A stop on a cross-country pro-life tour didn’t go according to plans for members of Survivors Campus Life Tour when they were arrested in Jackson, Miss., during what the Survivors say was a “lawful pro-life outreach at a public high school.”
The group of pro-life youth activists first attempted to hold signs, distribute literature, and peacefully dialogue with students on a public sidewalk in front of Murrah High School on Monday.
According to attorneys at Life Legal Defense Foundation, “Jackson school police officers immediately confronted the group and moved their signs across the street, sequestered students back inside the school grounds, and ordered students not to take the literature being handed out or speak with the demonstrators.
“The police claimed that the sidewalk belonged to the school and that they had a right to remove the pro-life activists. At the same time, the Survivors observed that the same sidewalk they were denied access to was being used by passersby and joggers.”
When “Survivors,” as they refer to themselves, fan out across the country, making stops at over 200 public high schools each year, they are trained to know their First Amendment rights, and how to obey the strict rule of law, according to the founder of Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust group, Jeff White.
White told WND by phone that this group of young people know the law very well, and don’t violate it, yet occasionally arrests are made by officials unfamiliar with the Constitution.
“The team was on a public sidewalk, open to joggers, walkers, and other citizens, which means they have every right to be there,” White told WND
“Our teams stand on public sidewalks with pro-life signs and literature, and offer it to passing students as they leave school for the day.
“Instead of supporting the constitutional rights of our people, officials in Jackson are clearly violating their First Amendment rights,” White said.
A video taken at the high school shows uniformed officers taking signs from the group and dumping them on the ground across the street from the school.
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