Appeal Court Upholds Jail Time for Anti-Abortion Attorney : Justice: The ruling against Operation Rescue’s lawyer is the group’s second setback in two weeks.

Anti-abortion lawyer Cyrus Zal, slapped with a 90-day jail term by an El Cajon judge, was ordered Monday to report to jail by a San Diego appeals court that found his sentence justified.

The Folsom-based lawyer was ordered to show up at the San Diego County Jail on June 15 by the 4th District Court of Appeal, which rejected his appeal of the contempt-of-court citations that El Cajon Municipal Court Judge Larrie R. Brainard imposed at a February trial.

Zal was cited for repeatedly ignoring Brainard’s order not to discuss abortion in the case, in which the lawyer represented six anti-abortion advocates convicted of trespass in connection with a protest last October in La Mesa.

Zal had been dispatched to the trial by the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, which he then served as general counsel. The rejection of his appeal marked another in a recent series of legal and financial setbacks suffered both in San Diego and around the nation by the militant organization.

Known for his ever-present Bible and for making it clear that he wishes to use the trials of abortion protesters as a platform for debating and condemning abortion, Zal, 42, said Monday that he was “saddened but was not surprised” by the appellate court decision.

“I’m afraid that the judicial system seems to have lost its conscience and any sense of morality, and they are simply protecting a system that protects child-killing,” he said.

The 4th District court delayed the imposition of Zal’s jail term by 10 days, giving him time to appeal to the California Supreme Court. Zal said Monday he will probably pursue that avenue if he can raise $10,000 to cover his costs.

But the three-judge 4th District panel also suggested Zal is unlikely to succeed in a subsequent appeal. In its opinion, the panel detailed the reasons for its decision--an unusual action, considering the case was the kind in which courts commonly announce only a summary approval or rejection--and called Brainard “patient and even-handed.”

The trial stemmed from a protest last Oct. 21 at the Family Planning Associates clinic in La Mesa. Before the trial began, Brainard ordered Zal not to discuss the morality of abortion in court, saying it was not relevant in a trespass trial.

After citing Zal for contempt 20 times during the trial for disobeying that order, Brainard sentenced him Feb. 2 to 90 days in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Zal’s sentence could reach 290 days. The lawyer told the judge he could not afford the $10,000 fine--and wouldn’t pay it even if he could--so Brainard gave him the option of paying it off at $50 for each additional day in jail, or 200 days.

In its opinion, the 4th District court noted that Brainard immediately held a hearing each time Zal violated his order not to refer to abortion and gave the lawyer a chance to explain his conduct.

Although Brainard cited Zal 20 times, the judge “did not act precipitously or capriciously,” the appeal court said. “Indeed, (Brainard) was patient and even-handed.”

“The jail sentence and fines do not constitute cruel and unusual punishment,” Judge Gilbert Nares said.

Judges Howard Wiener and Patricia Benke also took part in the appeal. The opinion did not indicate whether the ruling was unanimous or split.

If he can afford to appeal Monday’s decision, Zal said, the appeal will rely on a technicality of legal procedure.

Though Brainard issued a written order Feb. 1 detailing the contempt citations, Zal said proper procedure demands that the judge issue a written order each time he issued a contempt citation. The 4th District court, which was presented with that claim, rejected it.

In another trial last fall in Fresno, Zal was handed a 16-day jail term for contempt but never served it, winning an appeal.

The court decision Monday handed Operation Rescue its second significant court loss in two weeks.

On May 21, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a ruling banning Operation Rescue activists from blocking access to New York clinics and fining the organization $70,000 for harassing women seeking abortions.

The fine seems certain to add to the financial and management difficulties the militant group has experienced in recent months.

In April, Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry announced that he was stepping down from day-to-day leadership of the group. Two months earlier, Terry had disclosed that the group was closing its Binghamton, N.Y., national headquarters because of debt.

Zal said he resigned as general counsel to Operation Rescue last month, forced to “branch out in other fields to try to pay the bills.”

In San Diego, meanwhile, anti-abortion protesters arrested last year at clinic blockades suffered overwhelming losses in jury trials last fall and earlier this year, prompting dramatic alterations in the style and form of local demonstrations against abortion.

Rather than rally at one clinic, where police would arrest dozens of people, anti-abortion advocates have taken to brief, simultaneous protests at a number of clinics, where arrests have been minimal. Abortion protests also have been staged along Harbor Drive, with thousands of activists holding signs and forming what they call a “life chain.”

In March, confirming the change in strategy, Zal said San Diego anti-abortion forces were no longer interested in putting police and courts “through all this unnecessary work.”