Riverside Loses Abortion-Sign Ruling

A federal judge has ruled that the city of Riverside must allow a group of anti-abortion protesters to continue to display large signs on the sidewalk outside a clinic.

City code enforcement officials had confiscated the signs twice, saying they violated the city’s sign ordinance. District Judge Robert J. Timlin, ruling that the ordinance violated the protesters’ constitutional rights, granted a preliminary injunction preventing the city from enforcing the ordinance.

While city officials “have not attempted to interfere with [protesters’] right to carry signs and picket on the sidewalk, [the protesters] have been cited for placing large stationary signs on a public sidewalk and the City has confiscated such signs,” Timlin wrote.

“There is little doubt that [the protesters’] activities -- placing large stationary signs on public sidewalks to express their opposition to abortion -- are protected under the First Amendment.”

A small group, most of whom are members of the Calvary Chapel in Romoland, have assembled outside the Family Planning Associates clinic in downtown Riverside each Tuesday and Friday since last summer.

Their signs, about 3 feet tall and 5 feet wide, include a picture of a live baby and another of an aborted fetus, said one of the demonstrators, Kathy Schwab of Perris.

“I have no idea why they would take our signs,” Schwab said. “Some people are very offended by the truth.”

Timlin wrote that “since the city has chosen to allow certain commercial signs to be placed in the public right-of-way, it cannot prohibit signs with non commercial messages from being placed in the public right of way without violating the First Amendment.”

Attorneys for the city have said their decision to confiscate the signs had nothing to do with the groups’ message.

“At this point, we haven’t made a decision” how to respond to the ruling, said city spokeswoman Sharon Cooley.