BALTIMORE — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a federal lawsuit Thursday on behalf of peaceful pro-life advocates threatened with fines by Montgomery County officials for holding pro-life signs on a public sidewalk.
“No one should be threatened with fines for exercising their constitutional right to free speech,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “Our clients were simply holding signs promoting their pro-life views. But Montgomery County mistakenly thinks it can ban picketing in the United States of America.”
On July 31, approximately 40 pro-life advocates gathered at an intersection in Montgomery County to present their pro-life message to passing motorists. The individuals stood along the sidewalks and public rights of way and were holding pro-life signs.
After some interaction with police, a representative of the Department of Permitting Services told the sign-holders that they must immediately remove their signs or face a $500 fine because they were located in a public right of way. The pro-life advocates left the area rather than pay the fines, even though they told the officials that the First Amendment does not allow a ban on hand-held signs.
“The county’s ban on hand-held signs violates the time-honored practice of free speech under the First Amendment,” said Bowman. “It’s our hope that the federal court will agree and affirm the constitutional rights of these peaceful pro-life advocates.”
A copy of the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Northern Division, in
Defend Life v. Montgomery County can be read at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/DefendLifeComplaint.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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