Interpretation of New Illinois Law Could Stifle Grassroots Advocacy Groups
by Staff
October 9, 2008
CHICAGO, Oct. 1 (christiansunite.com) -- Pro-life advocates say a new law intended to protect small, grassroots organizations is doing just the opposite.Today in Kane County Circuit Court, members of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League were shocked to hear Planned Parenthood of Illinois is demanding $317,322 in legal fees related to a libel lawsuit filed against it by the League and its communication director, Eric Scheidler. Planned Parenthood says it is entitled to recover legal fees for parts of the libel lawsuit a judge dismissed under Illinois' new Citizen Participation Act.
"As if it weren't enough for Planned Parenthood to smear our good name with lies in letters to the Aurora City Council and ads in newspapers, now they want to bankrupt us and shut us down for daring to challenge their lies," said Scheidler.
According to its wording, the Act was intended to protect individuals' and small organizations' "constitutional rights to...participate in and communicate with government," and guard against the threat of frivolous and costly lawsuits that might deter them from doing so.
In this case, the billion- dollar enterprise, Planned Parenthood, is using the law to justify its defamatory statements against Scheidler and the Pro-Life Action League, a small non- profit that operates on an annual budget of $800,000, compared to Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area's budget of more than $15 million.
The Act was signed into law on August 28, 2007, just a week before Planned Parenthood accused pro-life advocates of fomenting violence in local newspaper ads and in a letter to the Aurora City Council. Judge Judith Brawka interpreted it and the letter to City Council as being protected because the ad contained a line urging readers to call their local alderman.
"Under this interpretation, the Citizen Participation Act has been used not to protect, but to penalize citizen participation -- to the tune of $317,000," said Tom Brejcha, Scheidler's attorney and chief counsel for Thomas More Society/Pro-Life Law Center. "The enormity of Planned Parenthood's fee demand underscores the chilling effects on First-Amendment rights that will inevitably follow the ruling in this case."
"They're turning the Citizen Participation Act completely upside- down," Scheidler said. "Powerful Planned Parenthood is trying to intimidate me into dropping my libel case under threat of financial ruin for my small non-profit organization and my family -- but it won't work."
Scheidler and his attorneys will return to court on November 12 to respond to Planned Parenthood's fee petition.
