Pro-Life Pastor Faces 2 Years Jail and Fine for Peaceful Sidewalk Counseling

Guilty verdict came despite proof prosecution witnesses gave false testimony

By Kathleen Gilbert

OAKLAND, California, February 17, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An Oakland pastor arrested last May for peacefully counseling and picketing at a local abortion clinic has been found guilty of violating a new city ordinance that his lawyers are claiming is unconstitutional, and now faces up to two years in jail and a $4,000 fine.

Rev. Walter Hoye was convicted on January 15 of two counts of unlawfully approaching women entering an abortion facility, a misdemeanor enshrined in city law last spring, which holds a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $2,000 fine.  Hoye is scheduled to receive his sentence on Thursday, February 19. 

The African-American pastor is the founder of the Issues4Life Foundation and an outspoken opponent of the genocide of unborn African Americans. He had been accustomed since early 2007 to picket alone or with two other women on the public sidewalk in front of Oakland's abortion clinic and counsel incoming patients.  Pro-abortion escorts testified to regularly obstructing Hoye's message by blocking the pastor's sign (reading "Jesus loves you and your baby, let us help you") with a sheet of blank poster board and shouting loudly to prevent dialogue with patients. (Full story at LifeSiteNews)