Abortion Protesters Fined, Held in Contempt by Judge

Likening them to “used car salesmen” who fail to deliver on their promises, a federal judge in Los Angeles found the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue and 12 activists in contempt Tuesday for defying court injunctions when they blockaded medical clinics in seven California cities.

U.S. District Judge A. Wallace Tashima ordered the defendants to pay $110,000 in attorney fees to the American Civil Liberties Union and other attorneys for costs they incurred in bringing the contempt action on behalf of such groups as the National Abortion Federation and Planned Parenthood of San Diego County.

Tashima also levied $10,000 in fines against each of the individual defendants but suspended the penalties, saying the fines would be reimposed if the protesters again violated court orders preventing the blockade of clinics where abortions are performed.

Four of the activists were cited for violating the injunction in connection with demonstrations March 18 and April 8 at San Diego-area clinics. San Diego prosecutors have brought misdemeanor charges against three of those four in connection with those protests and another this spring.

In unusually strong language, Tashima said it was “hypocritical” for Operation Rescue to engage in civil disobedience and then seek to avoid responsibility for its actions. To do so, he said, stripped the movement’s acts of “any moral meaning.”

“I think it’s rather ironic for an organization like Operation Rescue to claim it’s a civil disobedience movement and then to assert it can’t be held liable for its actions,” Tashima said from the bench.

“The essence of civil disobedience is to allow yourself to be punished . . . because you have allegiance to a higher authority,” the judge said. “To deny responsibility, you become nothing more than ordinary lawbreakers. . . . It is simply hypocritical and nothing more.”

Tashima then added: “Some people who have been beguiled by Operation Rescue leaders should ask themselves why are they (the leaders) denying responsibility for what they’ve done. It’s very much akin to a used car dealer--what’s advertised up front is not what they’re willing to do when the chips are down.”

The judge seemed to be referring to statements made by Operation Rescue leaders that protesters would face little more than “a mild slap on the hand” for their protest activities.

Linda Hills, executive director of the ACLU’s San Diego office, said she is not only “pleased” with Tashima’s decision but “particularly pleased with some of (the judge’s) comments in the courtroom. They were a real vindication for us.”

Prosecutors at the San Diego city attorney’s office--involved in criminal cases against three of the activists--also said Tashima’s ruling was a vindication.

“The finding of contempt in the federal injunction vindicates our position,” said James M. Bishop, head deputy city attorney. “We believe people have a lawful right to run a business without lawful interference. The expression of free speech does not include shutting down a lawful business merely because you disagree with the business.”

Officials at one of the businesses involved in bringing the suit, WomanCare Clinic in San Diego, said they felt not vindicated but “very victorious,” said associate director Patricia O’Neil. She predicted the “hubris” of those affiliated with Operation Rescue “will be diminished” because of Tashima’s ruling.

In March, Tashima issued a statewide injunction to prevent massive anti-abortion demonstrations from blockading women’s clinics throughout California. More than 1,000 protesters subsequently were arrested during the demonstrations at clinics in Los Angeles, Cypress, Long Beach, Escondido, Chico, Fresno and Oakland.

The ACLU filed suit in April seeking to have Operation Rescue held in contempt for going through with the protests.

Numerous Witnesses

During a 12-day hearing, the ACLU presented numerous witnesses who testified about demonstrations that allegedly violated Tashima’s statewide injunction.

Some witnesses said they did not visit the clinics to obtain abortions but merely to receive medical attention for pregnancy problems.

One woman, Denise Schofield, testified that she was prevented from keeping an appointment with a doctor outside a San Diego clinic where a protest was being held. Schofield added, however, that she was not planning to have an abortion and instead wanted to see a doctor because she feared that she was having a miscarriage or a dangerous tubal pregnancy.

The judge declined to award any damages to individuals or clinics where the demonstrations were held.

Still, Lenore Lowe, an official with Planned Parenthood in San Diego, said she was “delighted” with the decision and characterized Operation Rescue protesters as “no better than common criminals.”

ACLU attorney Carol Sobel said she thought that Tashima’s ruling would have a deterrent effect on anti-abortion protesters because they are now on notice that they could incur substantial financial penalties if they broke the law.

“This is a clear signal that it will be expensive to continue this unacceptable, immoral conduct,” Sobel said.

Defiant Reaction

But Cyrus Zal, Operation Rescue’s attorney, had a defiant reaction. He said Tashima’s decision will be appealed and predicted that there would be further blockades of abortion clinics.

