Summary
In 2005, Steven Lefemine and members of Columbia Christians for Life (CCL) engaged in a protest in which they held signs advocating against abortion in Greenwood County, South Carolina. An officer told Lefemine that the signs were too graphic and demanded he discard them or face a ticket for breach of peace. Lefemine told the officer that he was violating the First Amendment, but he eventually ended the protest out of fear that the officer would ticket him.
A year later, Lefemine’s attorney sent a letter to Greenwood County Sheriff Dan Wideman informing him that CCL intended to return with the same signs. The chief deputy said they still planned on ticketing the group for the signs, so the group chose not to protest there for the next two years. Eventually, Lefemine filed a lawsuit accusing the officers of violating his First Amendment rights. Alliance Defending Freedom provided funding throughout the litigation.
A federal district court issued a permanent injunction against the police officers, but it declined to award Lefemine nominal damages or attorney’s fees. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the ruling because it said Lefemine did not qualify as a “prevailing party” under the Civil Rights Attorney Fees Awards Act.
Lefemine appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and in November 2012, the High Court issued a per curiam opinion holding that Lefemine was a prevailing party and remanding the case back to the appellate court. The 4th Circuit later ruled that Lefemine was entitled to attorney’s fees.