Post by oap001 on Feb 22, 2007 14:54:42 GMT -5
Newspaper FAQs Abortion protesters can sue over detention
Thursday, February 22, 2007
CINCINNATI (AP) — Lawenforcement officers can be held liable in a lawsuit by antiabortion protesters who say their rights were violated when they were detained for three hours after driving trucks with photos of aborted fetuses, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The 6 th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday reversed a ruling by a U.S. District Court in Dayton and sent the case back to continue.
"After five years, justice has finally prevailed," said Mark Harrington of Columbus, executive director of the Midwest office of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform and one of the protesters. "We were discriminated against and harassed because of our pro-life speech."
Members of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform were detained on June 10, 2002, while traveling through Springboro, 15 miles south of Dayton.
The appeals court said a reasonable jury could conclude that the officers — who were from Springboro, Clearcreek Township and the FBI — were motivated to detain the group in part because of the photographs and concern by at least one officer that the photos shouldn’t be seen by children.
The ruling said the officers stopped the protesters because they were dressed in body armor and Kevlar helmets, raising suspicions that they might be involved in criminal activity.
But the initial investigation revealed nothing to justify prolonged detention, the court said, and a reasonable officer would have known that detaining the protesters would violate their free-speech rights.
The trucks also appeared in Columbus.
Mark Landes, attorney for the Springboro officers, said they did nothing wrong. "When trucks roll into your city carrying guys with helmets and flak jackets, we want to make sure that our officers will still be there to defend you."
Thursday, February 22, 2007
CINCINNATI (AP) — Lawenforcement officers can be held liable in a lawsuit by antiabortion protesters who say their rights were violated when they were detained for three hours after driving trucks with photos of aborted fetuses, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The 6 th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday reversed a ruling by a U.S. District Court in Dayton and sent the case back to continue.
"After five years, justice has finally prevailed," said Mark Harrington of Columbus, executive director of the Midwest office of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform and one of the protesters. "We were discriminated against and harassed because of our pro-life speech."
Members of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform were detained on June 10, 2002, while traveling through Springboro, 15 miles south of Dayton.
The appeals court said a reasonable jury could conclude that the officers — who were from Springboro, Clearcreek Township and the FBI — were motivated to detain the group in part because of the photographs and concern by at least one officer that the photos shouldn’t be seen by children.
The ruling said the officers stopped the protesters because they were dressed in body armor and Kevlar helmets, raising suspicions that they might be involved in criminal activity.
But the initial investigation revealed nothing to justify prolonged detention, the court said, and a reasonable officer would have known that detaining the protesters would violate their free-speech rights.
The trucks also appeared in Columbus.
Mark Landes, attorney for the Springboro officers, said they did nothing wrong. "When trucks roll into your city carrying guys with helmets and flak jackets, we want to make sure that our officers will still be there to defend you."