As a pair of pastors delivered a message from the Bible, they say their First Amendment were infringed upon.
The asphalt serves as their church, and the curbs of downtown San Antonio provide the pulpit for the Reverends Todd Leibovitz and Jeremy Hiltz.
But the night of July 11, 2009, the preaching pair took an impromptu trip to the county jail, charged with harassment. San Antonio Police say the two were being disorderly in front of the Bonham Exchange, a club that caters to homosexuals.
The pastors’ attorney, Jason Jakob, says local police apparently don’t understand the Constitutional right to free speech.
"My clients were in jail for 16 hours," Jakob said. "They were actually in jail overnight with rapists, pedophiles, drunks and everything else. For what? For preaching the Good News of Christ."
Said Hiltz, one of the jailed pastors: "When we went to jail, we pretty much picked up where we left off here, just sharing the word with people, and minister to the men in jail."
Once out, the harassment charges were dismissed in county court. But mysteriously, another citation surfaced: a charge of peddling without a license.
Liebovitz and Hiltz showed up for municipal court three separate times in the past four months.
This week, city prosecutors decided to finally dismiss the charges.
