{"id":246438,"date":"2021-06-05T14:55:24","date_gmt":"2021-06-05T19:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=246438"},"modified":"2021-06-05T09:42:14","modified_gmt":"2021-06-05T14:42:14","slug":"court-pro-life-sidewalk-counselors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/court-pro-life-sidewalk-counselors\/","title":{"rendered":"Appeals Court vacates ruling, will rehear case of NYC pro-life sidewalk counselors"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated<\/a> a ruling by its 3-judge panel in New York v. Griepp<\/em>, which silenced pro-life sidewalk counselors. The Court said it will rehear the case.<\/p>\n

“In an abrupt about-face, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated its own appalling ruling in\u00a0New York vs. Griepp<\/em>\u00a0and has agreed to rehear the case,” said Life Legal Defense Foundation. “The now-vacated ruling could have been used to criminalize sidewalk counseling throughout the United States.”<\/p>\n

New York v. Griepp<\/em> was originally filed in 2017 by the then-Attorney General of New York against 10 members of Church@theRock. He alleged that while sidewalk counseling, the group threatened and harassed women as they entered Choices Women’s Medical Center in Queens. In 2018, the New York Office of the Attorney General (OAG) sought an injunction against the pro-life groups and pro-life individuals. The OAG even recorded the pro-lifers outside of the clinic in order to gain evidence that they were violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. However, according to Life Legal Defense Foundation<\/a>, the district court found no evidence that the sidewalk counselors, represented by the Thomas More Society, were violating the law in any way. The OAG then appealed to the Second Court.<\/p>\n

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