Posted on 01/04/2008 4:33:56 PM PST by topher
Pro-life Women Jailed for Having Begged an Abortionist to Quit a Decade Ago
One faces five months in jail while another has been sentenced to serve eight months behind bars.
LINCOLN, Nebraska, January 4, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-life activists Shari McKee and Melissa Abbink were jailed on December 28th, 2007, for speaking to Lincoln abortionist Winston Crabb on two occasions in front of his home 10 years ago. Abbink faces five months in jail while McKee has been sentenced to serve eight months behind bars.
According to Operation Rescue, in February, 1998, both were charged with violating the "focused picketing" ordinance even though neither had signs and both incidents lasted only a minute each. "Just long enough," said OR, "to plead for the lives of pre- born children as he walked from his car to his house."
After exhausting the appeals of the criminal cases, the convictions were upheld by the Nebraska Supreme Court on September 10, 1999. However, for reasons unknown, the mandate did not come down until September 28, 2005, over 6 years later.
The last two years have been spent seeking a commutation. The women's cases were brought before the Board of Pardons, which was very sympathetic, but refused to act because the Board does not review misdemeanor cases. The Board referred the cases to the Mayor of Lincoln, who has refused to act claiming he does not have the authority to grant commutations.
According to the women's attorneys, the Mayor clearly does have the authority to commute misdemeanor sentences.
"We are asking pro-lifers to write to Mayor Beutler and ask him to commute the sentences of these two women," said Larry Donlan, Director of Rescue the Heartland. "Be sure to point out that the Pardon Board says he has the authority to do so. Be polite and remember, it is a commutation that we are after, not a pardon. Like the parable of the widow, we are seeking justice for these two brave, God-fearing women. Only Mayor Beutler has that ability to grant that justice. He can do so by merely picking up the phone."
Mayor Chris Beutler 555 South 10th, 2nd Floor Rm 208, Lincoln, NE 68508 Fax: 402-441-7120 E-mail: mayor@lincoln.ne.gov
The women in two separate facilities may be contacted by mail:
Melissa Abbink 4420 NW 41st Lincoln, NE 68524
Sharon McKee 1125 E. 17th St. Columbus, NE 68601
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My only guess is that either they were subject to additional prosecution in the interim, or there were penalties involved for not acting in a timely manner to report to jail.
LOL Too funny! You and I both know unpatriotic idiots like that wouldn't last 5 minutes in 95% of the towns in America. Better think of a better comparison.
Well, the baby killer’s son WAS out in public. (He could not have been legally nude then, could he?) No, he did not have to listen, and could have gone inside. The 2 ladies did apologize when they realized their identification error. Still, if is saves ONE baby’s life,...isn’t it worth it?
Still, if is saves ONE baby’s life,...isn’t it worth it?
So then shoot the doctor. After all, if that's the overriding justification for intimidating people in their own homes, why stop at shouting? Why not just kill them? You'd be saving at least one baby's life.
wow. so much for amendment one in this country
OK, so that's worth 8 months in jail, eh?
save
effin ridiculous
There have been folks willing to follow the Phelps gang around with paintball guns...
I guess if they show up there (in front of the homes of someone who died in Iraq/Afghanistan, they might get painted...
The more I think about it, paintballs is a form of Freedom of Expression, but it has the problem of damaging property. By the same token, the emotional damage done by the Phelps can be heard in a Civil Court.
Remember that O.J. Simpson was convicted in a Civil Court, where there was less burden of proof.
Now I might say that the Phelps IRS dodgers may have the right of Freedom of Expression, but if this results in emotional injury, then they should filed with a Civil Suit (or many, many Civil Suits)...
A shorter reply:
During the Vietnam War, apparently protestors did this with parents of servicemen who were lost.
The movie Hamburger Hill tells one such instance. That was why one person re-upped for Vietnam...
What they described in movie Hamburger Hill was probably much sicker than the Phelps gangs acts...
You are to be commended for your research... Seems if LifeSite News is to continue to have credibility, it might need to do a better job reporting stories...
Mayor Chris Beutler
555 South 10th, 2nd Floor Rm 208,
Lincoln, NE 68508
Fax: 402-441-7120
E-mail: mayor@lincoln.ne.gov
The women in two separate facilities may be contacted by mail:
Melissa Abbink
4420 NW 41st
Lincoln, NE 68524
Sharon McKee
1125 E. 17th St.
Columbus, NE 68601
**Pro-life Women Jailed for Having Begged an Abortionist to Quit a Decade Ago...**
Amazing story!
what other spaces/towns etc only allow “focused picketing”’?
So much for making laws “content neutral” on a public sidewalk no less!
Why can’t Brittany et al just go to court and get “focused picketing” and harrassment laws passed against those creeps with cameras that won’t leave them ?
MMMM .. your theory might be correct but these women have been jailed since December and have you read/seen/heard anything about them except here?
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