Free Speech Victory in Pittsburgh: Ordinance Banning Pro-Life Leaflets Repealed

It's official. The City of Pittsburgh has repealed a troubling ordinance that banned the distribution of pro-life leaflets.

As you may recall, last month I told you that this repeal effort was moving forward, and today our legal team received confirmation that's the problematic law is now off the books - once and for all.

We filed a federal lawsuit last fall on behalf of two pro-life advocates who wanted to distribute leaflets in the City prior to last November's election. A federal court granted our motion for an injunction halting the enforcement of the ordinance, which the City claimed was needed to control littering. In a decision, posted here, a federal judge noted that "Supreme Court decisions [s]uggest that preventing littering is simply not a sufficiently significant interest to preclude leafleting."

In recent months, we have focused on efforts to permanently resolve this case. The City agreed to pay $35,000 in attorneys' fees to settle the suit and agreed to repeal the ordinance. The City Council approved legislation repealing it, and the Mayor now has signed off on the action. A copy of the City's resolution confirming the repeal is posted here.

We knew from the very beginning that this ordinance, which restricted leafleting in the City, violated the First Amendment free speech rights of all Pittsburghers. We're extremely pleased that this ordinance has been repealed and that Pittsburghers can once again exercise their free speech rights through the distribution of leaflets without the fear of being fined.

Yes, it did take a federal lawsuit to get this resolved. Thanks to our supporters at the ACLJ, we're able to take whatever action is needed to protect the First Amendment rights of Americans - in this case - a couple of pro-life advocates who wanted to exercise their free speech rights at election time.