Vitagliano’s initial First Amendment suit in U.S. district court was dismissed in January because of the 2000 Supreme Court precedent case Hill v. Colorado, which allowed states and municipalities to outlaw sidewalk counseling outside abortion clinics, according to Becket.
The district court also said that Vitagliano didn’t have standing to bring the case because she hadn’t previously engaged in sidewalk counseling.
After a challenge to the ruling, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the district court on June 21 but disagreed with its ruling that Vitagliano didn’t have standing.
“Deborah wants to sidewalk counsel. She’s invested a lot of resources learning how to do it, and the only thing stopping her right now is that the government has said that it’s illegal for her to do so,” Joe Davis, an attorney with Becket, told CNA Thursday.
Vitagliano will be asking the Supreme Court to hear her case as early as next month. The earliest the court could decide on taking the case is this coming fall, Davis said. If the court takes the case, it could be decided by next June, he said.
If the court doesn’t decide on taking the case until 2024, then it would be bumped to the court’s following term.
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