Defense Readies in Pro-Lifers' Little Rock Free-Speech Case
by Allie Martin
September 20, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The legal arm of the American Family Association is defending two home-schooled sisters who were charged with disorderly conduct for handing out gospel tracts in front of an abortion mill in Little Rock, Arkansas.Sixteen-year-old Rachael Snow and her 20-year-old sister Talitha will have a hearing on the charges in two weeks. The home-schooled sisters were standing on a public sidewalk, offering tracts to women who were entering an abortion center in the Arkansas capital. Their conduct, according to the Little Rock Police Department, was "disorderly." Neither of the sisters had previously been cited or charged for a violation of the law.
Michael DePrimo, an attorney with the AFA Center for Law & Policy, says the sisters have a strong case -- and fortunately, the firm adds, the young women's conduct was caught on videotape.
"I've watched a videotape. I saw nothing that was even remotely unlawful," says DePrimo. "They were arrested -- or, actually -- cited back in July, simply because a couple of business owners complained, and that is unlawful."
The sisters' free-speech rights, he says, must be protected. "What's always at stake here, first of all, is abortion protest and even the proclamation of the gospel," notes the attorney. "But any time government is heavy-handed and tries to suppress speech, that's always a concern of ours."
DePrimo says it is possible that a civil lawsuit will be filed against the city of Little Rock for violating the Snows' constitutional rights.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
