The sentence for the Rev. Walter Hoye was unjust

I know an attorney who says we should not rejoice over the supposedly light sentence of 30 days in jail (to be substituted for by "community service"), a fine of $1,130 and a demand that he stay away from the abortion chamber, which a judge gave the Rev. Walter B. Hoye II (above, center) last Thursday in Oakland for pro-life sidewalk counseling.

This attorney calls the sentence unjust because what the Rev. Hoye was convicted of is not a crime but the exercise of a right -- twice approaching people to offer them a pro-life leaflet. If the Bill of Rights means anything at all, it is that we have a God-given right to freedom of speech.

And, the attorney adds, a year in jail and a $2,000 fine, which is what the district attorney wanted imposed, is a draconian sentence for each of the two counts of simply (and gently) trying to give a leaflet to someone. The attorney says we should not start to accept or get used to persecution such as this against pro-lifers who try to help moms and save babies.

These would make great points for you or me to use in writing a letter to the editor of the Oakland Tribune and the San Francisco Chronicle. Letters to the editor are excellent tools for us: The liberal news media publish our letters free of charge and hundreds of thousand of people get to see what we've said.

Let's keep praying for the Rev. Hoye and for all pro-life sidewalk counselors and prayer vigil-keepers. And let's go out and join them at the abortion chambers.