ATLANTA (AP) – A Georgia preacher who says he was barred from public sidewalks and feared arrest for spreading the gospel on the fringes of a large outdoor concert in Atlanta is challenging the restrictions in court.
In a federal lawsuit, Eric Love says his free speech rights were violated outside the Shaky Beats music festival, which drew thousands in May to downtown Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park.
Love is asking a judge to decide whether the Georgia World Congress Center Authority and its police force can prohibit preaching from the surrounding sidewalks. The authority oversees the park, which was created for the 1996 Olympic Games.
The authority has cited a Georgia law that allows it to ban solicitation and other activities on public sidewalks and streets bordering the park when large events are held. That amounts to an unreasonable ban on free speech, one of Love’s lawyers, Terry Lloyd, maintains in the suit.
“These sidewalks are just like any other sidewalks – they’re used by the public and they really ought to be open to the public,” said Tony Mangini, another attorney for Love, speaking in an interview Wednesday. Mangini is with the Memphis, Tennessee-based Center for Religious Expression, which is representing Love.