Challenge Filed to Tustin’s Ban on Picketing of Private Homes

The first court challenge to the city’s controversial ordinance banning the picketing of private homes was filed Friday by two men who were arrested last year during a march near the residence of an abortion clinic manager.

In the lawsuit, Allen R. Meadows of Tustin and Duane G. Leach of San Juan Capistrano claimed that the city violated their rights to free speech and said they were unnecessarily detained by police on April 17, when they and others marched near the home of Naomi Hardin.

Meadows and Leach, both anti-abortion advocates, also stated in the lawsuit that the city’s ordinance is vague in meaning and lacked critical detail in defining what constituted actual violations. The lawsuit was filed in Orange County Superior Court.

Tustin Mayor Jim Potts acknowledged Friday that the ordinance was “poorly written and needs some wordsmithing to tighten it.”

“When we don’t write clear laws,” Potts said, “we end up paying the price.”

Specifically, Potts said the ordinance failed to provide a proper description of where pickets would be prohibited in relation to individual homes.

“Even if we prevail in court, we’re still going to have to pay a great deal of money in attorney’s fees,” Potts said. “That’s the sad part about this.”

In April, the council passed the ordinance, which prohibits pickets from targeting residents’ homes. The law is based on a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says protesters may visit residential areas but cannot invade someone’s privacy by focusing on their home.

Twelve days after the council passed the ordinance, Meadows and Leach were among 40 anti-abortion activists who marched around the neighborhood where Hardin lives.

Hardin, manager of a Tustin clinic that performs abortions, has been the target of anti-abortion pickets in the past.

Police arrested Meadows, Leach and Robert Ferguson of Montebello. Charges were filed against them but were later dismissed.

Before Friday’s lawsuit, the City Council rejected a claim for $5 million each brought by Meadows and Leach, who claimed that their civil rights had been violated when police arrested them during the march.