Chicago Stonewalls in Street Preacher Case: ACLJ Heads to Court

Today, the ACLJ heads to court to require the city of Chicago to hand over critical evidence in our federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of three street preachers. As you may recall from our prior coverage, Brett Raio, Perez Ndi, and Reetik Dhamala were arrested by Chicago police while peacefully sharing the Gospel on public sidewalks.

USA TODAY is also covering this vital case.

The city then attempted to persuade a federal judge to throw out our lawsuit. The court rejected that effort, allowing the case to proceed to discovery. The ACLJ moved forward with the discovery phase of litigation to uncover the truth. The city has now failed to meet agreed-upon discovery deadlines and inserted sweeping objections that can prevent us from obtaining critical evidence.

The ACLJ responded, filing a motion with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division to demand answers. Discovery deadlines are not meaningless technicalities. Allowing Chicago to retain these objections only after receiving extensions and missing the final agreed deadline would permit the city to turn its own delay into a litigation advantage.

On Thursday, the ACLJ will ask the court to order Chicago to hand over all the evidence showing how these unconstitutional decisions were permitted.

Sign our petition: Defeat the Left’s War Against Pastors.

We made it clear in our lawsuit: The city has adopted a de facto policy of arresting street preachers, regardless of evidence, simply for sharing the Gospel on the streets of Chicago. Through our motion, the ACLJ is asking the court to compel the city to produce evidence of internal policies, training material, and communications revealing any policies of unconstitutional enforcement of their noise ordinance.

The ACLJ served discovery months ago on April 17. In response, the city continues to delay our access to critical evidence. Even after finally providing written responses, the city inserted untimely objections – objections after the deadline – to our discovery requests. We asked Chicago to withdraw its untimely objections.

Chicago refused.

The ACLJ is taking action. We’re asking the court to declare Chicago’s untimely objections waived, order the city to provide complete and verified responses, and to produce all responsive documents.

This case began when three Christians were placed in handcuffs for proclaiming the Gospel in the public square. Our clients are fighting not only for themselves, but also for the next person who wants to preach the Gospel and expects the First Amendment to be upheld. A victory will help ensure that Chicago remains a place where future generations can proclaim the Gospel without fear of being handcuffed, arrested, or silenced by the government.

We will keep you updated as this case moves forward. Please pray for Brett, Perez, and Reetik, and for our legal team as we appear in court on Thursday to demand the truth. Your support enables the ACLJ to confront government abuse and defend constitutional liberty across the country.

Take action with us by signing our petition: Defeat the Left’s War Against Pastors.