DOJ reaches settlement with pro-life father prosecuted under Biden administration

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has reached a seven-figure settlement with Paul Vaughn, a Tennessee pro-life advocate and father of 11 who sued the federal government over his arrest and prosecution under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act during the Biden administration.

The Thomas More Society, which represented Vaughn, announced the settlement in a July 28  press release and characterized it as an acknowledgement that the previous administration had abused federal law-enforcement power. 

“My family has been through a traumatic ordeal that never should have happened. But today brings an end to this portion of the story,” Vaughn said in the release. “I am grateful to the members of this Department of Justice who were willing to look honestly at what the prior administration did to our family and so many others and attempt to make it right.”

According to the release, Vaughn participated in a March 2021 protest at an abortion facility in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, where his attorneys say he prayed, sang hymns, and served as a messenger between protesters and police. He was not arrested at the scene. 

Instead, in October 2022, armed FBI agents arrested Vaughn during a predawn raid at his family’s home. The Thomas More Society described the show of force, which occurred in front of his wife and children, as “grossly disproportionate to his alleged crime.” 

A federal jury later convicted Vaughn of violating the FACE Act and conspiring to violate federally protected rights. The charges exposed him to more than 10 years in prison, although a judge ultimately sentenced him to three years of supervised release. 

President Donald Trump pardoned Vaughn and nearly two dozen other pro-lifer activists in January 2025, while Vaughn’s appeal remained pending.

Steve Crampton, senior counsel at the Thomas More Society, said the settlement extended beyond Vaughn’s case and represented a warning against what he called the weaponization of federal law enforcement.

“This settlement is not just about one family,” Crampton said. “It is a warning and a precedent. 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.”

“What was done to Paul and his family was a profound injustice, and we are grateful that this settlement acknowledges that,” he added.

Crampton also thanked the Trump administration’s DOJ for “having the courage to look at what its predecessor did, call it what it was — an abuse of power — and change course.”

“No American should ever again have to fear an FBI raid for praying and offering hope to women in need,” he said.

Vaughn thanked Trump for “restoring my good name” through the pardon, the Thomas More Society for its “tireless defense,” and those who supported his family through prayer.

“This chapter is finally closed, and our family looks forward with gratitude and hope,” he said in the release, “as we continue to serve God, advocating for the most vulnerable among us without fear.”