Religious speech on Atlantic City boardwalk no longer a gamble

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Atlantic City will no longer enforce a city ordinance that police used to stop a man from engaging in religious speech on the city’s boardwalk in June.

In an Oct. 24 letter to Alliance Defense Fund attorneys representing the man, the Atlantic City Solicitor’s Office agreed the ordinance is “unenforceable in its present form” and that the city “intends to update” it. ADF sent a letter to the city about the ordinance in September.

“Christians shouldn’t be punished for expressing their beliefs, so the city has done the right thing here in eliminating a law that allowed that to happen,” said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Jonathan Scruggs. “Other cities should follow Atlantic City’s lead in quickly agreeing to rectify unconstitutional restrictions on the free speech rights of their citizens. Atlantic City has demonstrated respect for those rights in this instance.”

ADF contacted the city after a police officer ordered Pat Donlevy to stop talking to people on the boardwalk about his religious beliefs even though he wasn’t creating congestion or harassing anyone. The officer told Donlevy that mere eye contact with anyone constituted harassment and that he would “have to write him up” if he continued his expression. Donlevy left out of fear of arrest.

Donlevy later contacted the Atlantic City Police Department to ask why he wasn’t allowed to speak on the boardwalk. An officer cited a city ordinance that prohibits “religious services or other secular meetings of any kind” without a “written permit.” The ordinance also states that “no person shall lecture or give addresses” without a permit.

Responding to the ADF letter, which explained the constitutional problems with the ordinance, an Atlantic City assistant solicitor wrote, “I have concluded that your analysis of that particular code section is correct and unenforceable in its present form.” The assistant city solicitor also wrote that the city “will not enforce” the ordinance, which “will be revised in accordance with applicable case law.”