Operation Rescue Protesters Demand Trials, Clog Courts

In Sunnyvale, California, antiabortion protesters aligned with the organization Operation Rescue (OR) had grown accustomed to paying a $10 or $20 fine after being arrested. In cooperation with authorities, they would typically plead no contest in exchange for a charge less serious than trespassing. In this way minor cases were kept out of an already jammed court system.

Recently, however, the Santa Clara County district attorney’s office decided to up the ante to $130. Those arrested responded by demanding a speedy trial. And ensuring this constitutional right has produced major problems for the local justice system.

Over 450 people have been arrested in Sunnyvale in recent months, all for protesting at the same clinic. When the first batch of arrestees—248 of them—reached the Santa Clara County court system, the district attorney’s office and OR representatives could not agree on an appropriate penalty, said Mary Smedley of OR’s northern California chapter.

All but 10 insisted on their right to a speedy jury trial, prompting California Attorney General John Van de Kamp to declare a judicial state of emergency. Judges were summoned from across the state to hear the cases. Court and county officials said that trying the protesters would cost the county’s municipal court system $1.8 million, about 10 percent of its operating budget.

Reaction was swift and furious. It included a resolution in neighboring San Mateo County condemning what it called a court-clogging tactic. And Jess Barba, chief of the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, the agency that made the arrests, said protesters ought to reimburse the city for the prosecution costs. Barba said protesters succeeded in tying up the system, but not in preventing abortions. “The clinics are just rescheduling appointments,” he said. “They are not saving any lives.”

OR officials, both in California and at the organization’s Binghamton, New York, headquarters, defended protesters’ actions, stressing that they are entitled to their constitutional rights. Arthur Tomlinson, OR’s national clergy liaison, said the organization has not promoted this strategy nationally, but added, “I can’t think of any reason why we wouldn’t [endorse it].”

Protesters may have to pay a high price for their insistence on a jury trial, however. They are being tried in small groups. When the first trial ended last month, seven were convicted, sentenced to two years on probation, and fined $350 each. Under the terms of the probation, they must remain at least 300 feet away from the clinic where they were arrested.

The trials are expected to last at least through this month. The district attorney has said he hopes the stiff penalties will persuade some to plead no contest instead of demanding a trial. Some have already done this.

But regardless of what transpires from this point, OR’s Smedley believes the strategy has worked. She said, “Maybe people will think, ‘If those people are willing to risk and give up that much, there’s something there.’ ” At press time, some 300 had yet to decide whether to opt for a jury trial.

By Jeffrey Brazil in Sunnyvale, California.

WORLD SCENE

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Palau Going to Soviet Union?

Evangelist Luis Palau is making plans to hold an unprecedented series of public evangelistic crusades in the Soviet Union this fall.

In an interview with International Media Service (IMS), Palau said Soviet church leaders have asked him to come and “preach the gospel” in public stadiums across the country. “It would be the first time that I know of … where there would be freedom to hold campaigns in a public stadium [in the Soviet Union],” Palau said. Billy Graham’s visits included preaching in churches there.

Palau told IMS the plans are still tentative, but final Soviet approval looks good. “[The church leaders] seem to feel that there would be no obstacles to it, but we’re still praying,” he said. As plans stand now, beginning in September, Palau will conduct evangelistic campaigns in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, and Riga.

Palau said the church leaders had asked him to take six months and preach in all of the major cities of the country, but he was unable to grant that request. “We said, under God, let’s prayerfully go to the first four cities and then, as God leads, we’ve got to make time in our schedule and then go and have more campaigns while the door remains open,” he said.

SINGAPORE

Persecution in Asia

In spite of persecution and hardships, Asian church leaders are enthusiastic about the future. “Yes, churches in Asia are suffering from persecution,” said Evangelical Fellowship of Asia (EFA) chairman Agustin (Jun) Veneer, Jr. “Yet at the same time, they are being cleansed and purified for service.”

About 50 delegates from 11 countries in Asia convened in Singapore for the Second General Assembly of the EFA, where they renewed their pledge to serve Christ together in Asia. In seminar sessions, the delegates discussed ways the church can assist with development in Asian nations, with special attention given to social morality.

Joshua Tsutada, principal of the Immanuel Bible Training College in Yokohama, Japan, was elected to serve as chairman of the EFA. He replaces Veneer, who has served in that capacity for the past seven years.

UPDATE

Malaysian Christian Released

One of 12 Christians imprisoned in Malaysia for sharing his faith received an early release, according to a report by the World Evangelical Fellowship.

Yeshua Jamaluddin, 28, was released from prison after a judge upheld his writ of habeas corpus. According to the Christian Federation of Malaysia, Jamaluddin was detained for sharing his faith with other Malaysians, an activity forbidden by the government. Jamaluddin contended he was merely answering questions from friends who were interested in his Christian faith.

The Christian Federation of Malaysia has expressed concern about continuing restrictions on the communication between Christians and people of other religions in Malaysia.

ANTARCTICA

Southernmost Chapel

What continent has been designated by international treaty to be used only for peaceful purposes? The answer is Antarctica, and since 1959, one of its primary outposts has had a chapel, the Chapel of the Snows.

In 1978, that chapel at McMurdo Station burned, and for the past 11 years, believers worshiped in a makeshift hut built from scrap material. Recently a new Chapel of the Snows was dedicated; it is the world’s southernmost building erected primarily for religious services, and the only known house of worship on Antarctica.

During the dedication ceremony, Ronald R. La Count, a National Science Foundation official and the senior U.S. representative in Antarctica, recalled how volunteers had erected the station’s earlier chapels in their spare time. He cited official reports that documented the significance of worship for those at the station.

The 38-nation Antarctic Treaty encourages international cooperation in scientific research and states that “it is in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes.”

RELIGIOUS BROADCASTING

European Air

For decades, religious broadcasting has been severely hampered in most European nations, thanks to monopolies, strict licensing regulations, and laws against religious ownership of broadcast stations.

But with a wave of deregulation, new technologies, and the prospect of a single market economy in 1992, European religious broadcasters believe things are moving their way.

“We see an enormous explosion of media possibilities,” said Bert Dorenbos, president of the Holland-based Rainbow Family Channel. In January, Rainbow began a radio broadcast via satellite. Dorenbos hopes to have a multilingual, 24-hour radio and television satellite channel reaching all of Europe by 1992. However, communications consultant Harvey Thomas says much will depend on whether European evangelicals can learn to cooperate. He cited as a potential barrier the reluctance of charismatic and noncharismatic Christians to work together.

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