Hard 50!

Scott Roeder, confessed assassin of Dr George Tiller, will be 102 years old before he is eligible for parole.

Good.

Kansas is not a death penalty state (surprised? I was), but it does have a mandatory life sentence for first-degree murder, the crime Roeder was convicted of last January (plus two counts of attempted murder of the witnesses, additional year each for those).

The only discretion the judge, Warren Wilbert, had in sentencing was whether to grant eligibility for parole after 25 years or after 50 years, the so-called 'Hard Fifty'.

The judge figured that stalking the doctor for months and choosing to kill him at his church because his clinic was 'like a fortress' -- gee, who's to blame for that? -- merited the extra 25.

At the sentencing hearing, the judge allowed a couple of fellow and sister fetus fetishists to testify -- as long as they stuck to Roeder's character and stayed off the subject of abortion, which they seemed to have done.

Then he let Roeder himself speak.

In his statement before the court Thursday, Roeder said he didn't think he deserved the Hard 50. He claimed his views had been silenced by the court. He described late-term abortion procedures. He claimed he killed Tiller "so he couldn't kill again." The decision was to do so was most agonizing. He called Tiller a "hit man" for the state of Kansas and spoke of judgment day coming and God avenging the deaths of aborted babies. Then he started reading from 'Why shoot an abortionist?' by Paul Hill, who was executed for murdering an abortion provider.

And it went on and on and on. It was as if Roeder were trying to filibuster his way out.

Judge Warren Wilbert grew tired of it all.

It ended thus:

The judge and defendant engaged in a dialogue when Wilbert stopped Roeder from criticizing a sitting district attorney.

"If you were to obey the higher power of God, you would acquit me," Roeder said.

"If you think you were going to convince me with some oratory plea, it's not going to happen," Wilbert said.

There are other accounts of his biblical ravings, complaints about not being allowed to show aborted fetus pr0n to the court, and his likening of himself to jeezuz, which I'll spare you.

All of which prompted a a columnist in the Kansas City Tribune to claim that the sentence was wrong. Roeder is nuts, he says, and should have presented an insanity defense.

If Roeder is mad, it's a virulent and common strain of insanity, particularly in the Excited States. Viz., the Tea-Baggers.

Let's have a look at LifeShite's spin:

Scott Roeder, the former militia activist not affiliated with any pro-life organization, was sentenced to life in prison today for the 2009 murder of late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller.

The rest of the piece makes absolutely no mention of his ranting, his claims to Christianism, or reading of Paul Hill's book. Just a simple murder, justice done, nothing to see here, move along, folks.

What we at DJ! want to know is: are there conspiracy charges in the works for his f.f.friends? And how about federal charges under the FACE Act? Yes, FACE is meant to protect clinics and Dr Tiller was murdered at his church, but couldn't there be a cogent argument made that FACE applies precisely because Dr Tiller and other abortion doctors are forced to turn their clinics into fortresses, a fact FACE's existence recognizes? And therefore determined assassins must stalk their victims to other killing zones?

I'm wondering, though, if the additional 25 years will act as a deterrent to other would-be martyrs. Would someone stop and think: 'OK, I'm prepared to risk throwing away 25 years of my life, but 50? Hell, no!'

I don't think so, either.

New York Gets Tough on Anti-Abortion Violence

Here's a direct result of the assassination of Dr George Tiller -- a tough new law in New York intended to protect abortion clinic workers, patients, and volunteers.

Lynne Slepian picks her public appearances carefully — and sparingly — since she was thrown into the public eye after the slaying of her husband, Dr. Barnett A. Slepian, by an anti-abortion activist with a rifle in October 1998.

But she did not hesitate to attend Thursday’s news conference trumpeting the enactment of a law toughening state penalties for violence committed against reproductive health care workers.

“It’s extremely important,” she said of the new law after the news conference. “This is the crux of the whole issue. It’s going to set a precedent for the whole country, we hope. The issue [of clinic violence] is not going to go away. The issue will never go away. Hopefully, strong penalties will decrease the violence.”

The law was championed by Buffalo Assemblyman Sam Hoyt and was passed quickly with support from both parties in the Assembly and the State Senate.

The main provisions of the new law include:

• Causing physical injury to someone at a reproductive health clinic rises from a misdemeanor to a new Class E felony that can lead to a sentence of up to seven years in prison.

• Causing serious physical injury becomes a Class C felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

• Repeat offenders can face more serious charges and longer sentences than they now do.

• Volunteers are explicitly covered under the new law, in addition to people providing or obtaining reproductive health care.

And police are taking it seriously.

More than 80 law enforcement officials, reproductive health care providers and advocates from across New York last Wednesday held a conference at state police headquarters to discuss how to better protect reproductive health care workers from anti-abortion terrorism.
. . .

Reproductive service providers such as Planned Parenthood find themselves targeted by anti-abortionists, even if they do not provide abortions, said [deputy secretary for public safety Denise E.] O'Donnell.

"The employees and volunteers who provide reproductive health services face violent rhetoric and threats far too often," Hoyt said. "[The bill's] purpose is to penalize criminal, violent conduct that causes injury to these health care providers and patients."

Some reproductive health care workers shared their stories with police at the conference.

"We had a long history of dealing with harassment," said Paul Drisgula, co-president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson in Schenectady County. "We know what works and what doesn't work.

"Over the years, we have developed an incredible communications network," he added. "We wouldn't be able to have the communications that we have without the state police intervening for us."

Maybe the cops in Kansas will get the message.

A week before Dr Tiller's murder, accused assassin Scott Roeder was recognized as a 'regular' and chased away after trying to glue the locks shut at an abortion clinic in Kansas City. The clinic worker properly informed the FBI because damage or destruction at clinics is covered by the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE). But there was no follow-up.

Remember that Roeder was well-known to the Kansas City FBI. In 2000, he was strongly suspected of glueing locks at the same clinic several times. The vandalism stopped then after the FBI had a word with him.

Lynne Slepian is probably right -- anti-abortion violence will never go away. But cooperation and vigilance from police plus stronger penalties would go a long way to help reduce the potential for it.