Defend Life Wins A Round in Court

My friends at Defend Life in Baltimore sponsor a Face the Truth Tour every summer that exposes thousands of people in a number of cities from Hagerstown to Baltimore to the Delmarva Peninsula to the graphic reality of abortion. Two years ago, police in Harford County, MD violated the free speech rights of the Face the Tour group. Not only were 18 arrested but the women and girls had their shirts pulled out and their breasts inspected in front of the men.

Fortunately, Defend Life doesn't play nice when violation of constitutional rights is involved and they sued. The 4th Circuit recently upheld their complaint. Judge Richard D. Bennett denied immunity from prosecution to the police officers involved and his decision read in part:

The Amended Complaint sets forth sufficient facts to suggest that the Trooper Defendants, through their arrest of Plaintiffs, executed a policy of suppressing free speech that was based upon an unconstitutionally vague and overbroad ordinance...This Court finds with respect to the alleged sexually invasive strip-search at the Detention Center, Plaintiffs have sufficiently stated a claim.

Read the complete article here.