Residents of Hickory, N.C., will be allowed to continue sharing their faith in public after the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) intervened.
Matthew Boyd and Jesse Boyd were arrested in June and charged with trespassing after expressing their beliefs and distributing literature at a public festival. Festival organizers claimed such activities were not permitted during the event.
ADF then sent a letter to town officials, explaining the constitutional right to free speech.
“Christians shouldn’t be penalized for expressing their beliefs,” ADF Legal Counsel Tim Chandler said. “It was unconstitutional to charge these men with a crime simply because they chose to share their faith peacefully in public. But now the city of Hickory should be commended for responding so well to respect the First Amendment rights of its citizens.”
— Devon Williams
