Orlando, FL - This morning, the Orange County Board of Commissioners approved a settlement between the county and Shirley Snyder, a local resident who was prohibited from giving religious material to willing recipients in a public park. Liberty Counsel agreed to drop the federal lawsuit it filed last month, because Orange County has agreed to not stop Snyder from sharing her Christian message in the county parks. As a result of the lawsuit, the county amended its regulations to allow literature distribution in all county parks. The settlement includes the payment of damages for the county's actions against Snyder.

The lawsuit was the result of an incident in April when Snyder was at Cypress Grove Park in Orange County. She was sharing pocket-size tracts about Jesus Christ and flyers inviting people to an Easter service. Snyder was told by a county employee that she must stop distributing the items. County officials insisted that she could not distribute anything again until she obtained county permission.

Liberty Counsel filed a lawsuit against the county on behalf of Snyder on July 20. After a hearing was scheduled in federal court, the County agreed to stop enforcing its unconstitutional policy against Snyder and agreed that she was free to distribute religious materials in the park without prior approval. Snyder has returned to the park to share her faith with others.

Mathew Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented: "Of all places, speech in public parks is highly protected, both by history and by the courts. Our liberty is only as vibrant as our resolve to defend it. Had Shirley Snyder not protested her constitutional violation and had Liberty Counsel not demanded it, her freedom of speech would be a mere shadow that fades with the evening sun."