The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s decision that the defendants in USA v. ALAW (Pat Mahoney) violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE). In 1998, the defendants sat within five feet of one of the doors of the Capitol Women’s Center in Washington D.C., forcing patients to enter through a back door. The Court found that the defendants’ actions obstructed and blocked access to the clinic.
The Court of Appeals also found that the injunction created by the lower court to protect the clinics in the Washington area from these defendants was too broad. The case was remanded to the lower court so that the injunction can be narrowed.
