Attorney General Ashley Moody is announcing a victory in Moody v. Freestone involving criminal activists who threatened and vandalized crisis pregnancy centers in Florida. In March 2023, Attorney General Moody pursued civil action against the defendants for vandalizing and intimidating multiple centers in Florida. Due to the civil action and securing a settlement, several of the defendants pleaded guilty to felonies in federal court. The defendants will also be permanently banned from being within 100 feet of crisis pregnancy centers and will be ordered to pay restitution.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “We will not allow radicals to threaten and intimidate women seeking help from crisis pregnancy centers or the counselors and health care professionals serving these women and their babies. In Florida, illegal actions have consequences, and I am proud of the work our attorneys did in this case to make sure these extremists were held accountable.”
Reacting to the leaked U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, four Jane’s Revenge extremists vandalized at least three pregnancy centers in Florida, including spray painting the centers with “If abortions aren’t safe, neither are you.”
The Florida Attorney General’s Office filed a civil action against defendants Caleb Freestone, Amber Marie Smith-Stewart, Annarella Rivera and Gabriella Victoria Oropesa for violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act. The act provides for civil and criminal penalties against any person who “by force or threat of force…intentionally …intimidates or interferes with or attempts to…intimidate or interfere with any person because that person is or has been…providing reproductive health services.”
The Florida Attorney General’s Office has now secured a settlement, which will result in a civil judgment and a permanent injunction. Restitution will be ordered to compensate the victim clinics. One defendant will be ordered to pay a $10,000 civil penalty. The defendants who plead guilty face up to 10 years in prison.
Original source can be found here.