PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - An appeals court has ruled Maine can bar protesters from being too loud, saying the law does not distinguish between the protesters’ positions.
The Portland Press Herald reports (https://bit.ly/2uGmhpZ ) that the state sought to enforce their loud-protest law after Brian Ingalls disrupted examinations with his screaming outside a Portland clinic in 2015.
A fellow anti-abortion protester filed a counterclaim saying the law violates their free speech rights.
A U.S. District Court judge sided with the anti-abortion protester last year, but the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed with that ruling Tuesday.
The appeals court says the law is “content-neutral” and it only focuses on the noise level of the protests.
Assistant Attorneys General Leanne Robbin says state officials are now seeking for the injunction against Ingalls to be reinstated.
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