Our First Amendment Rights

On this page, you will find resources to help you understand your Constitutional Rights as an open air preacher/street evangelist, as well as help you stand up for your rights. Too many times today, open air preachers have encounters with unlawful cops. We need to stand up for our rights while we still have them!

Attention, if you are having problems with your 1st Amendment Rights being infringed upon in your area, please contact the Alliance Defense Fund. They may be able to help you out. They are our lawyers when it comes to defending our 1st Amendment Rights.

Articles

Open Air Preaching Rights- It is always good to know what your legal rights are before you go out and Open Air preach.  You may even want to carry a copy of your rights on you.  Even some well-meaning police officers don't know what the Law says about this issue.

Should I Get Arrested?- This is from the Alliance Defense Fund - What does a 1st Amendment Lawyer think about open air preachers getting arrested?

Dealing With Police- This artilce has some good, practical tips when it comes to dealing with the police. This is inevitable with the open air preacher, so it is a MUST READ.

Supreme Court Rulings- A list of rulings from the Supreme Court of the U.S. on street preaching and public speech in general.

Audios

In the audio files below, Kerrigan is speaking to a group of Evangelists about their First Amendment Rights before they hit the streets. The city they are about to go out and evangelize in has had lots of problems concerning First Amendment Rights lately (at the time he is speaking).

Part 1        Part 2

Videos

Below, you can watch some teaching videos regarding first amendment rights, what to do when you encounter a cop and how to stand up for your first amendment rights.

Legal Tips & Strategies for Open Air Preachers- John McGlone shares some legal tips and strategies for the open air preachers and/or street evangelists out there.




Below, you can watch some videos of Kerrigan and other evangelists in some of their encounters with the police and other authorities.

Artsplosure Festival- Festival organizers and police try to unlawfully kick Kerrigan and Jesse off of public property. They weren't even preaching. The organizers were even willing to be unlawful just to make them go away.




Taste of Charlotte- Kerrigan and friends get kicked out of a public event that was held on public property because the organizers didn't like them or their message.




Fayetteville After Five- During the Summer, Fayetteville, NC has a free concert on the 3rd Thursday of every month. Watch as Kerrigan, Jesse and John deal with a security guard, a concert organizer and two police. They were unlawfully kicked off and threatened with trespass on PUBLIC PROPERTY!




Wake County Technical Community College- Kerrigan, John and Jesse did all that was asked of them and required of them by the college. In the end, they were kicked off of the campus for an unlawful reason. Watch the whole situation from beginning to end as they deal with violent students, irrational and emotional admin and security and ignorant cops. Kerrigan, John and Jesse eventually won this battle in court with the help of the Alliance Defense Fund. Wake Tech paid ADF $15,000 in lawyer's fees, paid each preacher $1 (proves we aren't "in this for the money") and changed their policies significantly.