Charges against the first person arrested under Chicago's new "bubble zone" ordinance have been dismissed.
Staff at the Planned Parenthood clinic called police when they saw a man in a prayerful pose. Thomas More Society attorney Peter Breen represented him.
"The city of Chicago arrested Joe Holland, who was a graduate student at Northwestern University in chemistry, for being in disorderly conduct for standing outside of an abortion clinic -- in this case the Planned Parenthood in Chicago -- and praying," Breen explains.
The attorney believes the case could have been a test of the bubble zone law, which prohibits pro-life protesters from approaching within eight feet of a person without consent "for the purpose of passing a leaflet or handbill to display a sign to, or engaging in oral protest, education or counseling."
But Breen reports that according to witnesses and an available video, Holland did nothing "to justify arresting him [or] booking him. He was placed in a squad care, taken to the police station. He was kept for five hours in the police station. This man did nothing wrong."
The video shows that Holland approached no one, so the bubble zone ordinance does not apply. And because it is not illegal to pray on a sidewalk, the charge has been dismissed. Meanwhile, David Avignone, a pro-lifer who faces similar charges, has a court date August 30.
Breen points out that the Thomas More Society has challenged the constitutionality of the bubble zone ordinance in federal court, a proposition with which the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois agreed.
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Date Published: August 9, 2010