|
To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE
Huge Victory: Court Rules in Favor of Pro-Life Group After DC Officials Ignored BLM"The First Amendment prohibits discrimination on the basis of viewpoint irrespective of the government's motive.†– Opinion from federal appeals court.
In a 3-0 ruling, the court reversed a lower court's dismissal of a complaint filed by the Frederick Douglass Foundation and ruled the city authorities treated the pro-life activists more harshly than BLM protestors. "The First Amendment prohibits discrimination on the basis of viewpoint irrespective of the government's motive. We hold the Foundation has plausibly alleged the District discriminated on the basis of viewpoint in the selective enforcement of its defacement ordinance. We therefore reverse the dismissal of the Foundation's First Amendment claim and remand for further proceedings," reads the opinion. In 2020, thousands of protesters flooded the streets of the District to proclaim "Black Lives Matter". The opinion explains, "Over several weeks, the protesters covered streets, sidewalks, and storefronts with paint and chalk. The markings were ubiquitous and in open violation of the District's defacement ordinance, yet none of the protesters were arrested." The Foundation claimed that the pro-life activists' First and Fifth Amendment rights were violated. They acknowledged that the chalk graffiti violated city ordinances but maintained Washington, DC's enforcement of the laws was unconstitutional, selective, and viewpoint discrimination. "During the same summer, District police officers arrested two pro-life advocates in a smaller protest for chalking 'Black Pre-Born Lives Matter' on a public sidewalk. The organizers of the smaller protest, the Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America (collectively 'the Foundation'), sued," the opinion said. At the time, Students for Life of America president Kristen Hawkins said the group applied for and received from police a permit to assemble outside of the clinic. She claimed she also requested permission on July 20 from District Mayor Muriel Bowser to paint the message but didn't receive a response, National Review reports. The non-profit legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) represented the Foundation. "Washington officials can't censor messages they disagree with. The right to free speech is for everyone, and we're pleased the DC Circuit agreed that the Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life should be able to exercise their constitutionally protected freedom to peacefully share their views the same as anyone else," said VP of the Center for Life and Regulatory Practice with Alliance Defending Freedom Erin Hawley. "Every American deserves for their voice to be heard as they engage in important cultural and political issues of the day," she added. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here 
To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE
Other Recent Articles from Breaking Christian News Why the New RomCom ‘MERV’ Can Bring You Joy This Christmas 205 Child Victims Located and Rescued in DOJ Sex Exploitation Op Trump Admin Pausing All Off Shore Wind Project Construction Due To National Security Concerns Trump Grants Federal Workers Two Additional Christmas Holidays America Fest 2025: Erika Kirk Endorses 'My Husband's Friend' JD Vance for President Brent Bozell Confirmed as US Ambassador to South Africa Jury Quickly Convicts Judge Who Helped Illegal Migrant Escape ICE Feds Estimate Somali-Linked Fraud in Walz's Minnesota Could Top $9 Billion Brown, MIT Shooter Found Dead for Days in NH Storage Unit; Motive Still a Mystery House Passes Bill to Criminalize Transgender Mutilation of Children MOVIEGUIDE's Review of the New Animated Film: DAVID Massachusetts Drops Controversial Gender Ideology Mandate for Licensing Foster Care Parents Nearly 40% of Women Suffer Severe Grief for Years after Abortion, Miscarriage: Study Former Pfizer Vice President: COVID Shots Were 'Designed to Cause Injury,' Reduce Fertility Dutch Sheets Shares a Warning from the US National Counterterrorism Center Venezuela: Trump's Pressure Campaign and Maduro's Fury |
    
  |
[C
All articles on this site and emails from BCN are copyrighted property of Breaking Christian News. Permission is given to link to, or share a BCN story if proper attribution is given to both the original writer and summarizer of the story. Breaking Christian News 2005-2019. All Rights Reserved.
Breaking Christian News is a division of Elijah List Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: Articles and links, as well as the source articles linked to; do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Breaking Christian News.
| Home | Store | Subscribe | Facebook | Article Archive |