ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 25, 1997 TAG: 9702250088
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
The Supreme Court Monday ordered lower courts to reconsider the validity of a Phoenix ordinance and a Colorado law that restrict the activities of protesters outside abortion clinics.
The lower courts had upheld both measures.
The action, contained in two brief orders, was far from surprising. The justices last week bolstered the free-speech rights of protesters outside abortion clinics, ruling they can confront patients on public sidewalks as long as they stay at least 15 feet away from clinic entrances.
Last week's ruling in a New York case did not strip abortion clinics and patients of the considerable protection granted in recent years against violence and intimidation. But the court said a federal judge went too far when ordering protesters to stay 15 feet away from any clinic patient or staff member, no matter where they were. The justices ruled that the ``floating buffer zones'' violate protesters' free-speech rights.
LENGTH: Short : 29 linesby CNB