A federal appeals court ruled 3-0 in favor of a pro-life group, finding the city of Washington, D.C., treated them unfairly over defacement crimes.
The lawsuit was filed in November 2020 after two pro-life activists were arrested the previous summer for writing “Black Preborn Lives Matter” on a public sidewalk outside of a Planned Parenthood. The protest was organized by the Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America.
The plaintiffs accused the city of holding contradictory standards regarding defacement ordinances.
“In the summer of 2020, thousands of protesters flooded the streets of the District to proclaim ‘Black Lives Matter.’ Over several weeks, the protesters covered streets, sidewalks, and storefronts with paint and chalk,” said the court decision, released Tuesday. “The markings were ubiquitous and in open violation of the District’s defacement ordinance, yet none of the protesters were arrested. During the same summer, District police officers arrested two pro-life advocates in a smaller protest for chalking ‘Black Pre-Born Lives Matter’ on a public sidewalk.”
The Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America argued the arrests were in violation of their First Amendment rights.
The District of Columbia was using legal action to “silence disfavored speech,” the opinion stated.
“The group acknowledged that the chalk graffiti violated city ordinances but argued Washington, D.C.’s selective enforcement of the laws was unconstitutional,” per Fox News.
The district court had earlier rejected the lawsuit, but on Tuesday, the appeals court decided to reverse that decision.
“The government may not enforce the laws in a manner that picks winners and losers in public debates,” the D.C. Circuit Court said regarding its decision. “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.”
Following the court decision, the Students for Life of America posted on social media, “BREAKING NEWS: One step closer to free speech in the District of Columbia as a 3-0 Panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals rules in favor of Students for Life, the Frederick Douglass Foundation, & the pro-life advocates who were arrested for sidewalk chalking!”
The case has been sent back to the district court for reconsideration, during which the city can present its own evidence to challenge the assertions of the pro-life protesters.