Thomas More Society attorneys filed for an injunction to force Marathon County library officials not to censor, suppress and ban the screening of the pro-life documentary, BloodMoney.Thomas More Law
The exhibition of the film was planned and promoted by the Wausau chapter of 40 Days for Life, his sponsoring a 40-day vigil and public awareness campaign against abortion.
The suit names library director Ralph Illick (pictured right) and several other defendants. Illick had cancelled the showing of the movie in one of the library’s “public meeting rooms,” because he alleged that showing a film on the topic of abortion would “interfere with the normal use of the library.”
The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, and District Judge Barbara B. Crabb has set a hearing on the injunction for Friday, April 1, at 3:00 pm Central.
“Searching the Marathon County library collection with the keyword ‘abortion’ produces 108 results, so how can the library director credibly say that a movie on the topic of abortion will cause a ‘civil disturbance’?” asks Peter Breen, executive director and legal counsel for the Thomas More Society, which filed the suit along with local counsel. “According to the library’s own schedule, public meeting rooms are used regularly for movies. Why censor this movie, which is presented by a group of local citizens who have been peacefully advocating their pro-life message without incident?”
After a letter from the Thomas More Society last Friday demanding that the documentary be allowed to be screened, library officials offered to move the screening to a closed, empty office space away from the library. “Our clients have an important message on an issue of public concern which should be heard in this public forum. They should not be forced to hide in the shadows because the government disagrees with their message.”
The suit points out that the library’s own policy declares that meeting rooms are to be allocated without regard to the beliefs of those using the rooms. It also cites a number of federal court decisions that reject the suppression of free speech based on the alleged response by others, also known as a “heckler’s veto,’ and based on standards that are vague and allow government officials to determine what speech will be allowed based on their own personal preference.
Extreme Liberal Judge Barbara Crabb will conveniently be presiding. Please pray for this one.
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