CONVICTED! University Professor Who Notoriously Assaulted Pro-Life Students

Tom Ciesielka : Aug 18, 2014
Life Legal Defense Foundation

"We hope that anyone else who might consider violence or vandalism against pro-life advocates will take note." -Joan Short

(Santa Barbara, CA)—Mireille Miller-Young, an associate professor of feminist studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara, was sentenced to 108 hours of community service, 10 hours of anger management, and three years probation for her assault on a group of pro-life students in early March. She was also ordered to pay a small fine and restitution of almost $500. The incident took place on the Santa Barbara campus, where Miller-Young attacked and forcibly took property from teenagers who were exercising their free speech rights in the public square to educate about abortion and promote its alternatives. As a result, Miller-Young was convicted of grand theft, vandalism, and battery in July.

Thrin and Joan Short, victims of the assault for which Miller-Young was convicted, were in court to hear the sentencing, along with their mother, Katie Short, Life Legal Defense Foundation Legal Director. Despite Miller-Young's attack, the Short family has called for restraint in speaking about Miller-Young.

"While Miller-Young submitted a written apology to the court for taking and destroying the sign, the sincerity of that apology is undercut by other letters she submitted from colleagues, several of which attempt to shift the blame onto the pro-lifers," said the elder Short.

"Regardless of the actual level of her remorse, her conviction on three misdemeanor charges will undoubtedly be sufficient to dissuade her from any repetition of her outrageous conduct. The prosecution itself should have disabused her of the notion that she could victimize pro-lifers with impunity, an attitude clearly on display in the video," she added, referring to footage taken by the Short sisters during the assault. "We hope that anyone else who might consider violence or vandalism against pro-life advocates will take note."

To date, Miller-Young has not apologized for her physical attack on Thrin Short, nor has the university condemned the criminal actions of its employee, who remains listed in the faculty directory.