RALEIGH, N.C. — Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed an appeal in federal court Friday on behalf of a citizen silenced for expressing pro-life speech on public property. ADF attorneys originally filed suit on behalf of Dennis Green in 2005, after officials threatened him with arrest for not adhering to the city’s so-called “permit process.”
“The Constitution does not require individuals to obtain governmental permission in order to exercise their First Amendment rights,” said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum. “Such laws are unconstitutional and serve only to stifle the speaker.”
On Aug. 23, 2003, Green, along with some members of his friends and family, began to peacefully communicate a pro-life viewpoint on a public right-of-way. Raleigh police officers approached Green, who was carrying a sign and attempting to distribute literature concerning the issue of abortion.
The officers told Green and the other pro-life advocates to cease their activities and leave the area or face a citation for violating a law which prohibits picketing without a permit. The officers also told Green that his sign would be confiscated if he refused to leave.
A copy of the notice of appeal filed Friday by ADF attorneys in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in
Green v. City of Raleigh is available at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/GreenAppeal.pdf. The original complaint filed in the case is available at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/GreenComplaint.pdf.
“Under the First Amendment, speech is protected and does not require a citizen to adhere to a city-imposed ‘permit process,’” Kellum explained. “Further, it is ridiculous for officials to consider Mr. Green’s activities to fit the definition of ‘picketing’ as outlined in the city ordinance.”
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
www.telladf.org