I defeated Judge Patrick Kelly and I defeated abortionist George Tiller in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
I represented myself, and I won.
Tiller and Kelly accused me of sending children into the street to stop cars driving into the abortion mill.
The truth? A 17 year old I had never met before, she was here from Michigan, Claire D was her name, crawled under a car which had been blocked at the gate. I ran through the barricades and even pushed a US Marshal out of the way in order to try and drag young Claire out from under the car.
Claire looked at me in stunned surprise and said, “Sir, I can walk into that building and kill my baby and you can't do anything about it, why should you have the right to stop me now, or make me get out from under this car?”
I admit that I was speechless for a moment. The young lady had a point.
But I responded, “Because I can do something about this”.
A local Wichita cop put his hand on my shoulder and said, “We got this Paul, get back behind the barricades” and I complied.
A short time later, the US Marshals arrested me.
I had a deal with the Wichita Police that I would handle the purses, watches, bill folds and valuables of Operation Rescue members, if they were arrested. It saved the city of Wichita the expense. Besides, I am bonded for a couple of million dollars and could guarantee return of property under the law.
The US Marshals had no such agreement with me. Judge Kelly was in fact very angry about my legal status.
I was arrested and smeared in an attempt to get me to rat out who I was dealing with, with the City as well as with Operation Rescue.
This did not happen in Court, it happened behind the scenes with Kelly's goons.
I told them to “go pound sand” in so many words.
And again, Kelly found me in contempt of court, I was trashed on national television, even though Claire D tried to testify on my behalf. Kelly threatened to have Claire arrested and removed from her family if she showed up in Court. (This even though Claire turned 18 that next week end.)
I was nationally slandered and libeled as a guy who “threw kids into the street to stop abortions.”
Yet the Wichita police never arrested me. Child protective services never took my own kids. I was never subject to Kelly's order in the first place, as I had no criminal record and I specifically told Randal Terry that I could not join Operation Rescue for these precise legal issues. I did not want to be subject to the restraining order and I never was.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals sent my case back to the District Court level.
Where it was dismissed, of course, after all KKK Act cases were overturned by SCOTUS.
Now we seem to be making some progress. Your #142 gets to the bottom of your story and it is very good. I am pinging most of those whom I have been pinging to see this side of the story which is so much more favorable to you and which I am personally willing to accept as gospel truth. I still have no use for NRLC but that is another story for another time. Mere politics.
First, I fully understand that someone with a Series 7 license has much more at stake than most of us even if sued much less arrested. Not all pro-lifers are called to Rescue. A disproportionate number were either very young or elderly and retired.
Second, while not everyone could Rescue, it did seem incumbent upon pro-lifers to be at least supportive, whether or not that was politic.
Third, apparently you were more supportive in 1991 than NRLC. One of my first Rescue clients was an extraordinarily principled young man who later was for many years a major NRLC staffer. Once on their payroll, he would not answer telephone calls. He is apparently no longer so principled. In about 15 years, he will be eligible for the gold watch and 50-year pin as Roe vs. Wade rolls on.
Fourth, I am not denigrating your victory at the 10th Circuit or later over the late Pat Kelly. I have little doubt that Pat (whom I came to have high regard for in many respects) was quite capable of unprofessional temper tantrums from the bench. He did worry about the Tenth Circuit's authority to overturn him. May God have mercy on his soul and forgive his transgressions.
Fifth, when Pat was Catholic, his pastor was Fr. Eugene Gerber who later became bishop of Wichita. At some point, probably around 1980, then Fr. Gerber addressed his congregation and asked that no one leave after Mass without signing an anti-Roe vs. Wade petition. Pat had just become IIRC the first Kansas Democrat in memory or ever (?) appointed to the Federal Bench and was very angry at Fr. Gerber for asking him to sign the petition. In chambers, I told Pat that being a Catholic in good standing was even more important than being a federal judge. He disagreed and said his reaction was to become a Methodist because, as a "pro-choice" church, the Methodists could be counted on to support him. I disagreed behind closed doors in chambers and he and I still got along. The private Pat Kelly was a good guy, sadly misguided by his party vs. the Church of his youth.
Sixth, during the hearings on the Summer of Mercy cases, Pat apparently had the US Marshals haul Bishop Gerber to his court room and gave him a traditional warning that often precedes contempt citations: "If you don't comply with my orders, I hope you brought your toothbrush." He did not IIRC jail the bishop but that was another legend among the local lawyers. If Bishop Gerber had been jailed and refused to leave jail, the bishop would have been an instant hero. He stood up to Judge Kelly and became a hero on the installment plan like Joan Finny.
Seventh, while deputy US marshals may serve and protect the judiciary, they are nevertheless Executive Department employees and officials. Their leadership is appointed by the POTUS and, in 1991, that means that the ones who arrested you were George Herbert Walker Bush's goons, not Pat Kelly's. During the Summer of Mercy, Bush the Elder (whose mother Dorothy Walker Bush was a decades long national director of Planned Barrenhood) was asked at a Kennebunkport Country Club if he would intervene to help the Rescuers and he responded with contempt. Bush was once known as Congressman Rubbers and his wife Barbara is even more notorious in her love for abortion.
Eight, when you say that they wanted you to "rat out" those you had associated with in city government and Operation Rescue, you show that you are a lot closer to the Rescue mindset than you customarily indicate. Good for you!
Ninth: This entire post of yours has a high degree, indeed, an absolute credibility and most particularly the parts about Claire D and the Wichita police officer. Thanks for your effort and the story.
Tenth: You correctly state that Kelly would have been frustrated by the fact that your status did not submit you to his orders and therefore to his contempt citation.
Eleventh, the dismissal of the case against you, I take it, resulted from Justice Breyer's SCOTUS decision in NOW vs. Joseph Scheidler, dismissing that case and any RICO or KKK Act claims? I have not practiced since 2000 so I am a bit rusty. That was the sort of decision which would run a clearance sale on unjust persecution.
Twelfth, and this is a catchall. May the defamation which you unjustly suffered be the worst of your pain before you arrive in heaven an hour before the devil learns that you are dead (as we Irish like to say)! Was the unlamented Killer Tiller an actual party to your case? Why was it any of his business even if Claire D was heading his way? Were you defamed on Nightline by Kelly? If he caused your children to be taken from your custody or if he refused to allow obviously relevant testimony from the 17 year old Claire much less interfered with her freedom, The gods of the judiciary would have thrown Judge Kelly under a fast moving tractor trailer.
May God bless you and yours!