PRO-LIFE FREE SPEECH RIGHTS VINDICATED; CITY OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT

"Great news from Bridgeport, Connecticut from Marilyn Carroll, Carmen Vazquez and team! We thank God for His hand upon this ministry and how He has allowed us to fullfill His call to the lost and the needy. Jesus gets all the glory!" Here is theAFA Law Center for Law and Policy's PRESS RELEASE on the victorious settlement of the prolifer's lawsuit.

PRO-LIFE FREE SPEECH RIGHTS VINDICATED; CITY OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT AGREES TO PAY DAMAGES, STIPULATE TO FUTURE CONDUCT

TUPELO, MS.-In a significant victory for pro-life counselors, a federal judge endorsed a settlement in the case of Vazquez v. Summit Women's Center, Inc., in which the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut, agreed that it would no longer enforce the city loitering ordinance against pro-life counselors, nor would it attempt to enforce an injunction against them that had been issued against another protestor. The City also agreed to pay $30,000 in damages and attorneys' fees. The City further acknowledged in writing that the activities of pro-life advocates at Summit Women's Center in Bridgeport ("Summit") are constitutionally protected speech.

The lawsuit was filed in May, 2001, shortly after Bridgeport police arbitrarily created a speech-free zone outside the Summit clinic and threatened to arrest any pro-life counselor who came within thirty feet of the entrance to the clinic. The lawsuit alleged that Summit, escorts, and Bridgeport police conspired to violate the rights of ten pro-life counselors who are among the most successful in the country, having persuaded over 1,000 women not to abort their babies. These pro-life counselors also provide hands-on ministry to the new mothers by supplying and assisting them with diapers, baby equipment, food, employment, housing, and other necessities. Earlier, the pro-life counselors settled with the clinic and the escorts when they obtained unprecedented concessions from the clinic resulting in a fundamental change in the relationship between the clinic, the escorts and the City.

"In this case, law-abiding citizens had to bring a federal lawsuit to protect their constitutional right to free speech simply because they were trying to save defenseless babies," said Stephen M. Crampton, Chief Counsel for the Center. "Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, instead of investigating the alleged unlawful actions of Summit and the City of Bridgeport, sought to intervene in this case to protect the clinic and the police. However, the court rebuffed Blumenthal's efforts, and denied the State's motion to intervene," added Crampton. "This is the second time we have successfully defended Carmen Vazquez from the excesses of an overzealous pro-abortion Attorney General," noted Michael J. DePrimo, Litigation Counsel for the Center, referring to a 1997 case alleging violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act brought by Blumenthal against Vazquez, which was won by the Center on Vazquez' behalf.

The AFA Center for Law & Policy is the legal arm of the American Family Association, Inc., located in Tupelo, Mississippi, and is allied with the Alliance Defense Fund, Scottsdale, Arizona. The Center restricts its practice to constitutional litigation in state and federal courts throughout the country.