Gonzales v. Dunkle [1]

On Aug. 28, 2007, the U.S. Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit against John Dunkle, an anti-abortion activist from Reading, Pennsylvania, seeking injunctive relief for alleged violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act ("FACE"), 18 U.S.C. § 248 [2].

According to the complaint, Dunkel posted messages on his webpage and blog encouraging readers to kill an abortion provider by shooting her in the head. The postings allegedly targeted a former clinician at the Philadelphia Women's Center and included her name, home address, and photograph, along with instructions about how to kill her and avoid detection.

The complaint alleged that Dunkle's postings constituted a "threat of force to injure, intimidate and interfere with a person providing reproductive heatlh services" in violation of FACE. The government moved for a preliminary injunction, requiring Dunkle to remove the postings in question and prohibiting him from posting the same or similar messages in the future.

Dunkle, acting as his own legal counsel, filed a response to the motion for injunctive relief and a motion to dismiss. He argued that his writings were not "threats" under FACE and also maintained that some of the content was posted by a third party. The government contested Dunkle's claims, including his argument that the postings were not legally cognizable as "threats" under the statute.

On Nov. 8, 2007, after an evidentiary hearing, U.S. District Judge Thomas Golden granted a permanent injunction, ordering Dunkle to remove the postings and barring him from posting similar messages in the future. The injunction contains the following statement: "Nothing in this Order shall prohibit Defendant from picketing, creating, publishing and disseminating anti-abortion information so long as such activities do not constitute illegal threats and elicit violence." The court also denied Dunkle's motion to dismiss as moot.