Before we entered the courtroom, he led us in prayer.
Life Legal attorneys Katie Short and Corrina Konczal appeared in appellate court yesterday on behalf of dedicated pro-life advocate Chad Hunt. As you may remember, Chad was served with a sweeping restraining order following an incident with an escort outside a Northern California abortion facility.
Here’s what happened.
A pro-life sidewalk counselor was engaged in a conversation with a woman as she exited the facility in her car. The exchange was completely voluntary and cordial.
An abortion escort, furious that the woman might hear information about alternatives to abortion, ran over to the car, yelling “Don’t talk to them,” hoping to insert herself between the sidewalk counselor and the car.
Chad took a step or two toward the vehicle to place himself between the escort and the car window where she planned to interrupt what had been a productive discussion. The escort claims he then bumped her with his stomach, and then bumped her again as she raced around to the other side of the car. The escort never lost her balance or fell down. She was not injured in any way.
Yet the abortion clinic’s attorneys characterized these incidental contacts as “violence.”
The trial court issued a draconian restraining order requiring Chad to remain 100 yards away from the facility at all times—effectively shutting down his ministry to women seeking abortion and to the general public in the community.
The law used to justify this restraining order was designed to protect employees from actual workplace violence—not to suppress disfavored speech on a public sidewalk.
And the law is clear: a restraining order can only be issued if there is clear and convincing evidence that future harm is likely to occur. Chad has spent years peacefully counseling outside this facility—with no history of violence, no threats, and no pattern of aggressive behavior.
“If this ruling stands, any peaceful speaker could be removed from a public sidewalk based on nothing more than momentary contact,” said Life Legal Chief Legal Counsel Katie Short. “That’s not what the law was meant to do—and it’s not what the Constitution allows.”
Attorney Short did an excellent job presenting arguments before a three-judge appellate panel. While it is always difficult to predict how a court will rule, the judges showed little interest in Chad’s free speech rights and were more focused on how to frame the belly bumping as “workplace violence” to justify the restraining order.
Even more concerning, the court seemed receptive to the argument that Chad’s past use of a megaphone signals a propensity to violence.
Let that sink in.
Someone who exercises his First Amendment right to speak is now portrayed as a violent threat to public safety.
Before the hearing, I had the pleasure of meeting Chad. He is an amiable, faithful man who has devoted his life to sharing the Gospel and saving babies from abortion. Chad has never been arrested in his life, has never had any run-ins with the police, and has never been dragged into court. Yet now he stands accused—and punished—as a menace to society because he tried to allow a young woman to hear the truth about abortion.
Please pray for Chad and for our attorneys—and for a just outcome in this critical case.