Judge Sends Signal to Bombers

U.S. District Judge Earl B. Gillam set the right tone for the sentencing of those involved in the conspiracy to bomb a San Diego abortion clinic when he handed down stiff prison sentences to the first two defendants.

Cheryl Sullenger was sentenced to three years and her husband, Randall, to a year in prison and six months in a halfway house. Each sentence was 50% longer than recommended by probation officials.

With those sentences, Gillam sent a strong signal that bombs won’t be tolerated as a means of imposing one’s moral values on another.

Gillam also tempered his justice with mercy, however, by staggering the Sullengers’ sentences, thereby allowing at least one of them to stay at home with their two young daughters.