[Sept. 9, 2025] Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF), an organization of top attorneys that regularly defend Americans’ constitutional rights, filed an amicus curiae brief urging the United States Supreme Court rule in favor of Gabriel Olivier, a speaker who faces punishment for simply trying to preach in a public square and cannot even challenge the censorship he faces.

Mr. Olivier often preaches in public areas, but when his city passed an ordinance forcing him to move to a “protest area” far away from his intended audience, he faced a choice: either move and be silenced, or speak and risk punishment. He chose the latter and was charged with violating the law. Mr. Olivier wants to sue the city for violating his First Amendment free speech rights. But the Fifth Circuit won’t let him because he was already convicted under the law, and finding the law unconstitutional would make his conviction invalid. Now, he has taken his case to the Supreme Court to stop the censorship against him.

SLF argues in its brief that the Fifth Circuit’s ruling defies logic and will have a devastating impact on speakers. “Olivier was never confined, and therefore never had access to habeas relief. Thus, allowing the decision below to stand will make it impossible for Olivier—and others like him—to vindicate his First Amendment rights.”

SLF states, “[T]he context in which this case arises matters. Access to the public square is an important part of our nation’s history and tradition. Yet states and localities often use the modern public forum doctrine to subvert that access.”

SLF urges the Supreme Court to allow Olivier’s lawsuit against the city to move forward to protect his freedom of speech. It is imperative that the Supreme Court step in and affirm the time-honored tradition that Americans’ free speech rights are most secure in public spaces.

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