Trey Paul, FISM News
The city of Chicago has finally approved paying its $205,000 debt after a U.S. district judge in 2020 sided with four Wheaton college students in a lawsuit alleging 1st Amendment violations after the city kicked the four out of a public park for spreading God’s Word.
The students — Caden Hood, Matt Swart, Jeremy Chong, and Gabriel Emerson — filed a federal lawsuit after they say their rights were violated when in 2018 they were kicked out of Chicago’s Millennium Park, famous for its reflective “Bean” sculpture. They said they would go to Chicago every Friday and start conversations about the Gospel, pass out information, or preach on the streets.
According to the student, in 2018, a security guard approached them and told them they couldn’t hand out literature to people in the park. Once that happened, one of the students started “open-air” preaching, but was then told by a park supervisor that no solicitation was allowed.
To the applause of many believers like Christian author Shane Schaetzel, the students filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago, saying park officials wrongly restricted their freedom of speech in a common public forum and infringed on their rights to exercise their religion.
Schaetzel shared that “this is exactly what we need to see more of” in a recent post on social media.
THIS 👇 is exactly what we need to see more of. More Christians filing more lawsuits for violation of their religious rights: it’s the only way, and it’s long overdue. https://t.co/Cvw0Kd49Mi
— Shane Schaetzel (@ShaneSchaetzel) April 21, 2023
THE LAWSUIT
In 2020, District Court Judge Robert Blakey backed the students and granted a preliminary injunction pausing the enforcement of Millennium Park’s rules regarding where people were allowed to give public speeches or hand out literature. Judge Blakey made the ruling saying the city’s defense of its rules “rests upon its misapplication of the government speech doctrine.”
Judge Blakey also said that the park was enforcing “vague provisions in a discriminatory manner. He wrote that the park was clearly a public forum protected by the First Amendment: “It is free, open to the public, and serves as a public thoroughfare.”
“Indeed, if a ‘curated design’ were enough to transform the nature of the forum, any park with a statue could lose its First Amendment protections,” he wrote. “The law precludes this absurd result.”
That led to the park changing its rules and removing restrictions on speeches and handouts. According to the new rules, people can hand out items in the park with the exception of a few places and people can only offer reading materials one time.
The Chicago City Council approved the settlement last Wednesday, designating $5,000 per plaintiff and about $185,000 in legal fees.
As for what happens next, former Wheaton students Caden Hood and Jeremy Chong told the news publication “WORLD” that they both plan to invest their restitution money into the Kingdom.
“I made a personal vow that I wouldn’t keep a penny of it, and that I would use it all for the sake of the gospel,” Chong said. “My No. 1 desire is to plant a Reformed church in Chicago.” Hood said he “agreed ahead of time that any money that we get is going to go to ministry.” Both now attend seminary schools.
Chong said the lawsuit gave him a platform and an opportunity to talk about his religious beliefs and love of the Lord. “While being cross-examined in federal court, I was able to share the gospel, and many were able to hear it,” he said. “The main reporter for our case in ‘The Chicago Tribune,’ he — in quoting us — included the gospel multiple times.”
“God never fails,” Hood said. “I have the newspaper article on my wall just to remind me of that time because it helps me remember how God is faithful.”