(Cleveland, Ohio – November 22, 2024) – The weaponization of Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) under the direction of Attorney General Merrick Garland is plainly evident, and primary targets of this “lawfare” are pro-lifers.
Recently, government lawyers, at the direction of the Attorney General, filed a civil lawsuit under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) against several pro-lifers arising out of two peaceful rescues held at abortion centers in northern Ohio in June 2021.
The Attorney General waited nearly 3 years to file the lawsuit, and he did so this year (2024) because it was an election year in which he and the Biden/Harris administration wanted to make abortion a principal issue in the election.
One of the main targets of this DOJ attack is Fr. Fidelis (Christopher Moscinski), a Catholic priest from New York who is a spiritual leader amongst pro-lifers as a result of his deep faith and courage. AFLC represents Fr. Fidelis in this civil lawsuit.
FACE, which also carries criminal penalties for the same course of conduct, has been used by the Attorney General to send pro-lifers, including elderly pro-lifers, to federal prison for many years. Meanwhile, the Attorney General turns a blind eye to the actual violence committed by left-wing groups like Black Lives Matter and Antifa and by pro-abortion groups like Jane’s Revenge, which is a militant, extremist abortion rights group that encourages and claims responsibility for acts of firebombing, vandalism, and arson in the United States.
In order to violate FACE, whether civilly or criminally as the elements are exactly the same, a person must, “by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injure, intimidate or interfere with” someone seeking an abortion. This statute also applies to stop violence against crisis pregnancy centers and Catholic churches, but the Attorney General is not interested in prosecuting crimes against pro-lifers.
Fr. Fidelis’s simple trespass at the Ohio abortion center in 2021 did not violate any provisions of FACE, but the Attorney General doesn’t care. He knows that the process itself is punishment.
In fact, Fr. Fidelis was already prosecuted by a local prosecutor and found guilty of a simple trespass for his actions, which amounted to peacefully entering the abortion center and offering red roses to women who were about to abort their unborn babies (a “Red Rose Rescue”). Fr. Fidelis did not use any force or threat of force nor did he engage in any physical obstruction whatsoever. But the Attorney General doesn’t care about facts—he is driven by his extreme pro-abortion ideology.
And now Fr. Fidelis is fighting back. Today, he filed his “answer” to the civil complaint. And in his answer, he added counterclaims against the federal government, and he filed third-party claims against the Attorney Generally personally, alleging that by selectively enforcing federal law and targeting pro-lifers, the Attorney General and his DOJ have violated the rights of Fr. Fidelis (and the rights of other pro-lifers) protected by the First, Fifth, and Tenth Amendments and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which allows Fr. Fidelis to pursue damages against the Attorney General personally. Fr. Fidelis also claims that FACE is unconstitutional.
We will be serving the Attorney General with our third-party complaint and pursuing discovery to uncover the depth of his abuse of power, which, as alleged in our pleading, has violated the civil rights of so many pro-lifers. As the Attorney General should know, conspiring to violate civil rights is a federal crime (18 U.S.C. § 241), which carries a 10-year prison sentence. The Attorney General has employed this federal law against peaceful pro-lifers. It will be interesting to see what happens when there is a new sheriff in town. As they say, “turnabout is fair play.”
Answer with Counterclaims & Third-Party Claims - Filed