I guess the First Amendment is not part of the Bill of Rights in Nebraska -- just the right to kill innocent babies...
Thinking about killing innocent babies, I think this turkey named Herod did that 2000 years ago trying to kill the baby the Three Wisemen had visited...
What an assinine law! “Focused picketing”? What the hell is “unfocused picketing”? Can a cross-eyed person be convicted of “focused picketing”? How a about a drunk who can’t see straight?
Mayor Chris Beutler
555 South 10th, 2nd Floor Rm 208
Lincoln, NE 68508
Fax: 402-441-7120
E-mail: Mayor@lincoln.ne.gov
Were they subject to a restraining order?
Yet the Phelps demons of the WBC are free to spew their bile to their heart’s content anyplace, anytime.
Man, talk about an example of the phrase “the law is an ass.”
Here’s the nub of the story:
“...to plead for the lives of pre- born children as he walked from his car to his house...”
I do not favor abortion, but I just imagined someone who describes herself as an activist talking to me as I walked from my car to my house. Then I imagined that activist talking to me as an opponent - let’s say telling me that the wolf ruff and the beaver gloves are a reflection of my Nazi predilictions, as PETA activists have done to others wearing fur. It would be a royal pain in the ass.
The space between the street and my front door is mine. I frankly don’t want anyone bothering me as I walk into my house on any subject.
These women are not charged with speaking to an abortionist. They’re charged with bothering him on his property while he’s walking into his house. I agree with their pro-life stance, but their actions seem to be a bigger problem than the message.
I don’t mean to sound harsh, but why shouldn’t these women be content to face the punishment meted out by the state? By doing so, they can demonstrate the injustice of the law that will throw somebody in jail for nothing more than speaking. If their sentences are commuted, they will not have an opportunity to make this point.
History is filled with examples of activists who have inspired the masses by being subjected to unjust inprisonment, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to name only a few.
Crabb's son, who was outside on his front step as Abbink and McKee approached, went inside the house and called the Lincoln Police Department. Crabb was upstairs in his house when Abbink and McKee approached. When Crabb first noticed Abbink and McKee, they were standing on the sidewalk, one on either side of the end of his driveway, approximately 1 to 11/2 feet from his property line. In an attempt to avoid the disruption caused by Abbink and McKee, Crabb left his house, got into his car, and drove away. Realizing that Abbink and McKee had decided to follow him, Crabb returned to his house. Abbink and McKee followed Crabb back to his residence and parked their car on the street adjacent to Crabb's property. After getting out of their car, Abbink and McKee once again flanked Crabb's driveway and continued to shout at Crabb.
After Crabb returned to his house, he telephoned the Lincoln Police Department. While Crabb and his son were waiting for the police to respond to their calls, Abbink and McKee were standing on the sidewalk between the Crabb property line and the street adjacent thereto. Abbink and McKee again stood approximately 1 to 1 1/2 feet from the Crabb property line, where they remained until the police arrived on the scene.
The police arrived at approximately 7:30 a.m. and observed Abbink and McKee still standing on the sidewalk flanking Crabb's driveway. After the police arrived, Crabb came out to the sidewalk near the area where Abbink and McKee were standing as Abbink and McKee continued to shout at him. The police separated the parties, after which Abbink and McKee were issued citations for disturbing the peace in violation of Lincoln Mun. Code § 9.20.050 (1992); the complaints against Abbink and McKee were subsequently amended to include charges of focused residential picketing in violation of Lincoln Mun. Code § 9.40.090 (1997). Specifically, count II of the amended complaints alleged that Abbink and McKee 'intentionally or knowingly engage[d] in focused picketing in that portion of a street which abuts on the property upon which the targeted dwelling is located, or which abuts on property within fifty feet of the property upon which the targeted dwelling is located, in violation of L.M.C. section 9.40.090.'
After arraignment, Abbink and McKee entered pleas of not guilty, and the cases were consolidated for trial. Following a joint bench trial, both Abbink and McKee were acquitted on the respective counts of disturbing the peace, but were convicted of focused residential picketing, and each of them was sentenced to a jail term of 60 days. Abbink and McKee appealed to the district court for Lancaster County, which affirmed both convictions and both sentences. From that order, Abbink and McKee timely appealed to the Nebraska Court of Appeals, and we moved these cases to our docket pursuant to our authority to regulate the caseloads of the appellate courts of this state. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 24-1106(3) (Reissue 1995). Abbink's and McKee's appeals have been consolidated for oral argument and decision in this court.
So, we're talking about more than a minute - a half hour of harassment and following people around, and continuing when the officers arrived. What I'm curious about is how it went from sixty days to the stated six and eight months. Something further is at play here, and as the originating story appears to be short on maintaining any facts in the case, I don't feel inclined to disturb a mayor.
Maybe a dumb question, but is there no statute of limitations on a misdemeanor? I thought the S-of-L in misdemeanors was about 2 years.
Lincoln is the liberal capital of the state ie the statist understand that government is their protection racket & they aren’t going to worry about the 1st amendment rights of their sworn enemies. The fact that many on free republic do not understand that govt. is in fact a protection racket is sad.
Their next step would be to take it federal.
I think of the disgusting displays of hate and intolerance that the Phelps (sp?) crew regularly perform with impunity and wonder if the whole world has gone completely insane...
wow. so much for amendment one in this country
save
effin ridiculous
**Pro-life Women Jailed for Having Begged an Abortionist to Quit a Decade Ago...**
Amazing story!