Opinion ID: 775766
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Elimination of the Sidewalk-Counselor Exception

Text: 79 Melfi also appeals the District Court's decision to ban her from acting as a sidewalk counselor within the buffer zones, and she urges us to reinstate the exception as provided by the 1992 Injunction, but eliminated in the 2000 Injunction. Crafted by the District Court in an effort to accommodate protest activity at subject medical facilities, the sidewalk-counselor exception permitted two protestors to enter the buffer zones for the purpose of sidewalk counseling consisting of conversation of a non-threatening nature. When the Supreme Court reviewed the 1992 Injunction it concluded that the sidewalk-counselor exception was not necessary for the buffer zones to survive constitutional scrutiny. See Schenck, 519 U.S. at 381 n.11. Other buffer zones that have passed constitutional muster did not include any sidewalk-counselor exception. See, e.g., Madsen, 512 U.S. at 757. 80 Besides being a constitutionally unnecessary accommodation, the sidewalk-counselor exception has also proven to disrupt clinic access and complicate enforcement of the injunction. In fact, insofar as protestors have disrupted clinic access in the Western District of New York, the sidewalk-counselor exception has been a primary tool used to facilitate disruptive behavior. In part, protestors abused the limited exception, which permitted only two protestors within buffer zones, by flooding the zones with many protestors. At times, the sidewalk counselors would stand in driveways and block traffic. Protestors also took advantage of the exception to stand within buffer zones even when there were no patients to counsel. When patients were present, the sidewalk counselors shouted at them through bull horns, notwithstanding that the exception permitted only conversation of a non-threatening nature. Based on this record, the District Court found that protestors used the zones to make ingress and egress unreasonably difficult. We further note that the clarity of a nonporous no-protest zone will help police violations of the District Court's order. 81 Even with the elimination of the sidewalk counselor exception, protestors will still be able to stand along the sidewalks outside of the buffer zones, picketing and praying and passing out materials. In light of the evidence indicating that the exception was logistically unsupportable, the amendment to exclude all protestors from the area immediately around entrances and driveways is narrowly tailored to serve the government interest in protecting clinic access. Accordingly, we uphold this aspect of the injunction against Melfi.