Standard Newswire is a cost-effective and efficient newswire service for public policy groups, government agencies, PR firms, think-tanks, watchdog groups, advocacy groups, coalitions, foundations, colleges, universities, activists, politicians, and candidates to distribute their press releases to journalists who truly want to hear from them.

Do not settle for an email blasting service or a newswire overloaded with financial statements. Standard Newswire gets your news into the hands of working journalists, broadcast hosts, and news producers.

Find out how you can start using Standard Newswire to

CONNECT WITH THE WORLD

VIEW ALL Our News Outlets
Sign Up to Receive Press Releases:

Standard Newswire™ LLC
209 W. 29th Street, Suite 6202
New York, NY 10001, USA.
(212) 290-1585

Judge Trashes First Amendment to Endorse Police Harassment of Pro-Life Advocates
Life Legal Defense Foundation Appeals Federal Court Refusal to Intervene in Mississippi
 
Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333, tc@tcpr.net
 
JACKSON, Miss., Dec. 1, 2014 /Standard Newswire/ -- Life Legal Defense Foundation filed an appeal last week with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi Jackson Division, asking the court to overturn a judge's denial of injunctive relief for pro-life advocates, protecting them from harassment by the City of Jackson, Mississippi Police Department.
 
In the case, revolving around a long and well documented history of police misconduct, Judge Carlton Reeves refused to prohibit the Jackson city police from further persecution of peaceful pro-life protesters. The injunction had been requested to protect the victims of harassment while awaiting a lawsuit on the matter, set to go trial next summer.
 
"In denying Plaintiffs' request for injunctive relief, the district court ignored the main issue of this case, which is whether or not free speech activity can constitute a legal obstruction on the public sidewalk," stated attorney Allison Aranda, Senior Staff Counsel for Life Legal Defense Foundation. "We look forward to a thorough review of Judge Reeves' decision as well as the evidence that amply supported our request for an injunction to stop this police misconduct."
 
According to the Life Legal Defense Foundation's original filing, free speech activity on the public sidewalk has never been allowed to be considered loitering or deemed as some other infraction, but the Jackson police have repeatedly treated free speech as an obstruction rather than a Constitutionally protected action.
 
Life Legal Defense Foundation appealed Reeves' denial of the original request, which asked the court to enjoin the City of Jackson and several specifically named police officers from:
 
        Unlawfully applying, enforcing, or threatening to enforce the obstruction statute against the Plaintiffs,
 
        Unlawfully applying, enforcing, or threatening to enforce the disorderly conduct statute against the Plaintiffs,
 
        Unlawfully seizing and refusing to return Plaintiffs' signs,
 
        Engaging in any act or practice that has the purpose or effect of unlawfully inhibiting the exercise of Plaintiffs' first Amendment rights on the public sidewalks or rights of way, including the rights of any person associated and acting with Plaintiff Pro-Life Mississippi in its First Amendment activities on the public sidewalks or rights of way,
 
        Enforcing the laws, statutes, or ordinances in a manner that is not even-handed, and
 
        Favoring or disfavoring any person or group because of his political, religious or philosophical positions on any issue.
 
The police misconduct testified to in court was directed at pro-life sidewalk counselors outside the Jackson Women's Health Organization, the last remaining abortion facility in Mississippi. Multiple witnesses attested to, and provided documentation of years of threats, harassment, unwarranted citations and arrests of pro-life advocates by Jackson law enforcement officers.
 
Read the appeal document filed by Life Legal Defense Foundation in United States District Court HERE.
 
Read the original Life Legal Defense Foundation court filing in United States District Court HERE.
 
About Life Legal Defense Foundation
Life Legal Defense Foundation was established in 1989, and is a nonprofit organization composed of attorneys and other concerned citizens committed to giving helpless and innocent human beings of any age, and their advocates, a trained and committed voice in the courtrooms of our nation. For more information about the Life Legal Defense Foundation, visit www.lldf.org.