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del.icio.usPreacher files free-speech suit against city after arrest
BY JOE RODRIGUEZ
The Wichita Eagle
A Wichita pastor has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Wichita, claiming that his free speech rights were violated when police arrested him for criminal trespass -- a charge that was later dismissed -- at a gay pride parade last summer.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, says that Pastor Mark Holick of Spirit One Christian Center had gone to the Pride Parade and Festival in downtown Wichita on June 24 to "speak about his religious views and distribute literature on the public sidewalks."
The suit, which also names two Wichita police sergeants as defendants, asks that the court issue a permanent injunction that would prohibit the defendants from arresting Holick or restricting his speech "due to the content and viewpoint of his speech or because of his Christian perspective" -- including at future gay pride events.
"The police just should not be able to silence speech by arresting a person engaging in First Amendment rights," said Joel Oster, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, the legal group that filed the lawsuit on Holick's behalf. Oster said that he speaks for Holick on matters involving the lawsuit.
City spokesman Van Williams referred comments and forwarded an interview request to City Attorney Gary Rebenstorf on Monday.
City Hall was closed Monday. The city's policy generally is not to comment on pending litigation.
According to the lawsuit:
• Holick wanted to "communicate the gospel message" to people attending the parade and festival on June 24. He also wanted to "build connections with attendees so that he might be able to share the gospel with them later," the suit says.
• When Holick and members of his church arrived, they were confronted by eight to 10 police officers, including Sgt. Stull and Sgt. Phelps -- the named defendants in the suit.
• Stull and Phelps told Holick that he could not be on a sidewalk in front of the festival, and was told he could go to a private parking lot.
"The private parking lot was not a reasonable alternative location to engage in Free Speech activities," the suit said.
• When Holick refused to move, he was arrested, 3 minutes and 15 seconds after he arrived.
In October, the criminal trespassing charge against Holick was dismissed in Wichita Municipal Court.
Oster, the attorney on the case, said that Holick wants assurances that his free speech rights won't be violated when he speaks at future events.
"We don't want the city to come and arrest Mark again, only to re-release him three months later," Oster said. "The most important thing is a permanent injunction allowing Pastor Mark to go out the next time.
"We want to make sure this doesn't happen again."
In addition to the permanent injunction, the suit seeks nominal and compensatory damages against the defendants.
Reach Joe Rodriguez at 316-268-6644 or jrodriguez@wichitaeagle.com.
