Court: No Immunity for Officers Who Arrested Pro-Life Advocates [In Maryland]

Life Site News ^ | RICHMOND, Virginia, October 19, 2010

[GonzoII]

Tuesday October 19, 2010

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Court: No Immunity for Officers Who Arrested Pro-Life Advocates

RICHMOND, Virginia, October 19, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit Monday upheld a district court decision that denied the request of several Maryland state police officers to be immune from a lawsuit filed by attorneys representing pro-life advocates.

The officers had handcuffed and arrested the 18 pro-life advocates for sharing a peaceful pro-life message along a public street in August 2008.

Among those arrested were three young women who were later shackled, strip-searched, and detained overnight.

“Pro-life advocates shouldn’t be handcuffed and arrested for expressing their beliefs,” said Alliance Defense Fund Litigation Counsel Daniel Blomberg, who is representing the pro-lifers. “The 4th Circuit’s decision is a positive development for our clients, who deserve justice after what they endured.”

In its order, the court found that arguments that the troopers culpably enforced a violation of free speech rights protected by the First Amendment, and that the arrests constituted retaliation based on the content of speech, were sufficient to deny the troopers’ request for immunity for the time being. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland refused to dismiss the lawsuit in June 2009.

The court wrote that the pro-lifers’ allegations “plausibly alleged an absence of probable cause [for their arrests] and that the absence of probable cause would have been clear to a reasonable law enforcement officer.”

In August 2008, at least 12 state, county, and city police officers handcuffed the 18 pro-life advocates in Defend Life’s “Face the Truth” Pro-Life Tour. They had started their peaceful pro-life event along a public road in Harford County but relocated to the town of Bel Air after being told by officers to leave the county for not having a county permit. The officers then arrested them in Bel Air without explanation.

Once in custody, three young women among the group arrested - two of whom were teenagers - were subjected to two rounds of strip searches. Only after the strip searches and a night spent in jail were they told why they were arrested.  A week after their release, the state dropped the charges ultimately filed against them:  loitering, disorderly conduct, and failure to obey a lawful order. 

None of the participants were ever charged with any sort of permit violation.

URL: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/oct/10101908.html

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[GonzoII]

"Once in custody, three young women among the group arrested - two of whom were teenagers - were subjected to two rounds of strip searches. Only after the strip searches and a night spent in jail were they told why they were arrested."

Now sue THEIR pants off.

[GonzoII]

Headline shoul read: [In Maryland]

[Colorado Cowgirl]

The heavy hand of the Law is fixing to get their hands slapped. Money talks, so hit them in their wallets good and hard!

[AAABEST]

After they sue these troopers for being statists, they ought to sue them for being fatsoes.

[SnuffaBolshevik]

If the suit is successful, will the damages come out of the officers own hides, or will the taxpayer have to cough it up?

I think I know the answer already.

[Westbrook]

Meanwhile, the queers can parade around naked and engaging in sexual depravities, in the open for all to see, with impunity.

The mohammedans can block traffic facing Mecca with their posteriors lifted high, signs saying “Death to America”, “Death to Israel”, and “911 Was a Good Start”, with no fear of being arrested and strip searched by the police.

The world is upside down.

[DariusBane]

The Police are your friends and ALWAYS deserve the benefit of the doubt. I'm certain that these hardened criminals should have been given a corrective beat down on the way to jail. That would teach em!
(In before the homoerotic boot lickers).

[Hoodat]

God bless the US Fourth Circuit! Prayers up for Ken Cuccinelli, and God bless the Commonwealth.

[Quix]

upside down and inside out.

[A2J]

The court wrote that the pro-lifers’ allegations “plausibly alleged an absence of probable cause [for their arrests] and that the absence of probable cause would have been clear to a reasonable law enforcement officer.”

Ooooh. That hurts.

And what's with the goofy hats?

[cherry]

shameful behaviour......what kind of men are these cretins anyway?......

I'm sure they'll say they were just "following orders"......we all know where that lead too in Germany....

people on Fr sometimes will opine that our police and our military would never turn against "us".....better rethink that....

[thethirddegree]

Sue these fascist pigs into bankruptcy. I’m sick and tired of reading about abuse of police powers and it’s high time we get rid of thugs hiding behind the badge, starting with Eric Holder.

[Guenevere]

Pro-life bttt!

[Venturer]

Failure to obey a Lawful order seems to be used a lot.

It gives police an almost unassailable power.

How does anyone know what order is lawful and what is not?
Simple, any order that comes out of a cops mouth is considered lawful at the time.

If he say’s move, you move —or else.

Not sure that isn’t a bit too much power.

[WaterBoard]

The best thing to do to a LEO is strip his civil immunity.

They hide behind the tax payer to fund the inevitable lawsuits for their screw ups and criminality.

But, when a LEO community sees that they personally will be on the hook for a lawsuit, they begin to think twice before violating constitutional rights and committing crimes.

[WaterBoard]

Classy!

“One of the women who participated in the tour overheard a police radio conversation during the arrest where an unknown person told the troopers to make the arrests and that they would “figure out later” what charges would be filed.”

[Not gonna take it anymore]

“One of the women who participated in the tour overheard a police radio conversation during the arrest where an unknown person told the troopers to make the arrests and that they would “figure out later” what charges would be filed.”

Would you please link a source for that quote?

[sergeantdave]

“people on Fr sometimes will opine that our police and our military would never turn against “us”.....better rethink that.... “

Think again.

You want to see what happens when liberal “cops” are confronted, check out the LA riots. The “cops” in LA hopped in their squads and drove home, when tasked with putting down a mob of brick-throwing thugs.

Read the cop blogs and it will soon become apparent what liberal “cops” will protect above all else - their own hides and impending pensions.

OTOH, there are thousands of elected sheriffs and deputies protecting your liberties and will stand up to liberal “cops” who carry out the illegal orders of their big city Marxist masters.

My elected sheriff runs on a platform of protecting the constitution and citizen’s 2nd amendment rights. His deputies are well trained and go about the business of catching crooks and burglars in my community. He’s routinely re-elected with 70% of the vote.

So yeh, there may be liberal “cops” who will carry out the illegal orders of their Marxist masters, but should they venture out from the liberal big city hellholes, they have been and will be confronted.

[SaraJohnson]

We need to remember than these abusers do not constitute all police officers. At the same time, all officers have a duty to the constitution and that means outting officers who are abusing their power and citizens of the US.

Concerning this incident, these were political arrests of protestors the officers hate. The people arrested were Christians of varying ages. They took three Christian teenagers and violated them sexually with totally unwarrented strip searches and shackled them naked. They did this on purpose knowing the girls would likely be modest and that strip searching them would demean, frighten and hurt them.

They should face sexual abuse charges among all the other charges they face. They had no right nor reason to strip search the girls let alone arrest them. They committed torture to political prisoners.

[sergeantdave]

Everything you said is on target. I’d only add that these Marxist cops need to be stripped of their sovereign immunity and personally sued for everything they own.