A street preacher whose group yelled 'whores' gets a Supreme Court win

The unanimous Supreme Cort decision means the preacher, whose group yelled at concertgoers outside a Mississippi amphitheater, can sue for free speech rights.

WASHINGTON – A street preacher whose group screamed 'whores' and 'Jezebels' to concertgoers outside a Mississippi amphitheater won a unanimous victory at the Supreme Court on March 20, with the justices saying the law doesn't bar him from challenging local rules for where he can shout his message.

In doing so, the court limited the reach of a previous ruling barring convicted criminals from filing civil lawsuits that would undermine their convictions.

The new ruling could make it easier to challenge not just restrictions on public demonstrations, but also local laws governing hunting, sleeping in public places and more if people convicted of violating those rules can later argue they violate their civil rights.

Even if such suits are unsuccessful, groups representing local governments warned, they are still expensive for cities to litigate.

But the court agreed with the public evangelist − Gabriel Olivier, who was previously convicted of violating the city's restrictions on public demonstrations − that a 1994 decision shouldn't apply to him.