Judge
on
Notre Dame 88 case allows appeals court to decide recusal issue
South Bend, Ind. - In a hearing today, the judge assigned to the case
against the 88 pro-life protesters arrested for trespassing at Notre
Dame's commencement exercises last spring, has allowed the request for
her recusal to move to an appeals court.
St. Thomas More Society attorney Thomas Dixon, who is representing the
protesters, argued that Judge Jenny Pitts Manier has “an actual or
perceived bias based on her prior rulings, her husband’s outspoken
criticism of Catholic pro-life teachings as a philosophy professor at
Notre Dame and other factors.”
Judge Manier, the wife of a retired pro-abortion Notre Dame professor,
is markedly pro-abortion herself, Laura Rohling, one of the Notre Dame
88, told CNA in an October email.
In an October statement, Judge Manier denied any personal or judicial
bias in the case and refused to recuse herself. She has also stated
that her husband doesn't have a personal or professional interest in
the case.
However, after a more than two-hour hearing during which Dixon again
presented his case against Manier, the judge granted Dixon's request
that the final opinion on the recusal be settled in the Indiana claims
court.
“We’re very pleased that Judge Manier has allowed this immediate appeal
as it is critical that these vital issues be heard before a fair and
impartial tribunal,” said Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of
the Thomas More Society.
“Universities are supposed to be a place where free speech is welcomed
and not silenced,” Brejcha continued. “The pro-life movement is the
next stage of America’s civil rights movement. Notre Dame should not go
down in history as another Birmingham, infamous for suppressing
demonstrators for exercising their Constitutional rights.”
The defense of the protestors, who are being charged with trespassing
by the university of Notre Dame, is based on the argument that the free
speech rights of the pro-life protesters were violated by their arrest
by campus police while demonstrating Obama supporters stood by watching.
Though representatives of the university claim that the issue is out of
their hands, Brejcha expressed hope “that Notre Dame will intervene and
ask that the charges be dropped.”
Source:
CNA
Publish
Date:
December 3, 2009
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The IFRL is the largest grassroots pro-life organization in
Illinois. A non-profit organization, that serves as the state
coordinating body for local pro-life chapters representing thousands of
Illinois citizens working to restore respect for all human life in our
society. The IFRL is composed of people of different political
persuasions, various faiths and diverse economic, social and ethnic
backgrounds. Since 1973 the Illinois Federation for Right to Life has
been working to end abortion and restore legal protection to those members of the
human family who are threatened by abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. Diverse though we are, we hold one common belief - that
every human being has an inalienable right to life that is precious and must be protected. IFRL is
dedicated to restoring the right to life to the unborn, and protection
for the disabled and the elderly. Click here to learn more about the IFRL.