D.C. Police Prohibit Display, ACLJ Files Fed. Lawsuit to Protect Pro-Life Groups’ Freedom of Speech

“Because of their viewpoint opposing abortion, the District’s police force is denying a permit for this peaceful demonstration,” said James Henderson, senior counsel of the ACLJ.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2009—In response to the Washington Metro Police Department’s ban on pro-life organizations to create "sidewalk chalk" displays of pro-life messages outside the White House, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), focusing on constitutional law, filed a federal lawsuit.  The ACLJ is asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to grant a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction clearing the way for the organizations to use chalk to draw pro-life messages on Jan. 25 outside the White House.

The lawsuit was filed after the Washington Metropolitan Police Department denied the request of activists to leave a "sidewalk chalk" display with pro-life messages and art in front of the White House on Jan. 25, 2009.

"The District of Columbia allows chalking on public property, for world peace, for interracial understanding.  The District's Library is a founding sponsor of an international movement called Chalk4Peace," said James Henderson, senior counsel of the ACLJ.  "Our clients simply want to create messages, in chalk, on D.C. property, asking incoming President Obama to use his office to bring peace to one of the most dangerous categories of places in the world: the womb."  

The ACLJ represents several pro-life organizations in the suit including the Christian Defense Coalition, a Washington-based group, and Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, an organization based in California.

The lawsuit contends that D.C. law enforcement officials have given permission in the past to pro-life organizations - including the Christian Defense Coalition - to conduct demonstrations involving "sidewalk chalking."  Further, the suit contends that the City of Washington has also sponsored numerous sidewalk chalk art displays in the past.

The suit asserts that prohibiting the "sidewalk chalking" violates both the First Amendment - free speech - and the Religious Restoration Act, the right to free exercise of religion.

The ACLJ asks the federal court to grant injunctive relief with an order barring the District Police "from denying plaintiffs the right to have access to the disputed public street for the purpose of conducting a peaceful demonstration, including the creation of words and images with chalk on the public ways within the District."

You can read the lawsuit posted at www.aclj.org.

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses on constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C.  The ACLJ is online at www.aclj.org.