Today, David Daleiden and The Center for Medical Progress filed their petition for a writ of certiorari at the United States Supreme Court, appealing the unconstitutional gag order issued by San Francisco Judge William Orrick III against the publication of undercover footage of top-level Planned Parenthood leadership at the National Abortion Federation’s annual trade shows. The petition argues that no federal court has ever upheld a prior restraint like Judge Orrick’s gag order to suppress speech of overwhelming public interest:
“At issue in this appeal is a gag order, a preliminary injunction imposed specifically for the purpose of hiding information from the public, precisely because the information is of such significant public interest and concern—the procurement and sale of aborted fetal body parts.”
CMP project lead David Daleiden says, “Judge Orrick’s gag order, issued at the behest of Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation, is an unprecedented attack on the First Amendment by a clearly biased federal judge. Judge Orrick even wants to press his gag order in the California Attorney General’s bogus criminal case against me—though he, NAF, and Planned Parenthood insist the gag order only applies to my defense, and not to the Attorney General’s bogus prosecution.”
As a key leader of the “Good Samaritan Family Resource Center” in San Francisco, Judge Orrick helped open and fund a Planned Parenthood Northern California clinic inside the Center’s headquarters. Planned Parenthood Northern California has membership in the National Abortion Federation and is a named plaintiff against CMP and Daleiden in Judge Orrick’s courtroom. A motion to disqualify Judge Orrick is still pending.
