school students in Marion, Ill. U.S. District Judge James Foreman issued an order Nov. 17 allowing Texas-based evangelist Ronnie Hill to speak at local schools, said Robert Marsh, who fought the assemblies in court. The judge’s order blocked Hill’s supporters from distributing invitations to the church revival where Hill was speaking. The first of Hill’s addresses was held Nov. 17 at a Marion elementary school. Other assemblies were planned the next day at local junior and senior high schools. Marsh said he has filed a motion for a permanent injunction that would ban religious figures from addressing Marion students and limit students from distributing religious material in school.