Mahony Asks Review of Abortion Foes’ Sentences
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Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archbishop Roger Mahony has asked prosecutors and the courts to review what he believes are “unusually harsh” sentences imposed on abortion foes convicted of trespassing in protests outside women’s clinics.
In letters mailed earlier this week to Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, City Atty. James K. Hahn, the presiding judge of the Superior Court, Richard Byrne, and the presiding Municipal Court judge, Jon Mayeda, Mahony asked that they gather the arrest and sentencing records of demonstrators convicted of trespassing and other misdemeanor offenses during clinic protests in the past six months.
“By analyzing this data, you and I will be able to compare the arrest records and sentences imposed in connection with pro-life activities to arrest records and sentences imposed in other cases,” the archbishop wrote.
Reiner was not available for comment, and there was no immediate response from the two judges.
A spokesman for Hahn, whose office prosecutes misdemeanor cases, denied that anti-abortion demonstrators are being singled out.
“They are being treated the same as any comparable type offender in demonstration cases,” spokesman Mike Qualls said.
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