Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 25, 1991 TAG: 9102250346
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The court said it will hear arguments that a federal judge lacked the authority to issue the injunction barring such activity.
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis of Alexandria, Va., banned Operation Rescue blockades at the nine clinics after the National Organization for Women asked him for a more sweeping order covering all abortion clinics in the metropolitan Washington area.
Ellis allowed Operation Rescue members to picket peacefully and hold other demonstrations at the clinics, as long as they did not interfere with patients' access. Ellis also ordered Operation Rescue to pay nearly $27,000 in legal fees and court costs incurred by NOW.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his rulings.
The lower courts ruled that the group's blockades had interfered with the right of interstate travel, noting that some of the women who sought treatment at the clinics were not from Virginia.
Such blockades "crossed the line from persuasion into coercion and operated to deny the exercise of rights protected by law," the appeals court said.
The appeal acted on today argued, among other things, that Ellis lacked the authority to issue the injunction because the constitutionally protected right to travel was not involved.
"The implications of this holding are astonishing," the appeal said. "Virtually every business located in a city situated near a state border . . . as well as every business located on a major interstate route . . . will serve out-of-state customers on a regular basis. According to the holding of the court below, any sit-in or mass picketing at such a business would be a federal constitutional violation."
The appeal was filed in behalf of Operation Rescue and six of its members, including group leader Randall Terry.
The justices last May refused to let Operation Rescue members block access to abortion clinics in Atlanta and the New York City metropolitan area. Lower court injunctions had banned the group's blockade efforts in those cities.
The anti-abortion group also has been hit with lawsuits charging it with violating the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
The six Operation Rescue members named in Ellis' injunction, which is to remain in effect until next Sept. 24, are Terry, Jayne Bray, Michael Bray, Clifford Gannett, Patrick Mahoney and Michael McMonagle.
by CNB