Pro-Choice Stalking Arrest Fact Sheet (Minneapolis, MN)

*  Pro-choice activists were called out by the Network to Ensure
Access (NEA) on July 11, 1993 to exercise their 1st amendment
rights of assembly by openly and peacefully joining a caravan
leaving from Calvary Temple Church.

*  General invitations to join the caravan were issued at a public
meeting at Calvary Temple church on the evening of July 10, as well
as being continuously available on a telephone recorded message of
the Calvary Temple Action Hotline.

*  The caravan, consisting of about 4 or 5 vans and a dozen cars
(including on-duty television and newspaper staff), was traveling
to picket at doctors homes, in violation of local ordinances and
court injunctions.

*  The objective of the pro-choice volunteers was to travel with the
caravan to the final destination, so there would be witnesses to any
illegal activity.

*  On the way to the final destination, 4 pro-choice activists (Andrea
Jachman, Jennifer Leazer, Lisa Strong, and Kathleen Winters) were
illegally and unconstitutionally arrested for "stalking" by the
St. Louis Park police.  The exact wording of of the law (M.S. 609.749
sub 1&2) is:

      MS 609.749 Sub 1:  As used in this section, harass means
      to engage in intentional conduct in a manner that (1) would
      cause a reasonable person under the circumstances to feel
      oppressed, persecuted, or intimidated, and (2) causes this
      reaction on the part of the victim.

      MS 609.749 Sub 2:  A person who harasses another by committing
      any of the following acts is guilty of a gross misdemeanor:
      (2)  stalks, follows or pursues another.

*  These women did *NOT* violate any law!

St. Paul Pioneer Press, July 18, 1993 p. 12A:

      Under the law police can arrest someone who stalks, follows
      or pursues when a complainant feels oppressed, persucuted or
      intimidated.  The term stalk is not defined.

Go to your Webster said Sen. Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, the
{bills} primary author. The dictionary provides several definitions,
including:  To pursue or approach game, an enemy, etc., stealthily
as from cover.

HOW CAN YOU HELP??

Send letters of support.  Donations are appreciated!  (we have
lawyers to pay)

Pro-Choice Legal Defense Fund
PO BOX 80764
Mpls MN 55408-8764

Four NEA (Network to Ensure Acess, a pro-choice coalition) members
were arrested in St. Louis Park while exercising their 1st amendment
rights to assemble in a publicly announced caravan.  This should
terrify all citizens of the United States, where freedom of assembly
is supposedly protected!

Please Help!  Every phone call, every letter makes a difference!