Portland now 2-time loser in cases against street preachers
“After hearing testimony from Mayberry and witness Mason Goodknight, who had been preaching at Waterfront Park while Mayberry passed out tracts on June 1, as well as opening and closing statements from Hacke, the hearing officer held that the park officer’s issuance of the citation had indeed violated Mayberry’s free speech rights under both the Oregon and federal constitutions. The hearing officer invalidated Mayberry’s exclusion accordingly,” PJI said.
The organization recounted the city’s history of violating the constitutional rights of open-air evangelists.
It was in the previous Gathright v. City of Portland case that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a permanent injunction preventing the city from removing without probable cause street preachers from city parks, which are traditional free-speech public forums....