U.S. District Judge Anita Brody on Friday signed an order that indefinitely delays the sentencing of antiabortion advocate Clayton Waagner, who was convicted on federal charges, including threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction, the AP/Centre Daily Times reports (Caruso, AP/Centre Daily Times, 8/24). Federal prosecutors in a memorandum filed in June in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia called for Waagner to be sentenced to life in prison. A federal jury in Philadelphia in December 2003 convicted Waagner on 51 federal charges, including violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, extortion and making and mailing threatening communications. In October 2002, Waagner pleaded not guilty to a 79-count indictment on federal terrorism charges that was issued in relation to a 2001 mailing to hundreds of abortion providers in 24 states. The mailings included letters signed by the antiabortion group Army of God claiming that the envelopes had anthrax inside. Waagner previously had admitted to sending more than 550 anthrax hoax letters to family planning clinics in 24 states in fall 2001, and the Department of Justice decided to consolidate all potential federal charges against Waagner in relation to the mailings into a single trial. The jury found Waagner guilty of mailing the letters but acquitted him on two charges relating to an Internet posting that listed 42 abortion clinic employees whom he allegedly wanted to kill. In his trial, Waagner claimed that the purpose of his original posting was to thank other antiabortion advocates for supporting him and that the threats to abortion clinic employees were added by others visiting the Web site. Waagner currently is serving a 49-year prison sentence on weapons' possession and car theft convictions (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 6/17).

Court Order
Brody's order postpones the sentencing hearing -- which was scheduled to take place Tuesday -- until the U.S. Supreme Court decides on two unrelated cases that could affect sentencing guidelines that federal judges have used for 17 years, the AP/Daily Times reports. The guidelines were questioned earlier in the year when the Supreme Court ruled that juries -- not judges -- must decide any issue than could lengthen a convict's sentence beyond the normal statute. Judges have been "unsure" how the decision affects federal sentencing rules, which allow judges to make factual determinations that potentially could lengthen a sentence "significantly," the AP/Daily Times reports. The Supreme Court is scheduled to consider the issue in October, according to the AP/Daily Times (AP/Centre Daily Times, 8/24).