Urgent Appeal to Readers: Fearless Investigative Reporter David Daleiden on the hook for $195K fine

Fearless investigative reporter David Daleiden is now on the hook for a $195,000 fine imposed by a federal judge, for attempting to defend himself against criminal charges filed in a state court. Daleiden rose to national prominence in 2015 with the release of a number of surreptitiously obtained video recordings of conversations with officials from Planned Parenthood, discussing the procurement for research purposes of "tissue" from the remains of aborted fetuses.

The sale of fetal body parts is illegal

The sale of fetal body parts is illegal, but the law does allow abortion providers to be compensated for expenses incurred in the retrieval of such remains. Despite conversations, which some interpreted as haggling over the price of baby parts, no charges have been filed against any PP officials in this matter. Daleiden has already beaten one lawsuit filed by Stem Cell Express, a "tissue procurement organization" also featured in the clandestine videos, as well as criminal charges filed against him by the Harris County District Attorney. He still is fighting a lawsuit filed against him in the US District Court of Northern California, in which Judge William Orrick imposed a gag order forbidding the release of two videos Daleiden says feature "some of the worst footage I ever recorded of Planned Parenthood's top-level leadership." In the meantime, Daleiden is the target of a criminal prosecution by the California Attorney General Xavier Becerra for violating that state's law that forbids the secret recording of confidential conversations. No other undercover journalist has ever been prosecuted under this law. But, shockingly, Daleiden has been socked with a $195,000 fine by Judge Orrick of the US District Court for contempt of court. And why did Judge Orrick impose this draconian fine? It was because Daleiden's lawyers filed as evidence in their case the two videos whose release had been quashed by Orrick's gag order--videos that Daleiden and his lawyers say are essential in establishing that the conversations were not confidential, and that they were made with the intention of proving the abortion industry is guilty of criminal acts. You don't have to be against abortion to be appalled by the spectacle of PP officials discussing the transfer of intact baby hearts, livers, lungs, legs, and God know what else, as if they were talking about pork bellies. What kind of Frankenstein-type experiments are the researchers carrying out--and what does it say about us as a society that we have so little interest in finding out?

Hidden camera stings have been used to uncover animal abuse in factory farms, industrial-scale pill mills, and child sex predators

Moreover, the criminal charges against Daleiden may have unforeseen consequences. Hidden camera stings have been used to uncover animal abuse in factory farms, industrial-scale pill mills, and child sex predators. If Daleiden loses in the California courts, this could have a chilling effect on freedom of the press reaching far beyond the boundaries of this one case. Daleiden's lawyers have appealed the fine to the Federal Ninth Circuit Court, but that court let the fine stand, and Daleiden and his team has to come up with $195,000 to place in escrow while the cases against him continue. To contribute to David Daleiden's legal expenses click here To learn more abut David Daleiden's work at the Center for Medical Progress click here

Patrick D Hahn——Bio and Archives

Patrick D Hahn is the author of Prescription for Sorrow: Antidepressants, Suicide, and Violence (Samizdat Health Writer’s Cooperative) and Madness and Genetic Determinism: Is Mental Illness in Our Genes? (Palgrave MacMillan). Dr. Hahn is an Affiliate Professor of Biology at Loyola University Maryland.