Sometimes, courts act as if the Eighth Amendment isn’t a thing. Unfortunately, it appears that nowadays, one’s politics will determine whether the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment will apply to them.
This is precisely the case with Paulette Harlow, a 75-year-old pro-life activist who is facing two years in a cage for protesting at an abortion clinic.
Harlow was convicted for her involvement in an incident in which pro-life protesters blocked women from entering an abortion clinic in the District of Columbia.
On Friday, in what appears to be an egregious example of cruel and unusual punishment, the court sentenced Paulette Harlow of Kingston, Massachusetts, to two years in prison. Mrs. Harlow is 75 years old and in poor health, and in fact, her health issues are serious enough that the court allowed her to remain on house arrest during the proceedings so her husband could care for her.
No longer. The court is throwing her behind bars. Her crime? Protesting an abortion clinic.
A 75-year-old pro-life activist was sentenced to two years in prison by the US District Court for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Paulette Harlow from Kingston, Massachusetts was one of ten individuals who were convicted as part of a “conspiracy” to block women from entering an abortion clinic in Washington, DC.
Harlow has been on house arrest since her conviction due to her ill health. Her husband pleaded for leniency but those pleas were ignored by the court. John Harlow said "I feel like Paulette is dying. In my heart, I think she’s having a hard time staying alive." He is her caretaker and said that he would take care of her in prison if he could, LiveAction reported.
"We’ve tried to be good people," he said. "I love my wife dearly. She’s made me go beyond what I’d otherwise have done" to help others. "We’re throwing ourselves on the mercy of the court," he said.
As RedState’s Ward Clark pointed out, “The concerning part of all this is the proportionality. Does this protest really warrant sending an elderly woman to prison?”
Of course it doesn’t, and that’s the entire point.
The court does not care that Harlow is an elderly woman with serious health issues. It does not care if this could mean she could die in a cage. They don’t even care that two years is a very steep sentence for her crime.
This is about sending a message, not about justice. Unfortunately, we live in a time when the judicial system is becoming increasingly weaponized against people for their political beliefs. The same thing happened to Dexter Taylor, who was given a ten-year sentence for building firearms despite having a squeaky-clean criminal record.
Of course, we can’t forget the politically motivated prosecution efforts against former President Donald Trump, who was recently convicted of an “offense” that wouldn’t have been an issue had another politician done it. If it means skewing the odds in favor of their chosen presidential candidate, Democrats have shown they will not hesitate to use the justice system to target a political opponent.
I wish I could say that these political prosecutions won’t increase. But they likely will. Authoritarians on the left are becoming even more brazen in their efforts to use the criminal justice system against political opponents.
The objective is clear: They seek to cow the public into abiding by their political views. With the threat of government force, they want to compel people to either embrace their political philosophy, or at least shut up about it. Dissent will increasingly become less tolerated if these officials are allowed to continue weaponizing the government.
