{"id":548889,"date":"2021-06-01T19:50:52","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T23:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=548889"},"modified":"2021-06-01T19:50:54","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T23:50:54","slug":"peaceful-montana-pro-life-advocate-vindicated-after-erroneous-unconstitutional-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/peaceful-montana-pro-life-advocate-vindicated-after-erroneous-unconstitutional-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Peaceful Montana Pro-Life Advocate Vindicated After Erroneous, Unconstitutional Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpeaceful-montana-pro-life-advocate-vindicated-after-erroneous-unconstitutional-charges%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=548889&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1230155871.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>A peaceful pro-life advocate from Missoula, Montana, was vindicated last week when charges against her were dropped after a nonprofit conservative law firm stepped in to advocate for her.<\/p>\n<p>The charges against Marilyn Hatch, who was charged with \u201cObstructing Health Care Facility Access,\u201d were dismissed after attorneys for the <a href=\"https:\/\/thomasmoresociety.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Thomas More Society<\/a> sent a demand letter to the senior deputy city attorney of Missoula explaining that the ordinance the charges were based on is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll people have the right to peacefully give their opinions about the dignity of unborn human life outside abortion facilities. The City of Missoula\u2019s\u00a0 decision to criminally charge Mrs. Hatch for engaging in speech protected by the First Amendment was itself unconstitutional,\u201d Thomas More Society Senior Counsel Matt Heffron said in a statement provided to The Daily Wire.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to be vigilant in fighting for these rights, each and every time they are violated,\u201d he continued. \u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s what the Thomas More Society is here for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the letter to the senior deputy city attorney, Heffron <a href=\"https:\/\/thomasmoresociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Nugent-4-21-21.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">explained<\/a> the situation:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"21\">\n<p><em>Hatch regularly participated in prayer and peaceful counseling outside of the Blue Mountain abortion clinic in Missoula, offering information about life-affirming alternatives to abortion bound women. A City of Missoula police officer cited her for obstructing access to the clinic, but the Thomas More Society intervened on her behalf, insisting that the city dismiss the charges or face a lawsuit. In response, the city moved to dismiss the charges on May 26, 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cMy client from time to time conducts peaceful, prayerful sidewalk counseling at the Blue Mountain abortion clinic [in] Missoula. Mrs. Hatch is well-aware of her responsibilities in her activities at the abortion clinic. She has counseled and prayed peacefully on those same sidewalks for approximately two decades. Until now, neither Mrs. Hatch nor anyone she knows ever has been cited for violating the statute involved, which was enacted 16 years ago.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The letter went on to explain how the police officer cited Hatch for obstruction even though she was outside Missoula\u2019s stated boundaries. The letter also detailed the unconstitutionality of the city ordinance under which Hatch was charged, citing U.S. Supreme Court decisions in <em>McCullen v. Coakley and Hill v. Colorado<\/em>, which dealt with the particulars of \u201cbuffer zones\u201d and content-based speech outside of abortion businesses. The high court ruled neither is an acceptable excuse to violate the First Amendment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was a bad idea by the City of Missoula from the start,\u201d said Heffron. \u201cIt was a wise decision on their part to dismiss this case. If they had persisted in the charges against Mrs. Hatch, they would have lost.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government didn\u2019t even apply the cited statute correctly, according to the plain words of the statute,\u201d Heffron added. \u201cThey also applied the statute as if it created a buffer zone, which would be unconstitutional. And the statute itself, as written, is unconstitutional. The statute simply has never been constitutionally challenged\u2026yet. When it is finally challenged, it will be stricken down. This would have been a mess of a case for the City of Missoula. I am glad the city did the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/a-unique-problem-u-s-catholic-bishops-may-demand-biden-other-pro-abortion-politicians-stop-taking-communion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u2018A Unique Problem\u2019: U.S. Catholic Bishops May Demand Biden, Other Pro-Abortion Politicians Stop Taking Communion<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/tv-networks-reject-pro-life-groups-ad-asserting-humanity-of-unborn-unacceptable\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TV Networks Reject Pro-Life Group\u2019s Ad Asserting Humanity Of Unborn: \u2018Unacceptable\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A peaceful pro-life advocate from Missoula, Montana, was vindicated last week when charges against her were dropped after a nonprofit conservative law firm stepped in to advocate for her.The charges &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2278855,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1230155871.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Peaceful Montana Pro-Life Advocate Vindicated After Erroneous, Unconstitutional Charges","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-548889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1230155871.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Peaceful Montana Pro-Life Advocate Vindicated After Erroneous, Unconstitutional Charges","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2278855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}