ACLJ Challenges Carbondale’s Unconstitutional Crackdown on Pro-Life Speech and Calls On Court To Stop Harassing Pro-Life Sidewalk Counselor

The ACLJ has taken the fight for free speech and religious liberty straight to federal court. We exposed the city of Carbondale, Illinois, which has trampled on the rights of pro-life advocate and missionary Brandon Hamman. We just completed a recent court hearing and presented powerful evidence showing that city officials have engaged in targeted, discriminatory enforcement of a vague ordinance designed to silence viewpoints they dislike. We asked the court to stop the city from violating our client’s constitutional rights.

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Brandon, a dedicated missionary and sidewalk counselor with the ministry Gospel for Life, has faithfully ministered outside Carbondale’s abortion facilities – offering help, hope, and practical support to women in crisis. Yet instead of respecting his First Amendment rights, the city subjected him to a shifting maze of contradictory rules and arbitrary enforcement – even threatening to cite and arrest him.

First, city officials claimed that Brandon’s signs offering “free baby supplies” were not a proper “demonstration.” When he replaced them with purely expressive messages like “We will adopt your baby” and “Love your preborn neighbor as yourself,” the city still declared them unlawful.

In one especially telling moment, Brandon asserted, “I am demonstrating against abortion; I have a right to do that.” Carbondale’s Community Development Manager, John Lenzini, replied bluntly: “No, you don’t.” That statement speaks volumes about the city’s disregard for constitutional freedoms.

At the hearing, we argued that Carbondale’s temporary sign ordinance is unconstitutionally vague because it fails to distinguish “public property” and “right of way” and requires an ordinary citizen to go research plat maps to determine appropriate places to stick signs in the ground. This vagueness invites exactly the kind of standardless, subjective enforcement the Constitution forbids. We also emphasized that the Supreme Court has definitively recognized the rights of citizens to stick signs in the ground, and ordinances or statutes restricting such activity are unconstitutional.

We have ample evidence showing that city officials like Mr. Lenzini and Mr. Snyder, the Carbondale City Attorney, has unbridled discretion in enforcing this ordinance, which leads to selective viewpoint discrimination.

Making matters worse, when Brandon attempted to comply with the ordinance’s apparent permitting option for 501(c) organizations, officials denied that such a process even existed – despite the fact that it’s explicitly written into their own law. This Kafkaesque double-speak left Brandon with no path to exercise his rights without risking punishment.

This case is about more than one man’s ability to hold a sign. It’s about whether local officials can use poorly written laws as weapons to suppress religious and pro-life viewpoints. If Carbondale can get away with this, no one’s speech is safe.

The ACLJ is committed to ensuring that the First Amendment applies equally to all Americans – regardless of whether government officials agree with the message. The Constitution doesn’t allow cities to pick winners and losers in the marketplace of ideas.

We’ve put the facts before the court, and we are confident that justice – and the Constitution – will prevail. Religious Americans should never have to choose between living out their faith and exercising their freedom. We will not stop fighting until that principle is secured in Carbondale and beyond.

Stand with us in defending free speech and religious liberty. Your voice and support help us challenge unconstitutional actions like Carbondale’s and protect the rights of pro-life advocates nationwide. Join the ACLJ today as we fight in court to ensure that no American is silenced for living out their faith.