Avast ye maties! 'Tis been decreed by a lofty court that the scallywags in DC do play favorites with defacement laws, be it Black Lives Matter or pro-lifers!
2023-08-15
Avast ye! In Washington DC, the appeals court declared that those scurvy authorities showed favoritism in their battle against anti-defacement codes aimed at ye pro-life band. They be overturnin' the lower court's dismissal o' their lawsuit. Arrr, justice be served, mateys!
A federal appeals court has ruled that the city of Washington, D.C., unfairly enforced its "defacement" ordinances against anti-abortion groups. The court found that pro-life protestors were treated more harshly than Black Lives Matter activists and reversed a lower court's dismissal of a complaint filed by the Frederick Douglass Foundation. The court pointed out that during the summer of 2020, Black Lives Matter protesters covered the streets, sidewalks, and storefronts with paint and chalk, openly violating the city's defacement ordinance, yet none of them were arrested. In contrast, two pro-life advocates were arrested for chalking "Black Pre-Born Lives Matter" on a public sidewalk during a smaller protest. The Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming that their First and Fifth Amendment rights were violated. While the groups acknowledged that the chalk graffiti violated city ordinances, they argued that the selective enforcement of the laws was unconstitutional. The foundation cited the government's approval of Black Lives Matter-themed graffiti throughout the city as evidence of selective enforcement. The appeals court overturned the dismissal of the foundation's lawsuit, stating that the District discriminated on the basis of viewpoint in the selective enforcement of its defacement ordinance. The case has been remanded for further proceedings.