Face the Truth site in Lake Zurich in July where the League will return September 15 [Photo by Sam Scheidler]
The Pro-Life Action League’s site in Lake Zurich, Illinois on this summer’s “Face the Truth” Tour was one of the biggest and most successful of the entire tour. The site ran very smoothly and Lake Zurich police were nothing but professional and helpful.
That’s why it came as such a shock when Lake Zurich Police Chief Patrick Finlon wrote a letter to League National Director Joe Scheidler—which he copied to the media—complaining that the League’s demonstration had the intention and effect of disrupting traffic and disturbing local citizens.
As such, Chief Finlon stated that if the League was to return to Lake Zurich, they would need his express permission and would need to submit a laundry list of information about the demonstration beforehand.
But here’s the rub: the League did submit just such information to Chief Finlon before our July Face the Truth site in Lake Zurich and because of the First Amendment, we don’t need his permission to exercise our right to free expression in the public square in Lake Zurich.
League to Lake Zurich: Protect Our Rights or Go to Court
Pro-lifers return at the end of the Face the Truth site in Lake Zurich [Photo by Sam Scheidler]
After a lot of back and forth, both in the press and between the League’s attorneys and the village, we decided that the best plan of action would be to return to Lake Zurich for our Face the Truth Day on September 15.
The League’s attorneys at the Thomas More Society Pro-Life Law Center contacted the city to let them know that we would be returning to Lake Zurich and would not be asking Chief Finlon’s permission, but rather acting on our rights as citizens to communicate our message to the public. TMS attorneys further let the village know that if they did not respect and protect our rights, we would have no other choice but to file a lawsuit against them in Federal Court on Monday.
Shortly after the attorneys sent that letter, we heard back from the media that Lake Zurich had decided not to oppose our demonstration after all and would be bringing out extra police presence to make sure everything went smoothly. It would have been nice to hear from the village officials themselves instead of second-hand through the media, but a victory is a victory and we’re looking forward to a successful Face the Truth demonstration next Wednesday.
Related Links
- Anti-abortion protesters coming to Lake Zurich—Daily Herald
- League’s blog post on the July Face the Truth site in Lake Zurich
- League’s blog post upon hearing of Chief Finlon’s letter
- Thomas More Society’s post on the story—includes links to all the letters between attorneys and Lake Zurich
- League’s press release on our return to Lake Zurich
