Charges Dropped Against Pro-Lifers Who Allegedly Trespassed at Little Rock Surgical Abortion Facility

Abortion, , ,
Above: A Little Rock police officer arrests a pro-lifer for trespassing outside Little Rock Family Planning Services on January 15, 2021.

Last week authorities in Little Rock officially dropped charges against at least four pro-lifers accused of criminal trespassing at a surgical abortion facility in 2021.

On January 15, 2021, Eva Edl of South Carolina; Chet Gallagher of Tennessee; Dennis Green of Virginia; Calvin Zastrow of Michigan; Emily Nurnberg of Kansas; and Heather Iddoni of Michigan were arrested on misdemeanor criminal trespassing for allegedly blocking the entrance to Little Rock Family Planning Services — a now-shuttered surgical abortion facility in Little Rock.

Court records show the pro-lifers were convicted in February of 2022, and each was ordered to pay a $350 fine. However, their attorney appealed the convictions, and the case has languished in court ever since.

Now a September 25 court filing shows authorities have decided not to prosecute the case any further.

Court documents indicate the State has chosen not to continue the case against Edl, Gallagher, Iddoni, and Zastrow, because the Biden Administration has pursued federal charges against them for blocking abortion facility entrances in other states.

On August 20 a federal jury in Michigan found Edl, Gallagher, Iddoni, and Zastrow guilty of Clinic Access Obstruction.

Emily Nurnberg and Dennis Green were not part of that federal case, and court documents in Little Rock show the State of Arkansas may continue prosecuting the two of them for criminal trespassing in Little Rock.

Family Council will continue monitoring and reporting on this case.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Arkansas Lottery Still Relying on Scratch-Off Tickets, Rolling Out New Games

Arkansas Lottery,
Above: One of the Arkansas Lottery’s latest scratch-off tickets unveiled on October 1.

The Arkansas Lottery still relies heavily on scratch-off tickets, and it is frequently rolling out new lottery games in its ongoing effort to entice people to gamble.

On October 1 the lottery unveiled four new instant tickets — including the “Ultimate Riches” ticket that sells for $10 each. The odds of winning Ultimate Riches’ top prize are approximately one in 400,000.

Statistically, people who buy this $10 lottery ticket will lose their money more than 60% of the time.

Unfortunately the Arkansas Lottery has a long history of relying on expensive scratch-off tickets with long odds and large prizes to encourage people to gamble. To date, the lottery has rolled out 46 new scratch-off tickets this year alone. Five of the lottery’s current ticket lines sell for $20 apiece.

The bulk of the Arkansas Lottery’s ticket sales down through the years have come from scratch-off tickets, which are often associated with problem gambling and gambling addiction.

He have written before about how expensive scratch-off tickets prey on the truly desperate. They entice Arkansans to spend a lot of money on a single lottery ticket in hopes of a big payout, but more often than not people lose.

Family Council has supported legislation in the past that would restructure the Arkansas Lottery’s budget to increase spending on education.

The state-run lottery could provides millions of dollars more in scholarship funding if it simply would reduce its prize budget, increase its scholarship budget to align with other state lotteries, and quit relying so heavily on scratch-off tickets.

Unfortunately, there simply doesn’t seem to be much impetus to do that.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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