On July 12, 2019, a unanimous Alabama Court of Appeals upended the conviction of a pro-life advocate who challenged a criminal citation from a Tuscaloosa police officer. The charge, issued outside a Tuscaloosa abortion facility, exposed Ellen Hermann to six months in jail and a $500 fine. Thomas More Society attorneys who represented Hermann were pleased that her First Amendment rights have been vindicated in the latest of a trio of recent victories in their defense of Tuscaloosa’s active pro-life community.

The ruling by the five-judge appellate panel overturned the lower court verdict but did not remand the case for a new trial. Rather, the court rendered a final judgement in Hermann’s favor, equivalent to dismissing her case or finding her “not guilty.”

Hermann had been ticketed in May 2017 by a Tuscaloosa city police officer for distributing pro-life pamphlets outside the West Alabama Women’s Center abortion facility. At the time of the citation, she was standing on the right of way off Jack Warner Parkway next to a private drive serving the abortion facility. A complaint that Hermann was stopping traffic was discovered to be unfounded by the responding officer, but he cited her for not having a permit.

Martin Cannon, Thomas More Society Senior Counsel, contended that the city was in error to require a permit for Hermann’s activities in the public space. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals agreed.

“These peaceful pro-life advocates must be allowed their right to freely speak and assemble,” explained Cannon.

Cannon added:

“The City of Tuscaloosa has realized that they cannot make them jump through hoops in order to participate in constitutionally protected activities. There are over 100 children aborted weekly at West Alabama Women’s Center – more than are born alive in Tuscaloosa County! If the members of Prolife Tuscaloosa want to educate consumers about that and pray for it to stop – they have the right to do so, and the Thomas More Society is here to defend those rights.”

After Hermann’s trial, but prior to the recent ruling, the City of Tuscaloosa had attempted to exclude the pro-life advocates from a portion of the public right of way near the same clinic because it contained parking spaces serving the clinic complex. For several years, Hermann and like-minded others had used this area to share information on life-affirming alternatives with abortion-bound women. Abortion facility employees would often park their cars in such a way as to block access by the pro-life advocates. Thomas More Society attorneys contested the decision with Tuscaloosa City Attorney James Woodson, who after considering the matter, reversed course and agreed to not exclude those seeking to offer pro-life alternatives to abortion from the space.

In the course of their discussions with the city, Thomas More Society attorneys had also suggested that the city should actually block off the parking spaces in question to exclude all cars, designating the space as a public right of way as opposed to a parking lot. The city agreed, and installed permanent steel posts, blocking access by cars.

“The Tuscaloosa pro-life community appreciates the responsiveness of the Tuscaloosa city officials,” said Cannon. “The city was going to exclude peaceful pro-life advocates from the part of the clinic parking lot that lies on the public right of way, but we were able to defeat that. Next, we were able to get the city to install a steel fence across the lot at the property line, excluding all vehicles from the space. This has made it easier for pro-life citizens to engage abortion-bound women in dialogue about life-affirming alternatives.”

He added, “Those speaking out against abortion must have the same fair access to the public right of way as those promoting it. Overt interference with a lawful assembly is illegal. The public, peaceful assembly of individuals or small groups at the site does not rise to the level of requiring a permit. It is the root of American democracy to protect this right to an open public forum.”

Read the opinion issued by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on July 12, 2019, by Judge McCool and concurred with by Judges Windom, Kellum, Cole and Minor, in the case of Ellen Haver Hermann v. City of Tuscaloosa, on appeal from Tuscaloosa Circuit Court here.