10th Circuit: City's Ordinance Does Not Violate Abortion Clinic Demonstrators' First Amendment Rights
"The demonstrators lack evidence to show genuine disputes of material fact to prevail on their Free Speech Clause claim," said Phillips. "We hold that § 15-503(3) is constitutional under the Free Speech Clause as applied to the demonstrators. The demonstrators have not shown that the subsection was content-based, insufficiently tailored, or fatal to their sidewalk ministry."
March 08, 2023 at 12:14 PM
5 minute read
(Credit: Halfpoint/Adobe stock) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed an Oklahoma district court ruling granting summary judgment to the City of Norman, a decision which upheld the constitutionality of the city's disturbing-the-peace ordinance.
According to the opinion, the appellants in the case—Toby Harmon, Shane Dodson and Tammi Dodson—are demonstrators outside the Abortion Surgery Center in Norman, and they contended that the ordinance in question is unconstitutional both facially and as applied to their sidewalk ministry. As part of their ministry, they "'attempt[] to share a message with signs, tracts and speaking to the general public,'" engage in unsolicited "'preaching'" and "'talk with them about God's love'" to try to persuade clinic visitors against abortion.
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