Statement of Victoria Toensing, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Before the House Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights Concerning Abortion Clinic Violence on April 3, 1985

• NCJ Number: 97819
• Author(s): V Toensing
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 13 pages
• Corporate Author: US Dept of Justice
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This statement highlights the Department of Justice's condemnation of abortion clinic bombings and clarifies misconceptions concerning the Reagan administration's position on the bombings.

Abstract

Outrage over the bombings expressed by President Reagan, by then Attorney General William French Smith, and by Attorney General Ed Meese is reported, and the intensive efforts by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) to investigate these bombings are described. Data presented indicate that 23 out of 33 incidents investigated by the BATF since 1982 have been resolved, that 13 persons have been arrested and charged, and that 5 have been convicted. Two areas where there has been misinformation and confusion about the administration's position are highlighted. First, the Justice Department's failure to officially characterize the bombings as 'terrorism' is explained: no evidence of a coordinated, organized campaign has been found, and the activities of persons who abhor abortion do not meet the Justice Department's guidelines for assigning the Federal Bureau of Investigation to assume overall command of the investigation. Second, the Justice Department's failure to characterize these assaults as criminal violations of the civil rights statutes is addressed: analysis reveals no State action that would convert these private crimes into constitutional violations punishable under 18 USC 241. Finally, arrests and convictions obtained as a result of BATF investigations of arsons and bombings of abortion facilities since May 1982 are listed.