Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Prison Sentence For Peaceful Pro-Life Protest

Now, we're not talking about China. It happens here in Canada. And, according to Life Site News, a pro-life heroine Linda Gibbons was actually lucky to get off with no more than two and a half months behind bars this time:
TORONTO, July 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An Ontario provincial court judge took a subtle jab at a 14-year-old “temporary” court injunction prohibiting pro-life activity outside designated Toronto abortuaries when he sentenced veteran pro-life demonstrator Linda Gibbons on Monday. Gibbons, a post-aborted woman herself, has in previous years spent over 5 years in prison for her peaceful witnesses for life.
...
After observing that the wording in the information on the charge was “unusual” and “odd,” Sutherland found Gibbons guilty. Shin then asked the judge to levy a stiff sentence of six months in prison in addition to time already served, making for a total imprisonment of eight and a half months. She said “denunciation” and “general deterrence” were the motivating factors in requesting such a heavy penalty.
...
However, the judge went on to give Gibbons a two-for-one credit on time already served, translating to five months. Noting that it was difficult to come up with an appropriate sentence in light of the fact that Gibbons would go out of her way to violate the injunction regardless, and any penalty he laid down would not make a difference, he sentenced her to five months imprisonment – including time already served. With the two-for-one credit, that meant she would serve only one more day in jail with no probation order in addition.
Over 5 years - that equates to the jail time which several thugs actually served for beating Matthew Baranovskiy to death back in 1999. A pro-life heroine Linda Gibbons served the same amount of time in jail for... praying peacefully outside of an abortuary; for standing there with a sign; putting plastic fetus dolls on the stairs, in memory of those babies who have perished...

But if she had chosen to be on the other side; if she had belonged to a gang of militant pro-aborts wielding baseball bats; if she had been among those who crash peaceful pro-life rallies and vandalize pro-life displays - then the charges against her would have probably been dropped due to the "unreasonable delay". Because Ontario courts are just too busy prosecuting those who have the courage to say that a person is a person, no matter how small.

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