$385,000 Paid to Pro-Life Protestors by Maryland State Police
$385,000 Paid to Pro-Life Protestors by Maryland State Police
On August 2008, Maryland State Police arrested 16 adults and two juvenile members of Defend Life, a pro-life group, for holding graphic abortion images while protesting along a busy highway in Bel Air, Maryland.
The arrested members were charged with loitering, disorderly conduct, and failure to obey lawful order and claimed that they were subjected to invasive strip-searches by the police. The police denied the invasive strip-searches and later dropped the charges against the group. Once the charges were dropped, Tom Brejcha, a pro-life attorney with the Thomas More Society, filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Defend Life against Harford County Sheriff's Office, the Town of Bel Air Police Department, and the Maryland State Police, for violating Defend Life members’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
In 2010, Harford County Sheriff's Office settled with Defend Life for an undisclosed sum that would be made public once all of the lawsuits were resolved. A federal judge dismissed the complaint against the Town of Bel-Air Police Department.
In July 2011, a federal judge ruled for Defend Life and stated that the troopers unconstitutionally restricted the protesters' right of free speech. The State police never provided any evidence that the protesters created traffic problems to warrant the arrests. State Police Spokesman Greg Shipley insists that the state's attorney was consulted prior to making the arrests. He also denied that any strip-searches were ever conducted on the arrestees.
The Maryland State Police appealed the decision with the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, but later settled with Defend Life for $385,000 on March 7, 2012. As part of the settlement, the state police also agreed to train its officers on the Constitution.
See: Swagler v. Hartford County, U.S.D.C. (N.D. MD.), Case No. 1:08-cv-02289
Source: The Baltimore Sun
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Related legal case
Swagler v. Harford County
| Year | 2012 |
|---|---|
| Cite | U.S.D.C. (N.D. MD.), Case No. 1:08-cv-02289 |
| Level | District Court |
| Damages | 385,000 |