Two abortion protesters begin serving jail terms (10 years later)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10260816

Published Sunday | February 17, 2008
Two abortion protesters begin serving jail terms
BY PAUL HAMMEL
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN - What happens when people are found guilty and are sentenced to jail, but no one bothers to tell them when to report to their cell?

Two Omaha women sentenced in 1999 for Lincoln anti-abortion protests are finding out - nearly a decade late.

Sharon McKee, 52, and Melissa Abbink, 34, began serving sentences of eight months and five months, respectively, in late December.

Misplaced court records are being blamed for the delay in carrying out their sentences, a delay that prompted their attorneys to take the rare step of appealing, unsuccessfully, to the State Board of Pardons and to the mayor of Lincoln for a pardon or commutation.

The unusual case resurrects a tumultuous chapter in Lincoln's history and raises questions about what's fair when the wheels of justice go flat.

"It's fundamentally unfair," said Omaha attorney Martin Cannon, who represents the women. He said the delay caused a particular hardship on McKee, who is the primary caregiver for her ailing, elderly mother.

Ken Melilli, a Creighton University law professor and former federal prosecutor, said that while the women may have a complaint about fairness, there is no legal right guaranteeing speedy incarceration, as there is for a speedy trial.

The case has been highlighted on anti-abortion Web sites, prompting 600 e-mails and nearly 50 letters of protest to Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler. The mayor said that while he was sympathetic to the women's plight, he could not pardon them.

FULL story at link.

[chelsea0011]

1. Guilty! Start packing and stop crying about infairness. These crimes

came at a time when doctors were targeted by terrorists for death.

[Sadie4629]

4. Just curious

Would you feel the same way about anti-war protesters not serving their sentences?

[jimshoes]

2. Surely there must be a statute of limitations

on when a sentence must be carried out. Some things are just wrong. This is one of those things . IMO.

[baldguy]

3. The real terrorists.

[pop goes the weasel]

5. I was sympathetic at first

Then I read that one of them, at least, has continued to trespass and has even spent time in jail for doing so. I understand that there are issues which a person may feel are so compelling that breaking the law seems reasonable, and I don't fault such civil disobedience even when, as in this case, I disagree with the protestor. But if you take it on yourself to disobey the law for your cause, you also take it on yourself to face the punishment, no matter how inconvenient it is.

[lynnertic]

6. They thought they were free.