Protection Against Clinic Violence

Any person participating in, affiliated with, or present as a spectator at a demonstration upon a private health-care facility or upon any public place and willfully or intentionally possessing or having immediate access to any dangerous weapon is guilty of a misdemeanor. N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. §14-277.2 (Enacted 1981; Last Amended 1994). Any person who obstructs another person's access to or egress from a health-care facility in a manner that deprives or delays the person from obtaining or providing health-care services, or who injures or threatens another person who is providing, obtaining, or aiding another to obtain health-care services, is guilty of a misdemeanor. A third or subsequent conviction within three years of a prior conviction is punishable as a felony. Any person aggrieved may seek injunctive relief. A violation of an injunction obtained pursuant to this section constitutes criminal contempt punishable by imprisonment for 30 days to 12 months. N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. §14-277.4 (Enacted 1993; Last Amended 1994). A court held that this law is constitutional. Hoffman v. Hunt, 126 F.3d 575 (4th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1136 (1998).  Any person engaging in targeted picketing of another individual's residence that causes fear for that individual's safety, the safety of the individual's family or personal associates, or creates substantial emotional distress is guilty of a misdemeanor.  N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. §14-277.4A (Enacted 2009).