Victory: ACLJ Defeats Attempt To Silence the Gospel in Amish Country

The First Amendment won in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

When the ACLJ sent a legal demand letter to Lancaster city officials on behalf of preacher Jeff Russell, we made one thing clear: The Constitution is not optional, and Lancaster’s own noise ordinance – Chapter 198 – explicitly exempts First Amendment-protected expression from its provisions. Officials got the message. Jeff is preaching freely, and the government is standing down.

This is a victory for Jeff, for Gospel preachers everywhere, and for every American who believes the First Amendment means what it says.

Since our intervention, Jeff has been out sharing the Gospel without interference. He recently preached at Lancaster Square while a law enforcement officer positioned himself roughly 200 feet away and watched for the better part of an hour. Jeff kept preaching. No citation. No confrontation. No arrest.

Before the ACLJ stepped in, city officials had taken the extraordinary position that while the sound of Jeff’s speech might be protected, the small amplifier he uses to project it is not. As we argued in our demand letter, that interpretation effectively erases the right it claims to respect. The right to reach an audience is just as constitutionally protected as the right to speak. A man preaching into the wind on a busy and noisy urban street isn’t exercising free speech – he’s performing it in silence.

Lancaster’s own ordinance agreed with us. Section 198-6(H) couldn’t be clearer: Constitutionally protected expression is exempt. We demanded officials honor their own law – and so far, they have.

The ACLJ remains on watch. Should Jeff ever face a citation or arrest for peacefully sharing his faith in public, we will be back in court. The government does not get to silence a preacher – and today, in Lancaster, it isn’t.

Take action with the ACLJ to protect pastors. Sign our petition.