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Pastor gets jail time for violating Oakland abortion clinic buffer-zone law

By Douglas A. Berman

Because I am always intrigued by the intersection of sentencing issues and religious issues, this local sentencing story out of California caught my eye: A pastor found guilty of violating a city law created to provide an 8-foot buffer between anti-abortion protesters and women entering clinics was sentenced to 30 days in jail and ordered to stay 100 yards away from the clinic at which he was arrested for the next three years. The Rev. Walter Hoye, the first person charged and found guilty of the city's two-year-old law must also pay $1,130 in fines and remain on probation for three years after either serving his 30 days in county jail or entering an alternative program run by the sheriff's department. The ruling, which was made by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Stuart Hing, came amid a charged atmosphere in the courtroom packed with both abortion-rights and anti-abortion advocates...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on February 20, 2009 (boomark / email).