Biden DOJ’s continued abuse of the FACE Act

[mystery-ak]

Biden DOJ’s continued abuse of the FACE Act
By
Washington Examiner
February 5, 2024 12:00 am

Six anti-abortion protesters were found guilty by a federal jury in Nashville last week of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and “conspiracy against rights” — both felony charges. They were prosecuted by the Justice Department after they sang hymns and prayed in the hallway of a Tennessee abortion clinic. One of the protesters, Paul Vaughn, was arrested at his house days later by the FBI in front of his wife and 11 children.

Video of the protest — a very mild affair — shows a peaceful vigil to persuade expecting mothers against abortion. But in its charges against Vaughn and the others, the Biden administration accused the defendants of using “force and physical obstruction to injure, intimidate and interfere with employees of the clinic and a patient who was seeking reproductive health services.” As a result, these men and women now face up to 11 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

This is one of several recent examples of President Joe Biden’s aggressive and unprecedented application of the FACE Act, which the Justice Department has been using to intimidate activists. In 2022, Mark Houck, a Catholic father, was charged with violating the FACE Act and arrested by the FBI in front of his seven children. He also faced 11 years in prison but was acquitted on appeal after U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert concluded that the law “[seemed] to be stretched a little thin here” by prosecutors.

more
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/2834243/bidens-face-act-persecution-of-pro-life-movement/

[mountaineer]

Well, this one certainly ticks a few boxes:

Atheist, nonbinary pro-life activist sentenced to federal prison for FACE Act violation
By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post
 Wednesday, May 15, 2024

The first pro-life atheist indicted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act has been sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for participating in the 2020 blockade of a Washington, D.C., abortion facility.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly announced the sentence for nonbinary pro-life activist Herb (Rosemary) Geraghty on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the federal judge sentenced three of Geraghty’s fellow activists — Lauren Handy, John Hinshaw and William Goodman — who also participated in the October 2020 blockade of the Washington Surgi-Clinic. Handy is a member of Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, another pro-life group of which Geraghty is also a part.

Prior to the nine-month incarceration, Geraghty served as the executive director of the nonpartisan pro-life organization Rehumanize International.

Geraghty was immediately taken into custody after a jury issued a guilty ruling last year on charges of violating the FACE Act.

Geraghty was one of several defendants who participated in an effort to stop the Washington Surgi-Clinic from performing abortions on Oct. 22, 2020. According to prosecutors, Geraghty assisted Handy in planning the blockade.  ...