“This is a significant ruling that is an important step forward in protecting the First Amendment rights of those who want to share a pro-life message,” said Vincent McCarthy, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, which represented a pro-life leader in the New York case. “The First Amendment clearly protects the pro-life message and it is encouraging that the appeals court determined that that the district court went too far in limiting the free speech of those articulating a pro-life message. If this decision is appealed, we will continue to vigorously defend the constitutional rights of our client.”

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that U.S. District Court Judge Richard Arcara went too far when he decided in April 1999 to expand the speech-free “buffer zones” around abortion clinics in Rochester and Buffalo from 15 feet to 30 feet and 60 feet at the two clinics. The appeals court ruled that the expanded speech-free zones did not just chill protest activity on public sidewalks, in the words of the appeals court: “it effectively bans it.”

The ACLJ represents Pastor Michael Warren of Buffalo, a pro-life leader who along with other pro-life leaders, was muzzled by the federal court order limiting free speech at abortion clinics in western New York.

The appeals court also struck down as unconstitutional a provision that prohibited the use of sound amplifiers during pro-life demonstrations.

The appeals court decision reinforces a 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision argued by the ACLJ in which the high court struck down floating speech-free “buffer zones” around the same abortion clinics in Rochester and Buffalo. The high court also struck down as unconstitutional the expansion of the “buffer zones” beyond 15 feet from the entrances of the clinics. The Supreme Court decision came in the case of Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York.

The American Center for Law and Justice is an international public interest law firm and educational organization that focuses on constitutional issues involving pro-life and pro-family cases. The ACLJ is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA and its web site address is www.aclj.org.