“It is amazing the degree to which we have to go to federal court to drive home the fact that these rights exist and [that] policemen have as much a duty to enforce those rights and protect them as they do to catch robbers and so forth.”For background, read Rockford Abortionists Bomb Pro-life Catholics and also read Unsafe Rockford Abortion Clinic Closed by Health Dept.
-- Tom Brejcha, Thomas More Society (pro-lifers' legal counsel)
-- From "Rockford, Ill. agrees to educate law enforcers about the law" by Charlie Butts, American Family News 3/7/13
Pro-life prayer warriors for years have conducted prayer vigils at an infamous Rockford abortion mill, now closed, and had continuing run-ins with police in violation of their constitutional rights. In addition, over the past few years pro-life volunteers have been assaulted, instructed to remove their motor home from the city, and drowned out with a noisy chainsaw.
“One of our pro-life sidewalk counselors there, Kevin Rilott, was told by a policeman to ‘Get out of my sight’ – he didn't like Kevin apparently,” the attorney [Tom Brejcha] observes. “And so he got out of the policeman's sight; but then the policeman said he was jaywalking and gave him the first jaywalking ticket, I think, in recent Rockford history.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Rockford Police to Take Classes on Citizens' Constitutional Rights" posted at Christian Newswire 3/1/13
"In the past the city of Rockford had refused on numerous occasions to protect pro-life demonstrators against threats as well as actual assaults by lawless persons hostile to the pro-life view," said Kevin Rilott [of Rockford Pro-Life Initiative], one of the primary plaintiffs in the federal suit. "We brought our lawsuit against the Rockford to compel our own city's law enforcement officials to protect pro-lifers as well as other citizens from against such public and private harms."
The settlement dictates a comprehensive policy reform on Rockford's part, mandates law enforcement education and training regarding citizen rights, requires payment by the city for the plaintiffs' legal fees as well as modest compensation for damages incurred when a pro-life bus bench advertisement was defaced and obliterated and future advertisements barred. Also, a spurious city complaint against Rilott for alleged "jaywalking" outside [the] now-shuttered abortion premises was dismissed.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Further background reading: Supreme Court Rules for Pro-lifer with Fetus Photos and also read Judges Counter Obama's Attacks on Pro-lifers as well as Wyoming Pays $30000 for Censoring Pro-life Posters