“People should not be punished for saving lives,” Zal said.

Sylvia Sullivan, San Diego spokeswoman for Operation Rescue, said the ruling “will make no difference. We are committed and willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to save these babies.”

Sullivan said the ruling will not deter further demonstrations. “We intend to rescue in September (in the San Diego area). That’s correct.” Operation Rescue takes the position that it is rescuing lives by blockading clinics where abortions are performed.

At an earlier stage of this case, Tashima ruled that neither the group nor individuals could introduce evidence that they should be allowed to commit acts of trespass at the clinics under a defense of “necessity” of saving lives.

Tuesday, Zal reasserted that right and said, “It’s sad that Judge Tashima has thrown in his lot with the persecutors of the unborn baby.”

Regardless of the outcome of any appeals, Zal said Operation Rescue and the individuals who were found guilty of contempt would resist paying the money that they were ordered to pay Tuesday.

“I don’t believe anyone (involved with Operation Rescue) will ever pay a dollar that would go to the ACLU,” Zal said, referring to the ACLU as “baby killers.”

He said that 26 million unborn children had been killed by abortion since abortion was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973.

“This far surpasses any holocaust in human history,” Zal asserted.

Prediction Made

He predicted that the ACLU and Tashima would ultimately be prosecuted for murder under the Nuremburg principles that were used to prosecute Nazis after World War II.

Zal, who carries a Bible with him, frequently compares the situation of unborn children who may be the subject of an abortion to various victims of World War II. In his closing argument in this case, he compared aborted babies to Japanese-Americans who were put in internment camps in this country during World War II, but he added, “at least the Japanese weren’t executed.”

Tashima, 55, spent 3 1/2 years in a U.S. government relocation camp in Arizona from 1942 to 1945 with his family.

Before issuing his ruling Tuesday, the judge said: “My opinion (on abortion), which I’ve never expressed publicly, is not important. My obligation is to enforce the law.”

The four activists in the ruling with San Diego ties were:

- William R. Lehman, 29, of Vista. Tashima ordered Lehman to pay $25,000 in fees, the largest single amount of any activist.

The judge found that Lehman took part in six different protests around California, including the one March 18 in Escondido and April 8 in San Diego, said Betty Wheeler, legal director for the ACLU’s San Diego office, who attended the hearing.

Lehman pleaded no contest last Thursday in San Diego Municipal Court to a charge of violating the federal court injunction, Bishop said. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop other charges, including a misdemeanor conspiracy charge.

Judge Gale E. Kaneshiro sentenced Lehman to 90 days in jail but suspended the sentence on condition he perform 180 hours of community service and comply with the federal injunction, Bishop said. Lehman also received three years’ probation, Bishop said.

- Constance V. Youngkin, 41, of San Diego. All of the $12,000 that Tashima ordered her to pay will go to the San Diego ACLU, Wheeler said. Unlike Lehman, who traveled around California, Youngkin was involved only with the two San Diego-area protests, she said.

Youngkin currently is on trial in San Diego Municipal Court on various misdemeanor charges stemming from the April 8 protest and another one April 29, Bishop said. Charges include violating the federal court order, a misdemeanor conspiracy count and trespass, he said.

- Joseph L. Foreman, 34, of Long Beach, Operation Rescue’s national field director. Tashima ordered him to pay $19,000. Foreman was linked to the April 8 San Diego protest, Wheeler said.

Foreman faces misdemeanor charges in San Diego Municipal Court in connection with the April 8 and April 29 demonstrations, Bishop said. His case is due to follow Youngkin’s, Bishop said.

- Jeff White, Operation Rescue’s Northern California director. Tashima also ordered White to pay $19,000 in fees.

White helped organize the March 18 Escondido demonstration, Wheeler said. White does not face criminal charges in San Diego.

The other eight are:

Ken Tanner, former Operation Rescue director in Southern California; Randy Adler, a group leader in Southern California; Lawrence Shrank, a leader of the group’s “National Holy Week” activities in Southern California in March; Thomas Scanlan, a “core leader” in Sacramento; Peter Haasl, a San Joaquin Valley Operation Rescue organizer; Jeff Barnes and Paul McConnell, who participated in a Fresno blockade, and Thorne Renfro, who participated in a Chico blockade.

Still pending before Tashima is a broader case filed by the ACLU in March asserting that Operation Rescue has violated the civil rights of all women seeking medical treatment at family planning clinics in California.

Times staff writers Alan Abrahamson in San Diego and Carol McGraw in Los Angeles contributed to this article.