Posted on 03/20/2009 9:01:20 PM PDT by Steelfish
Pastor jailed for Oakland anti-abortion acts
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, March 20, 2009
A pastor at a Berkeley church was jailed Friday for 30 days after unsuccessfully arguing that an order requiring him to stay 100 yards away from an Oakland abortion clinic violates his right to free speech.
Walter Hoye, 52, of Union City was the first person convicted under an Oakland ordinance barring protesters from coming within 8 feet of anyone entering an abortion clinic.
In February, Judge Stuart Hing of Alameda County Superior Court sentenced Hoye to three years' probation, 30 days in jail and ordered him to pay $1,000.
Hoye could have disposed of the jail time in a sheriff's work detail or by volunteering. But he balked at the judge's order to stay 100 yards from Family Planning Specialists Medical Group at Second and Webster streets.
Hoye argued that the order was more severe than Oakland's ordinance and stifled his First Amendment rights.
Hing refused to budge at a hearing Friday at which Hoye's attorneys tried to stay the sentence pending an appeal. The judge asked Hoye to decide whether he wished to serve a month in jail or in an alternative program, and the pastor chose jail.
Supporters shouted, "We love you, Walter," and clapped as Hoye was led away by sheriff's deputies.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Religious persecution pure and simple.
So much for the 1st amendment.
Baby killing is no longer merely a “choice” but has become the law of the land.
Amazing how the country keeps getting worse and worse. The murdered babies are the lucky ones in this brave new world.
ping
We type, the Pastor worked, we complain, he was tying to save life we complain, he is in jail.
Paul was right when he mentioned his shackles for the sake Christ’s Cause.
It used to be that if you used ‘murdered babies’ in a post, someone would jump up and correct you that the not yet born are fetuses not ‘babies’, so abortion wasn’t technically killing babies. Now, witht he current wickedness occupying the oval orifice, we can address ‘killing babies’ because obama worked to protect just that thing, killing just born alive babies! And the democrat voters love him ...
Judge is shown as a Republican.. aRnie appointee.
http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/10250/
07/21/2008
Governor Schwarzenegger Appoints Two Judges to Alameda County Superior Court
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the appointment of Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers and Stuart Hing to judgeships in the Alameda County Superior Court.
...
Hing, 51, of Pleasant Hill, has been a deputy district attorney with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office since 1985. He earned a Juris Doctorate degree from McGeorge School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University, Sacramento. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Julie Conger. Hing is a Republican.
The compensation for each position is $178,789.
I believe the US Supreme Court has held in a sharply divided decision that it is constitutional to ban protesters within 100 ft to the entrances to an abortion clinic in the interests of patient health and privacy.
I can pretty safely make the claim that Obama has never done a decent thing in his entire life. Even when the cameras are rolling he’s still being a snot and the people love it.
“The complacency of fools will destroy them”
They are complacent, this pastor is not.
A whole football field away? This is nonsense!
Are you sure? Is that the only such entity in the U.S. to enjoy such an exemption to free speech?
Yes- it was decided in a case against Planned Parenthood where the court upheld so-called “floating buffer zones” and “fixed” buffer zones. There was a blistering dissent by Justice Scalia.
Good point padre and all,
You can help through the website here:
LIFE LEGAL DEFENSE FOUNDATION
P.O. Box 2105, Napa, California 94558 — 707.224.6675
NEWS RELEASE March 20, 2009
Contact: Catherine Short, Legal Director
(805) 640-1940
http://lldf.org/articles/Press_Rel_090320_Walter_Hoye_Sentenced
AFRICAN AMERICAN PASTOR SENT TO JAIL FOR OFFERING
ABORTION ALTERNATIVES ON PUBLIC SIDEWALK
OAKLAND, Calif.: Today the Rev. Walter Hoye of Berkeley, California, was ordered to serve 30 days in county jail by Judge Stuart Hing of the Alameda Superior Court. Rev. Hoye had been found guilty on January 15, 2009, of unlawfully approaching two persons entering an abortion clinic in Oakland. Judge Hing had also ordered him to stay one hundred yards away from the abortion clinic for three years. However, Rev. Hoye refused this term of probation and would not agree to a stay-away order. Therefore, the judge denied the defense motion to stay the sentence pending appeal. Mr. Hoye was taken into custody from the courtroom.
At a hearing on February 19, Judge Hing stated that he had not intended to impose any fine or jail time on Rev. Hoye if he would agree to stay away from the abortion clinic. After Rev. Hoye refused to agree not to offer alternatives to abortion-minded women, Judge Hing imposed a 30-day sentence and $1130 fine. Dozens in the African-American and pro-life communities from around the nation who came out in support of Rev. Hoye were outraged by the sentence. The consensus of these leaders is that it was a travesty that Rev. Hoye was found guilty in the first place for standing in the gap for black children targeted by the abortion industry.
“It is absolutely incredible that in America an individual can be sentenced to jail for engaging in peaceful free speech activity on a public sidewalk,” remarked Allison Aranda, Staff Counsel for Life Legal Defense Foundation. Aranda further stated, “Rev. Hoye is being singled out for particularly harsh punishment because he refused to agree not to offer help to women considering abortion. Where is the justice in that?”
Rev. Hoye is an African-American pastor who feels a special calling to work for the end of the genocide-by-abortion taking place in the African-American community. As part of his efforts, he stands in front of an abortion clinic in Oakland with leaflets offering abortion alternatives and a sign reading, “Jesus loves you and your baby. Let us help.” In response, the Oakland City Council passed an ordinance making it a crime to approach persons entering abortion clinics to offer alternatives to abortion. Approaching women to encourage them to enter the clinic is permitted, according to City policy.
According to 2004 statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics, about 37 percent of pregnancies of black women end in abortion, compared with 12 percent for non-Hispanic white women and 19 percent for Hispanic women. LLDF Legal Director Catherine Short and attorney Mike Millen, who also represented Rev. Hoye at trial, are currently challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance on Rev. Hoye’s behalf in federal court. They are hopeful the ordinance will be struck down and Rev. Hoye vindicated.
For more details about Rev. Hoye’s case go to www.lldf.org. Life Legal Defense Foundation was established in 1989, and is a non-profit organization composed of attorneys and other concerned citizens, committed to the sanctity of human life. For more information, call Katie Short at 805.640.1940.
BTTT
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