Street preacher says he's suing Naperville

A street preacher ticketed by Naperville police for improperly displaying an anti-abortion sign in downtown said Friday he's suing the city for violating his constitutional rights.

Elmer "Joe" Christopherson said his lawyers filed the "counterclaim" Thursday in DuPage County claiming police violated his "rights of free speech" and "free exercise of religion."

No records of Christopherson's lawsuit are available on the court clerk's Web site and city officials said they have not seen any documentation.

What is listed on the clerk's Web site is a record of Christopherson's citation on Sept. 2 for "display of a sign with appearance of movement."

Naperville Cmdr. Dave Hoffman said Christopherson was ticketed between 9 and 11:40 p.m. that day for "having a noncommercial sign within 10 feet of the paved portion of the roadway."

The Oswego man said he has been going to downtown Naperville for two or three years, usually demonstrating along the Riverwalk or near Jefferson Avenue and Main Street.

He said he has never been ticketed before, although he has been threatened with arrest.

"I was not obstructing anyone and there was plenty of room for people to go around," he said. "We'd been there about three hours."

Christopherson said the officer told him to put the sign away. When he questioned what law he was breaking, the officer wrote the ticket without responding.

Naperville officials said they couldn't comment on the matter because they haven't seen Christopherson's court filing.

Christopherson is due to appear in the Wheaton courthouse Nov. 5 on the illegal sign charge.