Remember the University of California, Santa Barbara feminist studies professor who forcibly stole a graphic anti-abortion sign from two abortion protesters, then scratched and appeared to push one of the protesters (a 16-year-old girl), then destroyed the sign?
She pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of grand theft, vandalism and battery on Thursday.
The crime went down back in March when the professor, Mireille Miller-Young, rallied up a small gaggle of female vigilantes and attacked abortion protesters Thrin Short, 16, and Joan Short, 21.
The Short sisters were standing in a designated “free speech zone” on the UC Santa Barbara campus with at least one large, very gruesome poster depicting aborted fetuses. (VIDEO: The Feminist Studies Prof Facing Assault Charges For Attacking 16-Year-Old Abortion Foe)
The Short sisters are members of a Riverside, Calif.-based pro-life group called Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust. They used a cell phone to capture video footage of Miller-Young committing her crimes.
Miller-Young, who specializes in queer theory, black film and pornography, later told cops she felt “triggered” “in a negative way” by graphic images on the anti-abortion poster and on corresponding anti-abortion literature. “Asked if there had been a struggle, Miller-Young stated, ‘I’m stronger so I was able to take the poster.'” (RELATED: Charges For Prof Who Claimed ‘MORAL RIGHT’ To Censor, Batter 16-Year-Old Abortion Foe)
The Santa Barbara Independent still has the full and amazing police report.
The Short family is happy with the no-contest plea.
“Today’s plea brings us one step closer to seeing justice done in this case,” said the mother of the anti-abortion demonstrators in a Life Legal Defense Foundation statement obtained by The Daily Caller. “Pro-life advocates should not be subjected to intimidation and violence for lawfully exercising their right to free speech, and we are happy to see that Ms. Miller-Young is being held accountable for her actions.”
Miller-Young will face a sentencing hearing on Aug. 14. The prosecutor, Ron Zonen, told the Independent he does not expect the judge in the case, Brian Hill, to order Miller-Young to spend a day in jail. Prison remains a possibility, but Zonen strongly expects some combination of fines, restitution, community service and mandatory anger management classes.
Miller-Young’s no-contest plea is also a new legal strategy. She had previously pleaded not guilty to the three charges.
She hasn’t yet actually appeared in court personally, according to the Independent. A criminal defense attorney, Catherine Swysen, has appeared instead. It’s not clear if the judge in the case will ever require Miller-Young’s physical presence in the state court system.
Swysen won’t speak to the press about her client.
To date, the UC Santa Barbara administration has not commented publicly about the charges or issued any sort of apology for the crimes Miller-Young does not contest committing.
The silence is awkward, particularly after taxpayer-paid Vice-Chancellor Michael Young emailed students — before criminal charges were filed — warning of “offensive speech” and denouncing “various anti-abortion crusaders” for utilizing “images that many in our community find distressing and offensive.”(RELATED: BLAME THE VICTIM: Bureaucrat smears 16-year-old abortion protester battered by UCSB prof)
Miller-Young remains listed in the faculty directory.
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