NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Jesse Morrell, a 24-year-old with a ministry of traveling to college campuses to preach the gospel, has won a settlement with the city of New Haven, Conn., to resume calling students to repentance on the streets near Yale University.
In 2004, when Morrell was still a teenager, he tried to express his faith vocally at four different locations on public streets outside nightclubs in New Haven. Each time, police officers warned him he would be arrested if he continued, and one even ripped the wire from his tape recorder after he informed the officer that he was documenting the confrontation.
The officers told Morrell that club patrons had complained about his preaching and said his speech was “annoying,” thereby violating the local noise ordinance. In 2005, Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed a lawsuit against the New Haven police, citing the First Amendment. “Christians shouldn’t be penalized for expressing their beliefs,” Jonathan Scruggs of ADF said. “Police cannot silence citizens because they or others think their message is ‘annoying.’ All Americans are free to peacefully exercise their First Amendment right to free speech on a public sidewalk. Those rights must be protected or we’re all in trouble.”
On Aug. 17, the city of New Haven agreed to a consent order that will allow Morrell to share his faith on the sidewalk without fear of harassment or arrest.
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