A federal prosecutor is suing the Justice Department, alleging she was fired in retaliation for prosecuting anti-abortion activists. Sunita Doddamani, an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan, was terminated April 13 after bringing charges against eight abortion protesters under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
Doddamani's complaint accuses the Trump administration of using unlawful terminations to achieve political aims. She alleges violations of the Civil Service Reform Act, the Administrative Procedure Act and the First and Fifth Amendments.
At least two other prosecutors working on FACE Act cases were fired the same day. The Justice Department announced it had "terminated the employment of personnel responsible for weaponizing the FACE Act." A day later, the department released a report accusing the Biden administration of weaponizing the law against anti-abortion activists.
The FACE Act, enacted in 1994, prohibits intentional interference with reproductive health care services. The law has been a flashpoint: supporters cite clinic violence and threats as justification, while opponents argue it suppresses free speech rights of abortion opponents.
Early in Trump's second term, the Justice Department announced it would no longer enforce FACE Act violations except in extraordinary circumstances.
Doddamani's lawsuit names Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Justice Department as defendants. She seeks reinstatement, backpay and a declaration that her constitutional rights were violated. The case is the latest in a series of legal challenges by former career prosecutors alleging political retaliation under the Trump administration.
The Justice Department declined to comment, referring to its April statement about terminating employees it said had weaponized the statute.
