Alameda County Superior Court Judge Sandra Beane granted a restraining order against Walter Hoye, the Baptist pastor from Berkeley. Hoye has become the first person arrested in violation of the “bubble law’ ordinance. (Stay 8 feet clear of patients and patient escorts.)
The Family Planning Specialists Medical Group clinic on Webster Street, Berkeley, has often witnessed Hoye carrying a 40-inch sign that read, "Jesus Loves You & Your Baby. Let Us Help You," His signs and literature were confiscated and he was charged with a total of four misdemeanor counts. The order requires Hoye to stay away from the clinic. The judge’s decision came even after his accusers admitted under oath that he had never threatened or harmed them in any way.
Hoye insists that he obeyed the bubble law, and was aggressively contained by two clinic escorts, who sandwiched him between them and tried to hide his sign. “We got testimony from the two escorts who claimed that I was intimidating them to the extent that they were afraid for their lives,” Hoye said. “Once they were on the stand, they testified that I never physically or verbally harmed them or used force in any way against them or anyone else. One escort even said that I was nice.
(from the California Catholic Daily).
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