A March 25 hearing date was set Monday on a request to strike down a White Hall city ordinance that a group of Seventh-day Adventists says is unconstitutional.
Enacted in 2014 to protect residents from door-to-door solicitors, the ordinance prompted the Arkansas-Louisiana Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to file a federal lawsuit last month. The suit claims the process the group is required to go through to knock on doors and spread the Gospel violates their First Amendment rights and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The conference is asking U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. to grant a preliminary injunction to stop White Hall from enforcing the ordinance until the constitutional concerns are adjudicated. The group ultimately wants a declaration that the ordinance is unconstitutional and wants it tossed off the books.
According to the lawsuit, the city requires door-to-door distributors of material to pay $50 to cover the costs of an investigation to determine whether the distributors are entitled to a permit. Only those granted a permit are allowed to knock on doors.
The conference contends that the city's regulations restrict all kinds of door-to-door solicitation and the expression of ideas unless those wishing to share their religious or charitable beliefs also share significant personal information and pay fees in the hopes of making it through the review with a "satisfactory" rating. The conference calls that "a great burden for any program."
White Hall Mayor Noel Foster, who was previously the city's police chief, said the ordinance isn't designed to prohibit any person or group from exercising their First Amendment rights, but "to protect the safety and well-being of our residents."
He said the city has been ranked as one of the top 15 "richest" cities in Arkansas, which attracts door-to-door solicitors and has led to concerns from residents. Foster said the ordinance is a way for the city to reassure residents that certain door-to-door solicitors have passed an investigation and obtained a permit.
Because door-to-door evangelists often seek a donation, they fall into the category of solicitors, Foster indicated, though he said there is a question of whether the Adventists are "exempt," which is "something the attorneys will have to work through."
Foster said that when the lawsuit was filed the city was familiar with the conference, and that there have been many discussions back and forth over the years before the suit was filed.
In a news release issued the day the lawsuit was filed, the conference said that even after applying for a permit, "the ordinance does not explain the standards or time frames needed to obtain the permit.
"The decision whether to grant a permit is solely at the direction of one city official, with no opportunity to appeal this decision.
"Courts routinely have rejected similar government efforts that seek to impose this kind of prior restraint on protected speech."
Foster promised that "the city of White Hall will do what is legally sound, as directed by our attorneys or the court. We're going to do what's right."
Moody scheduled the preliminary injunction hearing to begin at 9 a.m. March 25.
Metro on 02/09/2016