Pro-Lifer Cleared of Trespass, Disorderly Conduct at Ohio Abortion Clinic
May 2, 2005
(AgapePress) - The First Appellate District Court of Ohio has overturned the conviction of Joseph Logsdon, resulting in the dismissal of a charge of criminal trespass against him. The pro-lifer was charged with the criminal offense after he stepped onto the property of the Cincinnati Women's Services Abortion Clinic two years ago.Logsdon was originally arrested after he went inside the fenced area of the of the clinic to retrieve a sign from the director of the facility. The clinic director had reached over the fence and taken the sign from the public sidewalk in front of the facility, where Logsdon was legally doing counseling.
Dana Cody of Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF) is a member of Logsdon's defense team. She says even at that point, when he was getting the sign back from the clinic director, the pro-life advocate acted peacefully. "He was on the property probably between a minute and 90 seconds, and the police came out and charged him with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct," the attorney notes.
From there, a case that the Appeals Court opinion said should have ended was blown out of proportion. Ultimately, it took a conviction on one of the charges and a transfer to a State Court of Appeals over a span of two years before a judge was willing, in Cody's words, to "apply good old common sense" to a ruling in the matter.
The Appeals Court ruled against the clinic and the police department, writing that Logsdon did have a reasonable right to go on clinic grounds and retrieve his property that had been taken. The appellate ruling also stated that the case should have ended in the lower court.
Cody agrees, but says, "Unfortunately there's a different standard for people who oppose abortion. I think it's Justice [Antonin] Scalia on the Supreme Court that calls it the 'abortion distortion.' When it comes to this issue, there's a whole different set of rules." The LLDF lawyer adds that this may explain why the Ohio law enforcement officials and the lower court went to such lengths to prosecute her client.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
