This week, our client, pro-life hero Lauren Handy, was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison for her efforts to peacefully protect innocent preborn babies. Her fellow pro-life co-defendants were also sentenced this week.
Lauren’s sentencing is a seminal moment in pro-life movement history and the Biden Department of Justice’s aggressive push to prosecuting peaceful pro-life advocates. The Biden DOJ was granted its wish of severe prison sentences for Lauren and her fellow pro-lifers, because of the DOJ’s novel exploitation of the “KKK Act” against peaceful pro-lifers—which the DOJ is now abusing to maximize prison-time beyond even what the FACE Act calls for.
Kristen Clarke, the head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division—which has spearheaded the Biden DOJ’s weaponization of the FACE Act against pro-lifers—has recently faced allegations of lying under oath to Congress by failing to disclose a prior arrest. Meanwhile, this week, Clarke celebrated the brutal prison sentences levied against Lauren and her co-defendants and smeared them as “violent.”
In case you missed it, here’s how we reacted to this miscarriage of justice:
Martin Cannon, Thomas More Society Senior Counsel, reacted to her sentence:
“There was only one thing around which Ms. Handy and her co-defendants were unified, and that was nonviolence. They conspired to be peaceful. Yet, today, the Court granted the Biden Department of Justice its wish by sentencing Ms. Handy to 57 months—nearly 5 years in prison. For her efforts to peacefully protect the lives of innocent preborn human beings, Ms. Handy deserves thanks, not a gut-wrenching prison sentence.
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We will vigorously pursue an appeal of Ms. Handy’s conviction and attack the root cause of this injustice, that is, the FACE Act—which we believe is unconstitutional and should never again be used to persecute peaceful pro-lifers.”
Steve Crampton, Thomas More Society Senior Counsel, added:
“Ms. Handy’s 57-month sentence is a miscarriage of justice, plain and simple. As I’ve gotten to know Ms. Handy, I’ve seen up close her unwavering passion for pro-life advocacy and resolute dedication to nonviolence. The caricature of Ms. Handy that the Biden Department of Justice fabricated flies in the face of reality. Ms. Handy should have been shown the same mercy that she has herself shown to countless many downtrodden throughout her young life.
It is deeply disappointing that this Court did not see through Department of Justice’s smoke and mirrors. But this fight is far from over, and we eagerly look forward to appealing for Ms. Handy and her co-defendants’ freedom, so that the FACE Act can never again be weaponized by the Department of Justice against its ideological opponents.”
We want to keep you informed about what’s happening with Lauren’s case, so here are a few breaking news stories to keep you in the loop as we continue to fight this legal battle:
Excerpt: “This is not the America I know,” said Crampton, who represented Handy in the case. “Not only did the judge read out this really harsh sentence, but she had the audacity to lecture Lauren Handy about her lack of compassion for the women who were going in to kill their children.”
EWTN News Nightly: Martin Cannon reacts to Lauren Handy’s sentencing
Excerpt: “The conviction itself is a miscarriage [of justice]… In this particular case, they were trying to save babies from being born alive and and then set aside on the counter to die…”
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins: Peter Breen responds to latest FACE Act sentences
Excerpt: “Lauren is really the first person charged and convicted, and then sentenced, under the Biden Administration’s harassing new way of prosecuting these peaceful protests. They’re using a ten-year felony… ‘Conspiracy Against Rights,’ that was invented to go after the KKK over a hundred year ago, and now using it to go after these peaceful pro-life protesters…”
The Washington Times Editorial Board: Pro-lifers jailed, gun-toting teens walk
Excerpt: “The driver of a medical waste truck allegedly provided Handy the remains of late-term babies that may have been born alive and left to die. The Biden administration has no interest in investigating that actual crime. Instead, it sought to lock up Handy under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which makes it a felony to speak up for the unborn near abortion clinics.”
LifeNews Note: Peter Breen is the Executive Vice President & Head of Litigation for the Thomas More Society.