Topeka attorney defends abortion provider's killer in First Amendment case

Scott Roeder, imprisoned for the murder of Wichita abortion provider George Tiller, is awaiting a Leavenworth County judges ruling over whether the Kansas Department of Corrections wrongly disciplined him after concluding he threatened another abortion provider.

Roeder is represented by Topeka attorney Billy Rork, who said he thinks the department violated Roeders right to freedom of speech.

Rork said Friday he is working free of charge to represent Roeder, an acquaintance since they were teenagers, who wrote him a letter asking for his help. Rork said he took the case mainly because Im a big First Amendment guy.

Rork appeared on Roeders behalf at a Sept. 2 Leavenworth County hearing before Judge Dan K. Wiley, who has yet to rule in a civil suit Roeder filed last year against the corrections department. Court records show attorney Sherri Price represented the KDOC at the hearing.

Roeder, 56, is an inmate at Ellsworth Correctional Facility. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 50 years after being convicted of first-degree murder in the May 31, 2009, shooting death of Tiller, one of the nations few late-term abortion providers. Tiller was attending church in Wichita when Roeder shot him point-blank in the forehead. Roeder also was convicted of two counts of aggravated assault after he pointed the gun at two other men in the church.

The Associated Press reported Roeder was being held last year at Lansing Correctional Facility when the corrections department disciplined him after concluding he made threats of violence against a different Wichita abortion provider during a telephone interview with an anti-abortion activist. The activist put a recording of the call on YouTube.

The recording included discussion about how Julie Burkhart, executive director of the abortion rights group Trust Women, had opened a womens health center providing abortion services in the Wichita building Tiller used. Roeder could be heard saying it was death-defying for someone to reopen that clinic.

He added, To walk in there and reopen a clinic, a murder mill where a man was stopped, its almost like putting a target on your back saying, Well, lets see if you can shoot me.

The Associated Press reported Roeder was given 45 days in disciplinary segregation with no outside communication, followed by 60 days of loss of privileges and a $20 fine.

Rork said Friday that Roeder hadnt realized the activist was recording the conversation and would post it online.

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Topeka attorney defends abortion provider's killer in First Amendment case