People of the State of New York v. Rev. Kenneth Griepp, et al.

June 2017, former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a federal lawsuit against a group of peaceful pro-life advocates from Brooklyn. Ten members of Brooklyn’s Church @ The Rock (pictured with attorneys Steven Crampton and Martin Cannon), including their pastor, Rev. Kenneth Griepp, found their First Amendment right to counsel women was under threat. New York has an existing Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances law which is intended to prevent actual, intentional interference with access to a clinic by means of force, threats, or physical obstruction. Peaceful pro-life activity is specifically protected. Thomas More Society argued that the case was without merit because it was an assault on the First Amendment rights of pro-life sidewalk counselors who have been coming to Choices Women’s Medical Center in Jamaica-Queens weekly to peacefully offer information and alternatives since 2012. The pro-lifers were falsely accused by former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of harassing women who were going into the abortion facility.

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Thomas More Society Special Counsel Martin Cannon, told One News Now that: “From the very beginning of the case, it was apparent to us that the evidence just didn’t match Mr. Schneiderman’s accusations. Pro-life sidewalk counselors from the Church @ The Rock in Brooklyn were told by a federal judge that they can continue to gather outside an abortion clinic in Queens, New York."