‘Signs, in particular, garner constitutional safeguarding. The protection is sure, even if others happen to find the signs offensive’
By Bob Unruh
Officials in a South Carolina city are claiming they have the right to decide when and how Christians can talk about their faith on public sidewalks.
And their agenda has drawn a terse letter from a legal organization warning that the town’s prior restraint restrictions on signs are unconstitutional.
The fight against the town of Chapin, South Carolina, is being handled by First Liberty Institute on behalf Ernest Guardino.
For months, he’s held small signs while he’s on public walkways in the town to share his faith.
He recently held a 20×24 inch sign that said, “Trust Christ He paid the price” on one side and “He Saved Others—Jesus—He’ll Save You” on the other side.
He was at the intersection of Old Lexington Road and Chapin Road, but had held similar signs with like-minded messages over the previous eight months without incident.
However, in June of this year, a Chapin police officer informed him he had to have town permission to share his faith, the institute reported.
“No one needs the government’s permission to express their faith in public,” said First Liberty lawyer Nate Kellum. “The First Amendment is his permit. Like any citizen in any city in America, Mr. Giardino is free to peacefully share his religious beliefs on a public sidewalk. Chapin’s ordinance is overbroad, unconstitutional, and must be repealed or enjoined.”