The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit has denied police officers immunity from a lawsuit alleging they violated the rights of two young women who were arrested, put in leg irons and strip-searched for conducting a pro-life demonstration.
As WND reported, Angela Swagler and Elizabeth Walsh were among 18 demonstrators arrested on Aug. 1, 2008, charged with loitering and other minor crimes for standing along a roadside in Harford County, Maryland, bearing pro-life T-shirts and signs, some of which showed pictures of aborted fetuses.
Though all charges were later dropped against the demonstrators, they allege officials cast the pro-life participants – two of whom were teenage girls – in leg irons, denied them permission to call parents until after midnight, conducted non-private "sexually invasive" strip-searches and jailed them until the next day.
Furthermore, the case contends, the demonstrators were not arrested for lawful reasons, but because of the content of their signs, a violation of First Amendment free speech rights.
"The state shouldn't persecute Christians for expressing their beliefs on important social issues, nor deny them their constitutional rights," said Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot of the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing the women. "This incident paints an ugly picture of the state of religious freedom and free speech in America today."
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8 comments:
well the article mentioned they were on county property, when told to move, moved to city property.
did not have a permit, ect, ect
not saying everything was handled properly, but they broke the law
This case paints a very acurate picture for the existence of a POLICE STATE in Amerika
I barely recognize this country any longer
IF they broke the law, WHY WERE ALL CHARGES DROPPED? And they were arrested illegally? Do you morons even read?
Dissent in this country is becoming illegal.
PUBLIC MASTERS strip searching teenage girls for LOITERING? Perverts. Sexual Predators operating under the color of the law. And they (the police) think the public has any respect for them? Quit talking about how "dangerous: your job is, or how "brave" they are....THIS story accurately (in addition to the story about O'Malley having the police arrest TOUSANDS of INNOCENT people --the police KNEW they were innoncent, too, but arrested them anyway) describes the PUBLIC MASTER nature of our current police state. And they had the nerve to request IMMUNITY???
how about people quit causing problems. if they dont like abortions, i wont force them to get one.
Our government is wicked and evil.
Our police and military are mercenaries who work for the elitists who run this government. They will not protect us.
If we revolt against this governemnt the police and military will attack and kill us. Do not underestimate their resolve to keep their paychecks flowing.
They will do as they are told.
1:07
Your statement is true, however don't underestimate the resolve of quiet plain Americans to protect their freedon against this police state oppression
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