Judge David New York v. Kraeger
Based on findings that pro-life activist defendants engaged in acts of force, threats of force and physically obstructed access to a reproductive health care facility in Uticaviolating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and the New York State Clinic Access ActNew York was granted a permanent injunction against defendants in August 2004. The injunction barred defendants’ presence within a buffer zone in front of the clinic. The Kraeger defendants continued their protests and maintained a presence outside the clinic after the zone’s establishment. Based on property expansions and relocation of driveways used by the subject clinic, New York sought to modify its 2001 permanent injunction so as to ensure that three driveways regularly used by clinic patients and staff are protected. Defendants countered that expansion of the buffer zone would impose burdensome new restrictions on the First Amendment liberty. Finding that New York showed that the clinic’s land acquisition constituted a significant change of circumstances, the court expanded the buffer zone to account for changes in the clinic’s property line, except for entrances on Francis Streetwhich had not been included in the original buffer zone.
