2 Anti-Abortionists Get Jail Terms : Judge Gives Protest Leaders 65 Days for Blockading Clinic

Two leaders of San Diego-area anti-abortion forces were sentenced Friday to 65 days in jail for convictions stemming from two clinic blockades in April.

San Diego Municipal Judge John M. Thompson imposed the sentences on Constance V. Youngkin, 41, of San Diego, and Frank B. Smith, 56, of Oceanside, who were convicted Wednesday of conspiracy and seven other misdemeanors in connection with the April 8 and 29 demonstrations. Thompson also gave Youngkin a three-day jail term for contempt of court for comments made at the beginning of the trial.

Youngkin and Smith, whose attorneys promised an appeal, were the first activists to go to trial from the eight originally facing conspiracy charges in connection with the April blockades.

Youngkin and Smith rejected two sentencing options--probation or public work service, such as highway trash detail. Anti-abortion activists said the jail terms would strengthen the resolve of other protesters, especially those affiliated with the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, which is planning a demonstration today.

‘Encourages People’

“I think it encourages people, that these two are willing to do whatever it takes to further the cause, short of violence to someone else’s property or someone else’s person,” said Adrianna Hallford, an Operation Rescue spokeswoman.

Pro-choice advocates hoped that the jail terms would deter San Diego blockades, pointing to the contrast between the outcome of the Youngkin and Smith cases and Wednesday’s acquittal in Los Angeles of Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry and four others on 24 charges stemming from a March 25 protest in Los Angeles.

A 65-day jail term “ought to send a clear message that this court (in San Diego) is going to recognize women’s clear constitutional right to medical services,” said Carol Hallstrom, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney.

Deputy City Atty. Peter Hughes, who prosecuted Youngkin and Smith, said he shares Hallstrom’s hopes. But he said he doubts that the prospect of jail will deter other avid anti-abortion activists.

“They have a belief, right or wrong, and they’re going to continue,” he said.

Youngkin and Smith were found guilty Wednesday by a San Diego Municipal Court jury of conspiring to organize, and aiding and abetting the April 8 San Diego protest. The jury also found them guilty, in the April 8 and 29 demonstrations, of trespassing, failing to disperse and disobeying a court order.

That order was a statewide injunction issued in March by U. S. District Judge A. Wallace Tashima in Los Angeles barring the activists from blockading clinics.

Choice of Sentencing

After the jury returned its verdict, Thompson said Youngkin and Smith should be prepared to choose the sentence each preferred from among three options.

The first choice was three years’ probation, a $300 fine, five days’ public work service and a promise not to engage in other anti-abortion protests. The second was 60 days’ public work service. The third was jail.

Youngkin and Smith each said Friday that they preferred jail.

The judge said it was “clear” to him that Youngkin and Smith were “fully and wholly committed” to anti-abortion blockades and that nothing “short of putting them in custody” would deter them.

Thompson put off sentencing on the charges relating to the Tashima order, and to Youngkin’s trespass charges, pending the outcome of the suit before the federal judge. But Thompson imposed additional 65-day sentences for both Youngkin and Smith on the other convictions, ordering that they run concurrently.

Thompson set bail pending appeal at $5,000 apiece.

Sentence for Contempt

He then sentenced Youngkin to the additional three days for being in contempt of his order, at the beginning of trial, not to speak on certain topics, including the necessity of the protests to save babies.

Youngkin, a registered nurse, sat straight and looked unwaveringly at Thompson throughout the hearing. She hugged and kissed her relatives before marshals led her away to begin serving the contempt sentence.

“I don’t have much to say except I’m proud of my wife for having the courage to stand up for what she believes in,” said her husband, Tyler Youngkin.

Smith, a minister, turned around after Thompson had detailed his sentence and whispered to his wife, Betty, and two children, Brian and Sarah, “It’s OK.”

“He was fully expecting this,” Betty Smith said.

Sarah Smith said Friday evening that bail had been posted for her father, and he was expected home.

Prosecutors expect to try four more of the eight original alleged leaders beginning Sept. 25, Hughes said.

In all, 134 anti-abortion activists arrested at the protests April 8 and 29 and at another demonstration June 10 face misdemeanor charges, prosecutors have said.