Collins v. Womancare

878 F.2d 1145 James F. COLLINS, Jr.; Tammy Lee Collins; Kimberlee Huckaby; Joan S. Patton; Cheryl Sullenger, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. WOMANCARE, a Feminist Woman's Health Center, a California nonprofit corporation; Deborah Fleming; Patricia O'Neil, Defendants-Appellants. No. 88-5703. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Jan. 13, 1989. Decided June 23, 1989. Mark E. Merin, Kanter, Merin, Dickstein & Kirk, Sacramento, Cal., for defendants-appellants. Lloyd E. Tooks, San Diego, Cal., for plaintiffs-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Before WALLACE, CANBY and TROTT, Circuit Judges. WALLACE, Circuit Judge: 1 The contentious public debate over the propriety of abortions forms the background of the appeal before us. As an outgrowth of a picketing episode, the district court entered a judgment awarding damages in favor of five plaintiffs in their action for false arrest and for deprivation of constitutional rights under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 against Womancare, two of its employees, and its directors (Womancare). The district court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Secs. 1331 , 1343(a)(3). We have…