TUSTIN : City Rejects Activists’ Claims; Suits Planned

The City Council has rejected a claim for $5 million each by two anti-abortion activists who were arrested in April for allegedly violating a city ordinance that prohibits picketing of private homes.

Allen R. Meadows of Tustin and Duane G. Leach of San Juan Capistrano claimed that their civil rights were violated when police arrested them during a march around the home of a director of an abortion clinic in Tustin.

“I don’t think they have a case,” said City Atty. James G. Rourke, who recommended that the council reject the claim.

Attorney Clarence K. Lowder of Newport Beach, who is representing Meadows and Leach, said that a lawsuit will be filed against the city.

In April, the council passed an ordinance that prohibits pickets from targeting residents’ homes. It 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 Naomi Hardin lives. Hardin, a director 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. However, Rourke later asked that the charges be dismissed because he said it would be difficult to get a conviction from a jury.