Freedom of Religious Expression in Jeopardy

The California Court of Appeal is considering a free-speech case in which a man was arrested for sharing his faith at a Sacramento-area mall.
 
In 2007, youth pastor Matthew Snatchko was arrested for striking up a conversation with two other people about his faith.
 
The Roseville Galleria Mall has a rule against people talking to other shoppers about faith and politics. The mall also has a ban against clothing with religious or political messages.
 
A Placer County Superior Court judge upheld the mall's rules in 2008. The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) appealed the case.
 
Matthew McReynolds, staff attorney with PJI, said the mall has a rule that you can only talk about sensitive topics with people you know.
 
"We think that flies in the face of every principle of free speech that this country has developed in the last couple hundred years," he said. "Our courts have taken the state Constitution's guarantee of free speech and expanded it to venues that are public forums, and they have said that shopping malls are a lot like the traditional town squares of old."
 
— Staff Report