Gottfried v. Medical Planning Services, Inc.

OPINION

MERRITT, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff Holly Gottfried wants to picket the home, OB/GYN office, and abortion clinic of a physician in Akron, Ohio, but a state court injunction, entered twelve years ago, restricts her right to do so. Rather than disobey the injunction and risk contempt or imprisonment, she brought the present action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, asking the federal District Court to strike the state court’s injunction as unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The District Court dismissed her case for reasons of comity and federalism. She now asks us to reverse that decision.…