PONTIAC, Michigan, June 26, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – A pro-life witness sent to jail for breaching a probation order not to go near an abortion center wants to set the record straight: he’s not an anarchist, and he’s not a danger to the community.
Will Goodman, a prisoner of conscience at the Oakland County Jail, has written a letter in response to the judge who said his actions made him an “anarchist” and therefore a “threat or danger to the community.” The full letter can be read below.
Judge Marc Barron of the 48th District Court offered this opinion on June 14 after sentencing Goodman to 45 days in prison for violating his probation and holding up a sign reading “Peace Begins in the Womb.”
Because of the “public nature” of the comments, Goodman wrote to LifeSiteNews and other media to clear his name.
“I am personally and philosophically opposed to all forms of anarchism, as it traffics in secrecy and violence, without respect for organized government or human dignity,” he wrote.
“I chose the path of nonviolence, after the example of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., as a means of fostering a true commitment to democracy, authentic justice, and the objective rule of law,” Goodman continued.
He stated that he loves the United States of America and its legal tradition of protecting the rights of the innocent.
“If anyone might be called ‘anarchist’, it would be the justices of Roe v. Wade, who threw away nearly two centuries of state law from virtually every state in the Union (including Michigan) that protected innocent human life in the womb,” Goodman wrote.
He stated that it was “difficult to comprehend” how someone who understands “the self-evident natural law truth ‘thou shalt not kill’ could be considered a “threat” to the people of Michigan.
“The real danger to society is found in the unchecked violence against innocent human beings, and the unjust courts who offer their juridical blessing to those committing the violence,” Goodman wrote.
Saying he respected Barron “as a person”, Goodman also said that he was “heartbroken” by the judge’s handling of his case, which at its heart was the inalienable right to life.
Goodman was arrested with another pro-life witness, Monica Migliorino Miller, on June 1 while sidewalk counseling outside the Women’s Center of Michigan, run by abortionist Jacob Kalo at 6765 Orchard Lake Road in West Bloomfield.
Both are under a probation order to stay 500 feet from every abortion center in the United States until March 2019.
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Full text of Will Goodman’s letter
Dear Editor:
My name is Will Goodman, and I am a prisoner of conscience at the Oakland County Jail, serving a 45 day sentence for nonviolent direct action to protect innocent lives at an abortion facility, and for civil disobedience in response to my probation, which took away my constitutional right of free speech. I was arrested holding a sign on a public sidewalk. The sign read, “Peace Begins in the Womb.”
On June 14, Judge Marc Barron (48th District Court) pronounced the sentence and, before a large crowd gathered at the courtroom, offered his opinion that my actions made me an “anarchist” and thus a “threat or danger to the community.” Due to the public nature of his comments, I wish respectfully to provide a public response.
I am personally and philosophically opposed to all forms of anarchism, as it traffics in secrecy and violence, without respect for organized government or human dignity. I chose the path of nonviolence, after the example of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., as a means of fostering a true commitment to democracy, authentic justice, and the objective rule of law.
I love the U.S.A. and the legal tradition which protects the rights of the innocent. If anyone might be called “anarchist,” it would be the justices of Roe v. Wade, who threw away nearly two centuries of state law from virtually every state in the Union (including Michigan) that protected innocent human life in the womb.
Furthermore, it is very difficult to comprehend how one who understands the self-evident natural law truth, “thou shalt not kill,” constitutes a threat to the common good of the people of Michigan. The real danger to society is found in the unchecked violence against innocent human beings, and the unjust courts who offer their juridical blessing to those committing the violence.
I respect Judge Barron as a person, but I am truly heartbroken by his handling of this case. A case which has at its heart the ‘self-evident truth that all human beings are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights,’ the chief among these being the fundamental right to life.
Sincerely a voice for the voiceless,
Will Goodman
ID #423110)
Oakland County Jail
Annex – 2E
PO Box 436017
Pontiac, MI 48343