Boston, Mass., Dec 8, 2022 / 15:45 pm
Attorneys for Mark Houck, the pro-life father of seven arrested by the FBI in the early morning hours outside his Pennsylvania home in September, have filed a motion in court to dismiss the federal charges brought against him under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
The motion says that the U.S. Department of Justice’s prosecution of Houck is unconstitutional, citing the Biden administration’s “viewpoint discrimination” and “selective prosecution” against Houck and other Americans with pro-life views.
The more than 30-page motion alleges that the government violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment in its prosecution of Houck.
As part of the motion, lawyers from the Thomas More Society — the religious freedom law firm representing Houck — say that the FACE Act, which has been used several times in the past year by the Biden administration against other pro-life advocates, is unconstitutional.