On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld two major pro-life groups’ freedom of speech by ruling according to the First Amendment.
Two years ago, in 2020, members of Students for Life of America (SFLA) and the Frederick Douglass Foundation showed up to their permitted gathering and were immediately told they could neither paint their message with temporary paint nor use sidewalk chalk to write their messages. According to a Live Action News report at the time, “An SFLA staff member told Live Action News that the group had a permit to assemble but had received additional verbal permission from the police department to paint with temporary paint. SFLA said that both the group’s letter to the mayor and its permit application made clear their intention to paint.”
Though D.C. public officials told pro-life groups they could not paint their messages with temporary paint, those same officials had allowed other groups to paint messages on the streets; Black Lives Matter groups painted the “Black Lives Matter” message across the streets with permanent paint and were not arrested — not even when they added “Defund the Police” to their message.
The two students who continued to chalk the message, “Black Pre-born Lives Matter,” were arrested, detained, and later released. At that time, Students for Life stated, “With these threats and arrests, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has made her motives clear as she apparently only thinks that SOME Black Lives Matter and that only SOME slogans are allowed to be painted on streets.”
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Now, Alliance Defending Freedom has secured a victory for free speech after representing both SFLA and the Frederick Douglass Foundation in the lawsuit.
“Every American deserves for their voice to be heard as they engage in important cultural and political issues of the day,” said ADF Senior Counsel Erin Hawley, vice president of the ADF Center for Life and Regulatory Practice, who argued before the court on behalf of the pro-life organizations.
“The government may not enforce the laws in a manner that picks winners and losers in public debates,” the D.C. Circuit wrote in its opinion reversing the decision of a lower court in The Frederick Douglass Foundation v. District of Columbia. “It would undermine the First Amendment’s protections for free speech if the government could enact a content-neutral law and then discriminate against disfavored viewpoints under the cover of prosecutorial discretion.”
Students for Life of America has been very vocal about how this win is essential to further freedom of speech. SFLA President Kristan Hawkins lauded the outcome as a triumph for pro-life advocates and free speech advocates alike. “Viewpoint discrimination is un-American, and, as the case proceeds, we look forward to learning more about how D.C. officials picked winners and losers in their enforcement,” Hawkins said.
This pivotal ruling serves as a reminder of the fundamental right to free expression and its role in a democratic society. As the legal battle continues, the precedent set by this case promises to shape future discussion on the freedom of speech and uphold the constitutional rights of all Americans to engage in open dialogue on matters of such importance.
