BIRMINGHAM, AL/July 23, 2010/Christian Newswire --
The City of Birmingham's Legal Department dismissed all criminal charges against nine members of the Survivors who were arrested in February 2009 and jailed overnight for displaying pro-life signs and handing out literature on a public sidewalk outside a high school in Birmingham. The pro-life youth activists were represented by Life Legal Defense Foundation staff attorney Allison Aranda, along with local attorney Nicholas Beckham.
Despite video evidence of the events showing the team peacefully and lawfully exercising free speech rights on the public sidewalk, the City filed trespass charges against the individuals claiming that the young people unlawfully entered school property. "While we are elated that justice has finally come to the 9 youth who were falsely arrested," said Dana Cody, Executive Director of the Life Legal Defense Foundation. "These meritless charges should have been dismissed long ago." Ms. Cody noted, "The City's delay in doing what justice demands has cost these young people employment opportunities and sullied their reputations for the past year and a half."
A civil lawsuit was filed on June 11, 2010, to seek redress for the unlawful actions of Birmingham police officers in falsely arresting the pro-life demonstrators and prohibiting their peaceful free speech activity on the public sidewalk adjacent to Parker High School.
The dismissal of the criminal charges comes in the wake of last week's victory in the related civil lawsuit, where a federal district court in Alabama approved a consent order ensuring that police will not interfere with the expressive activities of the pro-life youth group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust during events that will take place over the next few days while the group is back in Birmingham, Alabama.
