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Related: About this forumAn ex-priest, a flier and the arrest that legalized protests at Md. homes
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MARYLAND POLITICS
An ex-priest, a flier and the arrest that legalized protests at Md. homes
Phillip Schullers short-lived 1976 demonstration at Donald Rumsfelds house is protecting some abortion rights protests today
By Erin Cox
May 24, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
Phillip Schuller, 68, protested briefly during college in 1976. His case ultimately overturned a Maryland anti-picketing law. (Jeff Swensen for The Washington Post)
Four decades ago, Phillip Schuller stumbled into history, joining a demonstration that involved an ex-priest, 10 pints of blood and Donald H. Rumsfelds front lawn. ... Schullers 1976 arrest ultimately upended Marylands law banning protests outside private residences. And its a key reason why, today, abortion rights activists can picket in front of the suburban Maryland homes of conservative Supreme Court justices. ... Its correct to say that thanks to him, theyre not getting arrested, said David Rocah, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland. ... I was young and crazy then, Schuller, now 68, reflected last week from his Pittsburgh home.
[Youngkin, Hogan ask Justice Dept. to halt protests at justices homes]
In the spring of 1976, Schuller was an impetuous sociology major at Slippery Rock University in western Pennsylvania. He saw a bulletin-board flier about a nuclear proliferation protest near D.C., he recalled, and I said that Im going to that.
{snip}
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=&w=767
Activists march in Justice Brett M. Kavanaughs neighborhood in Chevy Chase, Md., in January. (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post)
{snip}
Schuller arrived midway through the last day of protests, he said, and wasnt there long before the police showed up and said the activists had to leave. Most in the core group complied. Schuller did not. ... I just felt it was a public street, he said. It was just a spur-of-the-moment decision. I didnt really think it through. Arrested and charged with illegally picketing a protest, he went to jail with a few others for the afternoon. The man who would change Maryland law was absent for the main protest.
{snip}
In May 1977, deciding the appeal known as State v. Schuller, Marylands second-highest court declared state law violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments in barring picketing in front of residences. Judges unanimously agreed the law was unconstitutional on its face because it unreasonably and improperly impinges upon the defendants rights of Freedom of Speech and Assembly. .... Rocah, the Maryland ACLU attorney, said State v. Schuller blocked Maryland authorities from arresting people simply for picketing outside a home. Subsequent federal court rulings, he said, have reinforced and strengthened protesters right to be in a public arena, so long as they dont stay still targeting a single home. ... In justices neighborhoods, abortion rights demonstrators are marching.
{snip}
By Erin Cox
Erin Cox is a politics reporter covering Maryland. She joined The Washington Post in 2018 and has written about Maryland since 2007. Twitter https://twitter.com/ErinatThePost
An ex-priest, a flier and the arrest that legalized protests at Md. homes
Phillip Schullers short-lived 1976 demonstration at Donald Rumsfelds house is protecting some abortion rights protests today
By Erin Cox
May 24, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
Phillip Schuller, 68, protested briefly during college in 1976. His case ultimately overturned a Maryland anti-picketing law. (Jeff Swensen for The Washington Post)
Four decades ago, Phillip Schuller stumbled into history, joining a demonstration that involved an ex-priest, 10 pints of blood and Donald H. Rumsfelds front lawn. ... Schullers 1976 arrest ultimately upended Marylands law banning protests outside private residences. And its a key reason why, today, abortion rights activists can picket in front of the suburban Maryland homes of conservative Supreme Court justices. ... Its correct to say that thanks to him, theyre not getting arrested, said David Rocah, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland. ... I was young and crazy then, Schuller, now 68, reflected last week from his Pittsburgh home.
[Youngkin, Hogan ask Justice Dept. to halt protests at justices homes]
In the spring of 1976, Schuller was an impetuous sociology major at Slippery Rock University in western Pennsylvania. He saw a bulletin-board flier about a nuclear proliferation protest near D.C., he recalled, and I said that Im going to that.
{snip}
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=&w=767
Activists march in Justice Brett M. Kavanaughs neighborhood in Chevy Chase, Md., in January. (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post)
{snip}
Schuller arrived midway through the last day of protests, he said, and wasnt there long before the police showed up and said the activists had to leave. Most in the core group complied. Schuller did not. ... I just felt it was a public street, he said. It was just a spur-of-the-moment decision. I didnt really think it through. Arrested and charged with illegally picketing a protest, he went to jail with a few others for the afternoon. The man who would change Maryland law was absent for the main protest.
{snip}
In May 1977, deciding the appeal known as State v. Schuller, Marylands second-highest court declared state law violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments in barring picketing in front of residences. Judges unanimously agreed the law was unconstitutional on its face because it unreasonably and improperly impinges upon the defendants rights of Freedom of Speech and Assembly. .... Rocah, the Maryland ACLU attorney, said State v. Schuller blocked Maryland authorities from arresting people simply for picketing outside a home. Subsequent federal court rulings, he said, have reinforced and strengthened protesters right to be in a public arena, so long as they dont stay still targeting a single home. ... In justices neighborhoods, abortion rights demonstrators are marching.
{snip}
By Erin Cox
Erin Cox is a politics reporter covering Maryland. She joined The Washington Post in 2018 and has written about Maryland since 2007. Twitter https://twitter.com/ErinatThePost
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