Wheaton College students allowed to preach in Millennium Park, judge says

In a 32-page order issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey granted an injunction to the college students — all members of Wheaton College’s Chicago Evangelism Team — that will prohibit the city from restricting their preaching in the sprawling downtown park.

SHARE Wheaton College students allowed to preach in Millennium Park, judge says
merlin_2206700.jpg

Students at Wheaton College sued the city last year, claiming security at Millennium Park prohibited them from preaching in the park and on its adjacent sidewalks — restrictions that the students said “severely hinder First Amendment rights for all within a public forum.”

Sun-Times file photo

A federal judge has ordered the city to allow Wheaton College students to continue preaching in and around Millennium Park. 

In a 32-page order issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey granted an injunction to the college students — all members of Wheaton College’s Chicago Evangelism Team — that will prohibit the city from restricting their preaching in the sprawling downtown park. 

The students sued the city last year, claiming security at Millennium Park prohibited them from preaching in the park and on its adjacent sidewalks — restrictions that the students said “severely hinder First Amendment rights for all within a public forum.”

Another group joined as intervening defendants, alleging they were prohibited from circulating petitions in the park. Blakey also granted an injunction in their favor that will allow them to continue passing out literature. 

“The record contains no evidence that Movants’ protected activities unreasonably interfered with the Park’s art or unduly disrupted others’ enjoyment of art or other programming,” Blakey wrote. “To the contrary, (Scott) Stewart (the executive director of the Millennium Park Foundation) conceded that ‘almost no one lodged complaints about their inability to enjoy the art’ in the Park, even before the current Park restrictions became effective.” 

“Without any specific evidence of an actual problem in need of solving, the City fails to show a compelling state interest to justify its significant restrictions,” the judge added. 

A representative for the city’s Law Department declined to comment. 

A status hearing in the lawsuit is scheduled for March 4.

The Latest
The man was found unresponsive in an alley in the 10700 block of South Lowe Avenue, police said.
The man suffered head trauma and was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.
Another federal judge in Chicago who also has dismissed gun cases based on the same Supreme Court ruling says the high court’s decision in what’s known as the Bruen case will “inevitably lead to more gun violence, more dead citizens and more devastated communities.”
Women make up just 10% of those in careers such as green infrastructure and clean and renewable energy, a leader from Openlands writes. Apprenticeships and other training opportunities are some of the ways to get more women into this growing job sector.
Chatterbox doesn’t seem aware that it’s courteous to ask questions, seek others’ opinions.