Abortion foes get 6-month terms, must repay city

0 Comments | Milwaukee Sentinel, Jan 28, 1995 | by JEFF COLE

The first three anti-abortion protesters convicted of violating a federal clinic protection law were given the maximum sentence of six months in jail Friday and ordered to repay the City of Milwaukee for the costs of policing the protest.

In addition, Colin Hudson, 47, of Weaverville, N.C., and James Soderna, 32, and Ronald Brock, 56, both of Milwaukee, were fined by Federal Judge J.P. Stadtmueller for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. Soderna and Brock were fined $3,500, while Hudson was fined $2,500.

Because all three men already have been in jail for longer than six months the maximum penalty for a first offense under the law Stadtmueller released them from federal custody. He ordered Brock turned over to Milwaukee County to begin serving a 220-day contempt of court sentence.

Stadtmueller said the three would split the $2,187.54 owed to the City of Milwaukee with three co-defendants. He also said the defendants will have to pay $58 to Affiliated Medical Services, 1428 N. Farwell Ave., the site of the June 4 protest at which the six were arrested.

In sentencing Soderna, Stadtmueller noted that Soderna had been arrested more than 100 times and had been fined more than $17,000. Of those fines, $6,700 had been forgiven because of time served in jail, the judge said.

Hudson has been convicted 14 times since 1988, Stadtmueller said. He said Hudson's fine should not be as high because he was not as active as the other protesters.

Brock has been arrested more than 80 times since June 1989, Stadtmueller said. He noted Brock has spent three of the last six years in jail.

Defense attorney Eugene Pigatti said both Hudson and Soderna were men of integrity and character who were doing what they believed.

However, Asst. U.S. Atty. Matthew Jacobs noted that the trial was not a referendum on abortion. He also noted the government has no problem with legitimate First Amendment protests.

Jacobs said the protesters crossed the line when they tried to stop people from going into the clinic. A person cannot violate the rights of someone else when they exercise their own, he said.

Pigatti said he plans to appeal the convictions to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. All six defendants have argued that the FACE law is unconstitutional.