HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — The City of Hattiesburg has settled a federal lawsuit filed by a couple who closed their business — “Marie: Psychic Reader” because of a ban that the city later overturned.
The Hattiesburg American reports that court reporters’ records show the city agreed to pay $7,500 to Tommy and Marie Costello, who sued last August.
They wanted a judge to rule that the ordinance violated their right to free speech.
District Judge Keith Starrett ordered the city in late November to stop enforcing the ordinance, and the council repealed it in early December.
The city’s attorney, Charles Lawrence, says it was prudent to settle the case. He says he found that the ordinance was passed in 1929, and the court probably would have overturned it.
