Pro-Lifers' Arrests Over Graphic Signs Upheld

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A federal appeals court panel has ruled that Kansas City police officers had a right to arrest five abortion opponents who were displaying large color photographs of aborted fetuses near a busy intersection. In a ruling issued Monday, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that the officers did not infringe on the protesters' rights to free speech and assembly. Noting that the officers asked the protesters to move the signs — but not to take them down — the three-judge appeals court panel ruled that the officers' main objective was to protect the public safety, not to censor. Judge C. Arlen Beam issued a strong dissent: "I dissent because the Constitution does not allow a small group of passers-by to censor, through their complaints, the content of a peaceful, stationary protest." Posted by Editor at July 28, 2004 10:37 AM