Pro-Life Father Prosecuted Under Biden Reaches Massive Settlement With the DOJ

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A Tennessee father of 11 just settled big with the Justice Department after he and 23 others were prosecuted under the Biden Administration and subsequently pardoned by Trump. Paul Vaughn and 22 others were prosecuted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which bars the use or threat of force or physical obstruction to interfere with access to abortion clinics and religious worship spaces. Vaughn's settlement amount is reportedly seven figures.

The settlement stems from Vaughn's prosecution over his participation in a March 2021 protest inside the hallway of an abortion clinic, where he and a group gathered to pray and sing hymns. The Biden DOJ alleges the group participated in a blockade, but the defense showed multiple videos during the 2024 trial to counter that claim.
Two days later, his home was raided by FBI agents at gunpoint, and Vaughn was arrested in front of his wife and seven of his 11 children, ages 18 months to 18 years. Vaughn said they were practically held at gunpoint by an agent in the yard. The Biden DOJ charged Vaughn with up to 10.5 years in prison with a felony conspiracy charge.
The wave of prosecutions sparked intense debate over whether the Biden administration was specifically targeting pro-life activists following the landmark overturning of Roe v. Wade with the 2022 Dobbs decision.
President Trump pardoned Vaughn and the 22 other activists in January 2025 after Vaughn had completed six months of house arrest. Around the same time, the Justice Department established new charging criteria under the FACE Act, ensuring abortion-related FACE Act prosecutions only occur under "extraordinary circumstances."
Vaughn has now reached a seven-figure settlement with the federal government, and it is expected that more will follow for the 22 others.
"Obviously, money doesn't equate justice, and there's not a true sense of justice in the settlement, but it is an acknowledgment of wrong, and it is something to help make up for the time lost," Vaughn told Fox News Digital. "God's been gracious to us and has helped us through this process. But there's still a lot of unknowns of how does this impact a child's life, going into their adult years."
Vaughn's case was brought by the Thomas More Society, a religious liberty firm based in Chicago.
Steve Crampton, senior counsel at Thomas More Society, spoke about the case. "This family did nothing wrong. Paul prayed and sang. He bore witness to his faith and for that, the full weight of the federal government was brought crashing down on his front door before the sun rose," he said. He called the settlement a "warning and a precedent," saying, "The weaponization of federal law enforcement against pro-lifers, against people of faith, against those who dare to stand for the unborn — that era is over."

The settlement mimics that of another activist, Mark Houck, who filed a lawsuit over his 2022 arrest. Similarly to Vaughn, after being charged with violating the FACE Act, Houck's home was raided by a team of 25 SWAT members in front of his children.
Katie Clancy, communications director for the Thomas More Society, spoke about the possibility of more settlements, saying, "We are working with other clients but not at liberty to discuss the details."

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