First Amendment and Public Protests

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday unanimously revived a lawsuit by evangelical Christian preacher Gabriel Olivier, who was arrested and barred from demonstrating near a suburban amphitheater in Brandon, Mississippi after refusing police orders to move to a designated protest zone. Olivier, who used a loudspeaker to shout insults such as "whores," "Jezebel" and "nasty" and displayed signs with images of aborted fetuses, was convicted under a city ordinance and then blocked by lower courts from suing on First Amendment and religious-freedom grounds. Those courts relied on a 1990s Supreme Court precedent barring civil suits that would effectively undermine a valid criminal conviction, but the justices held that Olivier may still seek forward-looking relief against future enforcement of the law. The decision does not decide whether Brandon’s ordinance is constitutional, but it opens the door for Olivier and similarly situated protesters across the political spectrum to bring civil-rights suits even after convictions, a prospect local governments warn could unleash a wave of litigation over protest zones and demonstration rules. The city maintains its restrictions are content-neutral and not aimed at religion, noting the ordinance has already survived a separate legal challenge.