Federal District Court Upholds Mass. Clinic Buffer Zone Law

JURIST: District court upholds Massachusetts law mandating abortion protester 'buffer zone', by Joe Shaulis:

District Judge Joseph Tauro [official profile] held [PDF text] Friday that a Massachusetts statute [text] establishing a 35-foot buffer zone outside facilities which perform abortions [JURIST news archive] does not violate protesters' constitutional rights. Tauro found that the law does not unconstitutionally burden First Amendment rights or the guarantees of equal protection or due process....

Tauro noted that other federal courts, including the US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive], have upheld similar fixed buffer zones.