WASHINGTON -- The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), specializing in constitutional law, today filed a civil lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C. against the Metro Police Department of Washington, D.C. charging that police assaulted and violated the constitutional rights of a pro-life college student during peaceful protests outside a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Washington in 2004. The suit today comes just two weeks after the ACLJ filed a civil suit against a security guard and Planned Parenthood in Superior Court for the District of Columbia charging that the student was tackled and injured by the security guard outside the clinic while police looked on.
"The era in which police officials could choose sides in a political debate and then bully ideological opponents is long over," said Jim Henderson, Senior Counsel in the ACLJ's Washington office. "But police tactics in response to peaceful, pro-life counseling outside of a Washington, D.C. abortion facility reflected just that kind of one-sided, viewpoint discriminatory police response, resulting in speech restrictions for persons opposed to abortion and even physical intimidation and assault."
The ACLJ filed suit today in U.S. District Court in Washington on behalf of Daniel Heenan, a Virginia resident who attends Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia. The suit contends that Heenan, who participated in Saturday prayer vigils and sidewalk counseling outside the Planned Parenthood clinic on 16th Street NW in Washington for three years, had his constitutional rights violated by police - including being assaulted by one officer - in May 2004 - just weeks after Heenan contends he was injured and tackled by a Planned Parenthood security guard while police watched.
The initial incident occurred in early May 2004 after Heenan approached the clinic and crossed legal assistance for senior a painted black line on a sidewalk outside the clinic - a marking that applied only to a group of defendants in a federal lawsuit - and not to Heenan. In the suit filed April 29 against the security guard and Planned Parenthood, the ACLJ contends that Heenan was forcefully shoved to the ground and tackled by the security guard after crossing the line. The suit also contends that the incident was witnessed by several officers who ordered Heenan to leave the area - even though he was on public property - and refused his request to press charges against the security guard. No police report was made concerning the incident.
In the federal suit filed today against the police department, the ACLJ contends that police violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments of criminal lawyer the U.S. Constitution including Heenan's rights to free speech and to peaceably assemble. The suit also contends that one officer, who was present at the initial incident, assaulted Heenan two weeks later when Heenan was peacefully exercising his constitutional rights on public property outside the same clinic. The suit contends that the officer grabbed Heenan and pushed him against a fence. The legal assistance course suit requests that the court order police not to interfere with the right of counselors to walk in public areas outside the clinic and asks the court to order the police department to provide training to its officers to protect the First Amendment rights of demonstrators.
Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice is based in Washington, D.C. and is online at www.aclj.org.
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