Charges Dropped Against Street Preacher Defended by the Foundation

Total victory secured for street preacher and the First Amendment!

The Foundation for Moral Law is happy to announce that on Wednesday, March 29th, we secured a total victory for our client Rickey Caster, a street preacher who was arrested on Halloween for preaching the Gospel in downtown Selma, Alabama.

On Oct. 31, 2022, Rickey was peacefully and respectfully preaching the Gospel on a downtown street corner when a city police officer approached him demanding to see a permit because he was using a microphone and speaker. When Rickey said he did not have a permit and understood that to be the officer's issue, he turned off his microphone and continued preaching using just his voice. However, the officer still arrested Rickey and charged him with disorderly conduct!

On March 29, Foundation Lead Staff Attorney Talmadge Butts and co-counsel Katrinnah Darden traveled to Selma for trial and argued that the City could not prove the charge because Rickey did not have the intent to cause a public disturbance, nor did he actually cause such a disturbance. Our motion to dismiss (which you can read here) further argued that the City had infringed the preacher’s constitutional right to the Free Exercise of Religion by arresting him while preaching. After a discussion with the City of Selma’s prosecutor, the City agreed to completely drop the case against Rickey! We were so blessed to see this victory for religious liberty.