Anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress, its founder David Daleiden and others on Friday lost most of their challenge to a $2.4 million judgment entered against them after a jury found they broke the law by secretly recording Planned Parenthood employees.
A unanimous panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the defendants’ argument that their scheme, which involved creating a fake company and fake identities to infiltrate Planned Parenthood conferences and secretly record employees, was journalism protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Circuit Judge Ronald Gould wrote that the right to free speech cannot shield illegal conduct, such as forging signatures or breaking contracts. He said the decision did not impose any restrictions on journalistic speech but simply reaffirmed “the established principle that the pursuit of journalism does not give a license to break laws of general applicability.”
The panel did overturn one part of the jury’s verdict, which found that the defendants violated the Federal Wiretap Act by secretly recording their conversations with Planned Parenthood employees, writing that the law generally allows recording by a party to a conversation. That part of the verdict accounted for less than $100,000 in damages.
Gould was joined by Circuit Judge Mary Murguia and U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal of Wyoming, sitting by designation.
“We believe the ruling is wrong and are evaluating further options,” said Heather Hacker of Hacker Stephens, a lawyer for Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress.
Planned Parenthood Vice President Helene Krasnoff, said: “We are thrilled with today’s ruling.”
Full story at Reuters.
David Daleiden and his Pro Life activists at the Center for Medical Progress are heroic martyrs! God bless them all! May Christ have His victory over Planned Parenthood and its evil supporters, in the very end. The “9th Circus Court,” its evil judges, and Planned Parenthood, and and all its evil supporters, have no moral conscience. They will all have to face God with their horrific sins, someday. God will oneday avenge the bloody murders of His poor, precious, helpless, unborn infants, and set the Scales of Justice right for them.
America allows abortion. The immediate punishment is that you do not have that baby in the world. You do not have that person’s love, contributions, talents.
There are societal punishments too. A loss of reverence for human life and dignity leads to violence, theft, superficiality and all the evils that get compounded over time.
Sin begets sin and crime begets crime.
Almost everyone’s moral conscience is compromised by living in a country that allows abortion.
Each person is responsible for their own bad behavior even if the society surrounding them makes it difficult for them to do good.
As they should
Most of the Circuit court judges are anti-Catholic.
I read today, that an 88-year-old veteran Pro-Life prayer warrior, Ross Foti, was recently brutally attacked outside of a Napa Planned Parenthood facility, and was hospitalized with serious injuries. God bless him and all of our dedicated Pro Life prayer warriors!
I just read that early today, Friday, Oct. 28th, an intruder entered Nancy Pelosi’s home, and demanded to see Rep. Pelosi. Then he brutally attacked 82-year-old Paul Pelosi, Nancy’s husband, with a hammer. Mr. Pelosi was hospitalized with a skull fracture, and other injuries. He is expected to recover. We should say a prayer for him and his wife, and also pray for their conversion to Christ and to Pro Life. We also should say a prayer for Pro Life prayer warrior, Ross Foti, recently brutally attacked at a Napa Planned Parenthood faciluty, and hospitalized, with serious injuries.
This is outrageous. Those conversations were recorded in a public place, as investigative journalists have done for years. If this wasn’t about sex and abortion, this wouldn’t even be in the news.