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Jacksonville man arrested after sharing religious beliefs files suit against city

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a federal lawsuit today in defense of Jacksonville resident John Schaffer, who was arrested in October 2005 for sharing his Christian faith in public.  ADF attorneys are also asking the court to prohibit the city from blocking his speech while the case moves forward.

“Christian speech is not second-class speech in the eyes of the First Amendment,” said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum.  “Unfortunately, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office violated this fundamental constitutional protection when it chose to arrest Mr. Schaffer for simply exercising his First Amendment right to free speech.”

John Schaffer was arrested by local police on Oct. 5, 2005, while standing in a public right of way outside the Jacksonville Landing shopping center speaking to others about his faith in Jesus Christ.  Officers approached Schaffer as he was talking with passersby about his faith.  The officers told Schaffer to either stop speaking or to leave the premises.  When Schaffer refused on the grounds that he had the constitutional right to speak in public just like any other citizen, he was arrested and jailed overnight.

Schaffer contacted ADF for help.  ADF attorneys attempted to remedy the situation with the Jacksonville Police Department.  When those efforts failed, ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit to protect Schaffer’s civil rights.

“Government officials cannot single out religious speech for discrimination, regardless of what they think of it,” said ADF-allied attorney Roger Gannam, Schaffer’s local counsel in Jacksonville.  “The sheriff’s office violated our client’s civil rights by arresting him for speaking in public.  That’s simply not a crime in America.”

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.