Costly embarrassment

You have to read this Palm Beach Post story that I missed from earlier this week. The city of West Palm Beach enacted a buffer law for the city's only abortion clinic last summer. I blogged about it here. Predictably the city was sued over the law and there was a hearing in Federal Court last week for it. No lawyer showed up to represent the City of West Palm Beach. What an embarrassment and to top it off the city will have attorney fees and travel expenses for the plantiffs.

Mayor Lois Frankel's excuse that it was due to a secretary's error is as lame as it isn't believable. What do you expect from a knucklehead? The citizens of West Palm Beach should call for this law's repeal. All it is is one waste of money. If Ms. Reis wants protection, purchase it herself.

Open Post- Basil's Blog, Stop The ACLU, Bright & Early, Is it just me?, Right Wing Nation, Wizbang,

WEST PALM BEACH — In September, city commissioners enthusiastically approved a buffer zone around health-care facilities following a suspicious fire at a women's clinic.

But when it came to defending the law in a federal courtroom in Miami on Tuesday, city attorneys were a no-show.

U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks ordered the city to pay attorney fees and expenses for the plaintiffs' attorneys, who traveled from Mississippi for the court date, said Michael DePrimo, an attorney representing three anti-abortion activists.

Middlebrooks said he would give the city five days to tell the court whether it intends to defend against the lawsuit, DePrimo said.

"They have not had any response whatsoever" to the lawsuit, DePrimo said. "I'd like to know why no one showed up."

Mayor Lois Frankel said the city's absence was caused by a clerical error: a secretary in the city attorney's office didn't put the hearing down on Assistant City Attorney Jake Rose's calendar. So he didn't go.

"The fact of the matter is, then we should pay the fees," Frankel said.

The city plans to defend its law — and attend future hearings, Frankel said.

The law that's being challenged creates a 20-foot buffer area around entrances to health-care facilities. It was passed after a suspicious fire in July at the Presidential Women's Center, the last remaining women's clinic in Palm Beach County where abortions are performed.