{"id":301413,"date":"2023-11-10T12:39:02","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T18:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=301413"},"modified":"2023-11-09T19:51:40","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T01:51:40","slug":"attorneys-pro-life-journalists-motion-dismiss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/attorneys-pro-life-journalists-motion-dismiss\/","title":{"rendered":"Attorneys for pro-life journalists file motion to dismiss criminal charges against them"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On October 26, in the aftermath of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision striking down Oregon’s undercover recording law as unconstitutional, Thomas More Society attorneys along with Liberty Counsel attorneys filed a motion<\/a> to dismiss the criminal charges against undercover pro-life journalists David Daleiden<\/a> and\u00a0Sandra Merritt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Daleiden, the founder of the Center for Medical Progress, and Merritt went undercover to expose potentially illegal fetal body part trafficking that Planned Parenthood and other groups are alleged to have participated in. That investigation lasted 30 months and the videos were released in 2015. Both faced prosecution by California attorneys general Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra under the state’s undercover recording law.<\/p>\n

Daleiden is currently facing nine felony counts while Merritt is facing eight felony charges. Their attorneys argue that the California law they were charged under is similar to that of Oregon and therefore also violates the First Amendment and should be ruled unconstitutional.<\/p>\n