(St. Paul, MN) - The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, announced today that the City of St. Paul, Minnesota and its police department have agreed not to issue citations or arrest anyone who is engaging in protected First Amendment activity and have agreed to begin a process to ensure that the city code complies with the First Amendment. The action brings to an end a federal civil rights lawsuit that was filed by the ACLJ against the city on behalf of two pro-life women who were told by police to leave a public sidewalk outside an abortion clinic because they did not have a permit required by a city ordinance.

"From the very beginning, we wanted to protect the constitutional rights of our clients to share a pro-life message on a public sidewalk," said Francis J. Manion, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, which filed the suit. "We filed suit because the city's ordinance violated the First Amendment by regulating protected free speech activity. The city ordinance went well beyond the city's legitimate desire to regulate parades and large scale demonstrations through the issuance of a permit. It required that any number of persons who wished to meet in public at a fixed location in order to exercise their First Amendment rights must obtain permission from the city first - a move that is unconstitutional. We're delighted that the city has agreed to no longer rely on that portion of the ordinance and is moving to change the ordinance to comply fully with the First Amendment. This is an important victory for free speech and for the citizens of Minnesota."

In August 2002, the ACLJ filed suit in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota on behalf of Bonnie Holliday and Sally Kolb against the City of St. Paul, the St. Paul Police Department and the Chief of Police. The suit contended that on August 5, 2002 Bonnie Holliday and Sally Kolb stood on a public sidewalk outside the Planned Parenthood clinic on Ford Parkway in St. Paul to pray for and to give counsel to women entering the clinic for an abortion. Both were told by police that unless they left the premises they would be cited for failing to obtain a permit under Chapter 366 of the city code. Both Holliday and Kolb had been coming to the Planned Parenthood location on Monday mornings for years without incident.

Chapter 366A.01(a) states that "No person or organization shall use any public street, sidewalk or alley for a march, demonstration or public gathering in the city without a permit." The Ordinance defines "public gathering" as "a public assembly of persons, in a location which can be fixed or predetermined, for the purpose of conducting activities which are protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution."

In a settlement agreement signed by the city and the ACLJ, the City of St. Paul and its police department agrees not to subject "any person or group to citation, arrest, prosecution, or threat of citation, arrest, or prosecution for failing to obtain a permit required by the 'demonstration' or 'public gathering' provisions" of the code. Further, the city attorney agrees to review the code and make recommendations of amendments to the code to city council to ensure that it complies with the requirements of the First Amendment. Today, both parties filed a stipulation with the federal court asking that the lawsuit be dismissed in light of the settlement agreement.

The American Center for Law and Justice is an international public interest law firm specializing in constitutional law. The ACLJ is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA and the web site address is www.aclj.org.