Thomas More Attorney Fights for Reversal of Ruling Against Pro-Lifers
by Ed Thomas
September 20, 2005
(AgapePress) - An appeal of a punitive damage award in a 10-year abortion-related lawsuit has resulted in a reduction from $108 million to $4.7 million imposed against pro-life advocates and to be paid to abortion doctors. However, the attorney for six of the defendants in the case before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says they will continue to press for dismissal of all punitive damages and an overturning of the original verdict. Thomas More Law Center trial counsel Edward White III says the reduction of punitive damages in Planned Parenthood v. The American Coalition of Life Activists is a good first step. Still, he says precedent rulings in two recent cases will lead him to ask for reconsideration of issues related to the 1999 guilty verdicts against his clients.
The case of Planned Parenthood v. The American Coalition is based entirely on the publication of two Old West-style wanted posters and a non-party's website, which were alleged to be threats against the named abortionists, in violation of the law. The charges against the pro-lifers concerned the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrance (FACE) and Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) acts.
The Thomas More Law Center entered the case on behalf of several of the defendants after the unfavorable 1999 jury verdict. The case has had a long history in the courts: after the original verdict, an appeal went to the Ninth Circuit in 2001, and a three-judge panel unanimously set aside the earlier ruling, citing the First Amendment's protection of free speech. However, a sharply divided 11-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit overturned that decision in 2002 in a 6-5 vote.
The Supreme Court refused to review the case and returned it to the district court to reconsider its punitive damages award. The district court found the $108.5 million award to be appropriate, but the Ninth Circuit, earlier this month, disagreed and reduced the amount by 96 percent.
That decision is encouraging to White, but he wants more -- namely, a reconsideration of issues in the Planned Parenthood v. American Coalition case, based on new standards set in the recent Supreme Court rulings, and the attorney wants punitive damages dismissed as well. "What the three-judge panel just did in this particular case -- this case has been pending now since 1995 -- was ignore two Supreme Court decisions that were issued while our case was pending which directly impacted our case to the direct benefit of our clients," he says.
Since the three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit has refused, White will make the petition to the entire Ninth Circuit. He contends that recent Supreme Court rulings in abortion cases have changed the standards for application of the FACE and RICO statutes, and this justifies a review of the First Amendment issues in the 1999 verdict, as well as the award for damages.
The Thomas More attorney explains: "The issues of the new trial and the First Amendment question that kind of dovetails with this issue of what is a true threat is, if you make a statement that is not threatening on its face at all, are you protected by the First Amendment, or can multimillion-dollar judgments be entered against you, which is what happened here?"
No punitive damages should have been imposed in this case, White asserts. He says his clients were exercising their First Amendment rights, and the Thomas More Law Center intends to pursue the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which he trusts will consider all the issues involved and ultimately rule in the pro-life clients' favor.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
