State noise ordinance can be used against abortion protesters, court rules

Portland police may enforce Maine’s noise ordinance against protesters outside Planned Parenthood’s Portland clinic, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday said.

A three-judge panel reversed U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen’s May 2016 decision that found the noise section of the Maine Civil Rights Act unconstitutional because it was based on the content of what a protester said.

But the appellate court found that the noise section of the law, as written, is not based on the message being conveyed during a protest.

The case began when Andrew March of Lewiston, a frequent protester outside the Portland clinic, sued Maine Attorney General Janet Mills, the city of Portland and several Portland police officers in December 2015, after local police told him he could not shout his protests from the street at the clinic.

Read more: http://bangordailynews.com/2017/08/08/news/portland/state-noise-ordinance-can-be-used-against-abortion-protesters-court-rules/