Attorneys file Mandamus appeal on behalf of Daleiden and Center for Medical Progress

Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333, tc@tcpr.net

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 15, 2015 /Christian Newswire/ -- Attorneys for David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress have filed a 'Mandamus' petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to overturn a District Court ruling that would chill Defendants' rights of free expression by forcing them to defend against meritless claims brought by the National Abortion Federation.

The petition states: "[The Center for Medical Progress] conducted a thirty-month undercover investigation of the practice of buying and selling fetal tissue within the abortion industry. Their investigation revealed evidence of widespread criminal practices in the industry, including the selling of fetal tissue for profit, the alteration of abortion methods to procure better fetal tissue specimens, the collection of intact fetuses born with beating hearts for research purposes, and the procurement of fetal tissue for research without patients' knowledge and consent. Each of these practices is a crime under federal law."

The National Abortion Federation sued Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress in an attempt to silence free speech on the abortion industry's sale of fetal body parts, which is, according to the brief, "a matter of paramount public importance."

On August 17, 2015, attorneys for Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress filed a motion to strike or dismiss NAF's Complaint pursuant to California's anti-SLAPP law. The anti-SLAPP motion challenged the legal sufficiency of all 13 claims asserted in NAF's Complaint and highlighted clear deficiencies in NAF's only claim asserted under federal law, namely, the RICO (racketeering) law.

The 'Mandamus' petition states that the "point of the anti-SLAPP statute is that you have a right not to be dragged through the courts because you exercised your constitutional rights." Therefore, the anti-SLAPP motion should have effected a mandatory stay of all discovery.

The District Court rejected the request for a mandatory stay of discovery, so the Thomas More Society, Life Legal Defense Foundation, and D. John Sauer – attorneys for Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress – have asked the Ninth Circuit to overturn the District Court's decision. Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress should not be forced to comply with time-consuming discovery requests before the Court rules on the anti-SLAPP motion.

Link to Mandamus brief here.

About the Thomas More Society
The Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty. Headquartered in Chicago, the Thomas More Society fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro bono legal services from local trial courts all the way up to the United States Supreme Court. For more information, visit www.thomasmoresociety.org.