DETROIT — A federal court says it was illegal to bar a
Christian evangelist from passing leaflets at the Arab International Festival
in Dearborn last year according to various reports.

The appeals court ruled 2-1 Thursday in the case of George
Saieg of Anaheim, Calif. The decision comes less than a month before this
year’s festival.

The court says Dearborn’s restriction on where Saieg could
pass leaflets was not reasonable and violated his First Amendment rights. The
festival had offered Saieg a free booth both in 2009 and 2010, but he prefers
to pass out fliers on Warren Avenue sidewalks because he believes some Muslims
may be afraid to approach him. The city also noted that the court ruled in its
favor in two of three cases presented.

Mayor Jack. O’Reilly, Jr. said the appeals court decision
was focused on that narrow issue of the openness of the public sidewalks in a
unique festival setting.  “Since
the festival chose to keep the sidewalks open for other business not related to
the festival, the court ruled that the sidewalks had to be available for the
material distribution.  It is a
narrow opinion, and one we will abide by,” said O’Reilly. Saieg’s attorney says
he and his followers plan to attend the next festival on June 17.