A national anti-abortion group affiliated with Operation Rescue has targeted eight judges in San Diego County and 18 others in California for picketing, rallies, protest letters and telephone calls in what they say is the first organized effort to pressure jurists who have ruled against abortion protesters.
The group, known as the Christian Defense Coalition and based in Washington, has distributed more than 500 pieces of mail that list the 26 judges. The coalition, of which Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry is an active member, includes the judges' work telephone numbers, work addresses, names of those sentenced in abortion protests and a sentencing summary.
Organizers say California is the first of many states whose judges they will identify for protests and was selected because they believe anti-abortion protesters--particularly those in the San Diego area--have been unduly punished.
Terry said the coalition is ready to stage any type of nonviolent protest, including the mass publication of judges' home addresses and home telephone numbers.
Among San Diego judges, the coalition's primary target is El Cajon Municipal Judge Larrie Brainard, who sentenced anti-abortion attorney Cyrus Zal to 290 days in jail on contempt-of-court charges last February. Zal began serving his sentence two weeks ago.
Brainard has been the target of repeated protests even before the sentencing. His former home was picketed in May. And his office has been swamped with hundreds of protest letters and telephone calls on Zal's behalf.
The possibility that he may have to face a new stream of attacks brought about by his appearance on the list does not please him.
"I think it's an ill-advised tactic," Brainard said Monday. "These people don't accept the fact that I'm a minor magistrate expected to uphold the law. Abortion is legal, and that is the fact."
Besides Brainard, the group has included El Cajon Municipal Judges Richard Bein, Eddie Sturgeon, Elizabeth Riggs and Victor Bianchini. San Diego Municipal Judges John Thompson, Ann Winebrenner and Michael Orfield also are on the list.
The group has targeted nine judges in Los Angeles County and nine in Northern California. All of the judges have sentenced abortion protesters to jail. In many cases, the judges offered probation in plea negotiations, but many of the protesters refused because they would have had to agree to refrain from repeat demonstrations.
Several Los Angeles-area judges interviewed last week said they have noticed an increase in protest telephone calls and letters, some of which included threats to report them to the state Commission on Judicial Performance.
"This is a novelty to me," said Los Angeles Municipal Judge David S. Milton, who is on the list. "To go so far as to threaten a complaint with the Judicial Performance Commission is unfair."
It is highly unusual for a political group to try and intimidate a judge once a decision is made, according to Warren Conklin, a San Luis Obispo superior court judge and president of the California Judges Assn.
Conklin said he could not recall a similar protest effort.
"The position of the judiciary is that it's absolutely inappropriate to target a judge for a decision he or she may have made and subject that judge to harassment," Conklin said. "A judicial decision is not part of a public give-and-take."
More than 220 people were arrested in three San Diego-area abortion protests earlier this year. The cases all have been resolved, with most serving either minimal jail sentences, agreeing to probation or accepting public service assignments with anti-abortion groups.
Timothy Duffy, who heads the coalition's office in Washington, said anti-abortion organizations in California developed the list for a radio broadcast on Christian stations Aug. 14.
The hourlong program, called "With Justice for All," featured members of various Christian groups and focused on what they believed was unfair treatment of anti-abortion advocates before California judges.
Duffy said the show, broadcast on 50 to 60 stations throughout the state, encouraged callers to phone an 800 number and request the list of judges who they said displayed "outrageous and tyrannical behavior" in dealing with abortion protesters.
"The situation with Brainard was one of the situations that gave us the impetus to forming the coalition," Duffy said. "Seeing his behavior shocked a lot of people."
The coalition distributed about 500 copies of the California judge's list, he said. Duffy said California judges were the first to be targeted, but other such listings will be made in other areas of the country where the coalition spots problems.
Brainard said he was not aware of the list but assumed he already was on some mass-mailing because of the hundreds of phone calls and letters he has received since shortly before Zal's sentencing.
