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Home / Articles / News / National / Anti-abortion protesters sue Milwaukee, saying civil rights were stifled
Anti-abortion protesters sue Milwaukee, saying civil rights were stifled
MILWAUKEE — A group of abortion opponents has sued the city of Milwaukee and 21 police officers, contending they systematically violated the protesters' civil rights through harassment, intimidation and improper enforcement of ordinances.
The eight plaintiffs say they regularly pray, sing, hold signs, hand out pamphlets and engage in "non-threatening sidewalk counseling" in the vicinity of two clinics that perform abortions. The lawsuit states they are aware of and observe the restrictions imposed in a 1993 court injunction regarding abortion protests in Milwaukee.
The 32-page lawsuit cites several incidents in 2007, 2008 and 2009 in which one or more of the plaintiffs were confronted by police and either threatened, ticketed or arrested. In at least three cases, charges were ultimately dismissed, but without prejudice, meaning prosecutors could re-introduce the charges later. The lawsuit contends dismissing the charges without prejudice is another form of intimidation.
The plaintiffs "have been intimidated and impeded and chilled in the exercise of their free speech rights, and have at times been effectively driven out of the public forum," the suit contends. Six of the plaintiffs are from Milwaukee; two from Cedarburg, Wis.
In one instance, according to the suit, plaintiffs Alex and Ana Marie Doak were pushing their baby in a carriage and handing out pamphlets when seven police officers surrounded them and threatened to charge them with abuse and neglect of their child
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee, seeks injunctions and a declaration that the city's snipe advertisement and disorderly conduct ordinances are unconstitutional. The plaintiffs' signs are clearly political or social and not subject to the ordinance, according to the suit. It also argues that the disorderly conduct charge is too vague because it doesn't define the several behaviors it prohibits.
The lawsuit also seeks to have records of the plaintiffs' tickets under those ordinances expunged, as well as damages and court costs, and to have Milwaukee police undergo more training about free speech demonstrations.
City Attorney Grant Langley said Tuesday he had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.
Via McClatchy-Tribune News Service.
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