Protesting against Congress may get you a $50 fine. Disrupting the Supreme Court is a different story.

  • 📰 NBCNews
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 110 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 47%
  • Publisher: 86%

Law Law Headlines News

Law Law Latest News,Law Law Headlines

Protesters disrupting oral arguments can face at least a night in jail and a criminal conviction.

Pro-abortion rights activists Nicole Enfield, left, Rolande Baker, and Emily Paterson before their sentencing on Jan. 13 for interrupting judicial proceedings during a Nov. 2 Supreme Court hearing. The activists were photographed outside the area from which they were banned.WASHINGTON — When Emily Paterson was arrested for protesting abortion law changes during a Supreme Court hearing in November, she spent the night in jail and now has a criminal conviction on her record.

For many months after a draft of the abortion ruling was leaked in May, the court building itself was fenced off because of security concerns, and some justices faced protesters outside their homes. That was at around 10:15 a.m., soon after the oral argument had begun. The women were not released until after an initial hearing in federal court at about 6 p.m. the following day, she said.

Nicole Enfield, whose earrings are inspired by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's distinctive collars, was also arrested for protesting abortion law changes during a Supreme Court hearing in November.Prosecutors had requested a year of probation, prompting one defense lawyer to remark in a sentencing memo that such a sentence would be longer than what some of the Jan. 6 defendants received for unlawfully entering the Capitol.

Murphy, now 23 and living in Chicago, said she was arrested around midday and was released six or seven hours later after paying a $50 fine as part of the “post and forfeit” procedure, which meant the misdemeanor charge was resolved without going to court. She does not recall being asked to stay away from the Capitol grounds.

At the Supreme Court, people who are arrested are processed by the Supreme Court Police and, after processing, transferred to the detention facility housed underneath the local District of Columbia courthouse. There, they await an initial court hearing. The District of Columbia U.S. Attorney’s Office handles prosecutions.

Neither McCabe, Hartman nor a spokeswoman for the federal court would comment on why the Supreme Court protesters spent 30 hours in detention before their first court appearance. A spokeswoman for the District of Columbia jail did not respond to requests for comment.The Supreme Court appeared to take a tougher approach to protesters after a spurt of disruptions starting in 2014.

Newkirk, who helped plan that later protest, said that, when factoring in all the differences with the earlier cases, it appeared that"the chief justice and others on the court were frustrated and perhaps angry about what was happening and wanted to crack down and try to stop it."

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

So Much For Freedom Of Speech

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 10. in LAW

Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Keenan Anderson's family files $50-million legal claim after tasing by LAPDAfter Keenan Anderson died following an encounter with LAPD officers in which he was tased repeatedly, relatives filed a $50-million wrongful death claim. “Tasing”, was that all? The LAPD has a concert band, a 40-horse barn, 20 helicopters, 5,000 patrol cars, a football team, and an Entertainment Trademark Unit. But NO policy on how many times a person can be tased within a minute. Fucked up. KeenanAnderson Tired of paying for these Cops crimes.
Source: latimes - 🏆 11. / 82 Read more »