In August 2020, Washington, D.C., police officers arrested people from the Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America (SFLA) for writing for the phrase "Black Pre-Born Lives Matter” with chalk on the sidewalk outside a Planned Parenthood facility. Meanwhile, the surrounding city streets were covered in Black Lives Matter (BLM) messaging, and even some murals that the city themselves commissioned.
Troy Rolling, chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, said that “the government has no business deciding which political viewpoints get a free pass and which get handcuffs."
Kevin Theriot, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), agrees with Rolling. ADF is representing the two organizations in the case.
“The right to free speech is for everyone, and the government can't silence speakers like Frederick Douglas and Students for Life just because they don't like what they say,” Theriot says.
The ADF attorney filed the opening brief for The Frederick Douglass Foundation v. District of Columbia case last Monday for D.C.’s court of appeals. They are urging the appeals court to throw out the district’s ruling and have a jury decide the case.
The D.C. Circuit Court previously upheld the First Amendment claims of the organizations and sent it back to the district court three years ago. However, the court still ruled against them and for the city.
Kristan Hawkins, SFLA president, said that they will continue to go to court as many times as it takes to protect the rights of those who are pro-life.
Theriot says ADF believes that this case is an example of "unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination that violates the First Amendment.” He also says that everyone should be able to express their views, even in a time of nationwide crisis, such as during the summer of 2020 during COVID and the BLM protests.
“You can't discriminate based on the pro-abortion view that you like, or the particular view that you like, and censor the pro-life view," Theriot says.
