*Winchester settles lawsuit filed by street preacher

By Alex Bridges -- abridges@nvdaily.com

HARRISONBURG -- Winchester has agreed to change its noise ordinance as part of a settlement reached in a lawsuit filed by a street preacher in November.

Michael Marcavage claimed city police violated his civil rights when he preached to crowds gathered during the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival on May 1, 2010. Marcavage, a street preacher affiliated with Pennsylvania-based Repent America, alleged in the lawsuit filed Nov. 3 in U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg that the police made him stop using an amplified microphone to proselytize to the crowds.

Marcavage's lawsuit, backed by the Rutherford Institute, based in Charlottesville, also challenged the constitutionality of Winchester's noise ordinance.

A federal judge on July 12 granted a defense motion to dismiss the part of the lawsuit specifically against Sanzenbacher and Danielson. The judge reserved ruling on the plaintiff's claims about the noise ordinance and its constitutionality.

An evidentiary hearing on the remaining matter was scheduled to be held Aug. 25.

Prior to the hearing, according to a city news release, counsel for both parties discussed the plaintiff's concerns about certain provisions of the city's ordinance.

"The City acknowledged that sections ... of the noise ordinance, which had actually evolved from a Noise Ordinance Committee of Council formed in 1947 and had not been substantially irevised since 1997 could be deemed unconstitutional with respect to its use of the terms 'unnecessary' and 'annoying', and that it would be in the City's best interest to revise these provisions," the release states.

Under the settlement, the city agrees to amend the sections of the ordinance to eliminate the references to "unnecessary" and "annoying." In addition, the city's insurance carrier has agreed to pay nominal damages of $2,500 plus $25,000 in attorney's fees to the plaintiff, the release states, citing a consent decree filed in the case.

For further developments, visit nvdaily.com or read the print edition of The Northern Virginia Daily.