Today the ACLU of Louisiana sent a letter to Mayor Jack Dale Delhomme of Breaux Bridge, expressing support for the rights of clergy members who were threatened with arrest for passing out religious literature outside the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival. ACLU Executive Director Marjorie R. Esman said: "The ACLU has a long history of supporting religious freedom and expression, including expression in public places. Neither religious nor any other speech on public streets or in public spaces may be curtailed to benefit a private group."
The ACLU of Louisiana is presently in court defending the rights of a man arrested for quoting Bible verses on the streets of Zachary, LA. That suit, Netherland v. Eubanks et al., remains pending before the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal. Said Esman, "we stand ready to support the rights of anyone, of any religion, to engage in religious speech in the public square. We trust that the City of Breaux Bridge will do what is necessary to protect free speech of all kinds in its streets and parks."