I wrote last week that while President Obama’s Department of Justice decided not to appeal a court decision rejecting its Freedom of Access to Clinics Act lawsuit against Colorado pro-life activist Kenneth Scott, it was doubling down and appealing another adverse court decision in its case against Mary Susan Pine (pictured right) in Florida.
Well, good news comes today from Pine’s legal representation, Liberty Counsel, with very interesting tidbits, bolded:
The Department of Justice has dropped its appeal in Holder v. Pine against pro-life sidewalk counselor Mary “Susan” Pine, who is represented by Liberty Counsel. The DOJ has agreed to pay $120,000 for this improper lawsuit. The DOJ had unsuccessfully sought thousands of dollars in fines against Susan Pine, as well as a permanent injunction banning her from counseling women on the public sidewalk outside the Presidential Women’s Center abortion clinic.
After 18 months of litigation, the DOJ’s case was thrown out of federal court, and the department was chastised for filing a case with no evidence. Federal Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp stated that Holder’s complete failure to present any evidence of wrongdoing, coupled with the DOJ’s cozy relationship with PWC and their joint failure to preserve video surveillance footage of the alleged “obstruction,” caused the court to suspect a conspiracy at the highest level of the Obama Administration. “The Court is at a loss as to why the Government chose to prosecute this particular case in the first place,” wrote Judge Ryskamp. “The Court can only wonder whether this action was the product of a concerted effort between the Government and PWC, which began well before the date of the incident at issue, to quell Ms. Pine’s activities rather than to vindicate the rights of those allegedly aggrieved by Ms. Pine’s conduct.”
After this ruling the DOJ appealed on the last day possible and gave indication that President Obama ordered the appeal.
Pine also wrote in an email that the DOJ dropped the charges against her with prejudice, as it did with Scott, it cannot regurgitate this case against her again.
The news for these two pro-life stalwarts is great, although six similar lawsuits remain live.
But, wow, what is it that makes Barack Obama so obsessed with abortion?
These attempts to shut down the pro-life movement serve as more reminders how much of the people’s money and resources the Obama administration is willing to wantonly expend to make abortion as easily attainable as possible.
[Picture via Liberty Counsel]
Reprinted with permission from JillStanek.com