In a stunning indictment of the bias in Washington, D.C., against the pro-life movement, an appeals court has returned a fight over sidewalk chalking to a district judge.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has affirmed the First Amendment rights of two pro-life organizations that sought to chalk their message on a city sidewalk.
It was the Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America who went to court after D.C. officials refused to grant them permission to chalk their message.
They took the action because at virtually the same time, the city was allowing other groups to paint messages, messages preferred by city officials, on other city sidewalks and highways.
“Washington officials can’t censor messages they disagree with. The right to free speech is for everyone, and we’re pleased the D.C. Circuit agreed that the Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life should be able to exercise their constitutionally protected freedom to peacefully share their views the same as anyone else,” said Erin Hawley, of the ADF, which represented the groups.
“Every American deserves for their voice to be heard as they engage in important cultural and political issues of the day.”
The appeals court said, “The government may not enforce the laws in a manner that picks winners and losers in public debates. It would undermine the First Amendment’s protections for free speech if the government could enact a content-neutral law and then discriminate against disfavored viewpoints under the cover of prosecutorial discretion.”
The background of the fight is that during 2020, the D.C. mayor commissioned a mural reading “Black Lives Matter” in permanent yellow paint, and protesters quickly added “Defund the Police” to the messaging.
“The city left these favored messages in place for months. Yet when the Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America sought to use chalk to display a different message—’Black Pre-Born Lives Matter’—on a public street outside of the D.C. Planned Parenthood facility, police arrested them,” the organization reported.
“It’s very encouraging that there was a unanimous 3-0 decision in favor of the free speech rights of pro-life students, peacefully protesting in our nation’s capital,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America. “Viewpoint discrimination is un-American, and as the case proceeds, we look forward to learning more about how D.C. officials picked winners and losers in their enforcement. Free speech rights you’re afraid to use don’t really exist, and we will keep fighting for the rights of our students to stand up for the preborn and their mothers.”
The court ruling pointed out the markings by BLM promoters were “in open violation of the district’s defacement ordinance, yet none of the protesters were arrested.”
But two pro-life advocates were arrested, for chalking their message on a sidewalk, the report said.
The case charged D.C. officials with selective enforcement in their viewpoint discrimination.
“The First Amendment prohibits discrimination on the basis of viewpoint irrespective of the government’s motive. We hold the Foundation has plausibly alleged the District discriminated on the basis of viewpoint in the selective enforcement of its defacement ordinance,” the court wrote.
This article was originally published by the WND News Center.
This post originally appeared on WND News Center.