Attorneys from the Thomas More Society and a group of peaceful pro-life protesters are awaiting the judge’s decision in a federal harassment lawsuit brought against them by former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

After listening to 90 minutes of arguments on May 22, 2018, U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon inquired about the possibility of a settlement.

“There won’t be compromise on the fundamental issues,” responded Thomas More Society Special Counsel Martin Cannon. Amon then dismissed the packed courtroom.

Cannon represents ten Christian sidewalk counselors, members of Church@TheRock in Brooklyn. Schneiderman’s case is now being headed by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, who assumed the role when Schneiderman resigned over allegations of physical and sexual abuse.

The federal lawsuit, filed in June 2017, charged the peaceful pro-life sidewalk counselors – who offer abortion-bound women information on life-affirming alternatives – with “a weekly pattern of threatening, obstructive and violent activity.” The charges were brought despite lack of evidence of any of the purported threats, harassment, or groping that the prosecution has claimed occurred outside the Choices Medical Clinic abortion facility in Jamaica, Queens.

Judge Amon addressed the prosecution about the fact that defendants had testified that any actual physical contact with abortion-bound women or clinic-employed “escorts” was accidental. In the absence of deliberate aggression, the judge wanted to know if such contact could still violate the physical obstruction prong of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, upon which the charges hang.

Assistant Attorney General Nancy Trasande stated that her office did not need a statement of intent to prove obstruction. Her prosecution team member, Assistant Attorney General Sandra Pullman, spoke about a “pattern of crowding,” declaring, “We’ve heard this is a pattern of behavior over a period of time.”

Cannon points out that the First Amendment is on trial in this important case, one that he believes is likely to establish precedent no matter the outcome.

“The First Amendment specifically protects my clients’ right to act as ‘sidewalk counselors,’ offering women information about abortion and providing them with pregnancy resources and alternatives to ending the life of their baby,” explained Cannon.

Read more about former New York Attorney General Schneiderman’s attempt to prevent abortion-bound women from being offered information on lifesaving alternatives and the Thomas More Society’s defense of peaceful pro-life advocates, in the case People v. Griepp et al., here.