Conservative Bucks Activist Held For Trial On Assault, Other Charges

JAMISON, PA — A Bucks County mother and conservative parental rights activist was held over for trial on Monday on charges of assault, harassment and furnishing minors with alcohol.

The charges stem from a Sept. 29 underage drinking party hosted by Clarice Schillinger at her Buckingham Township home in celebration of her daughter's 17th birthday.

During a hearing in district court in Warwick, Judge Stacy Wertman held Schillinger over to trial on the two misdeamnor and one summary charge after hearing testimony from three teens who told the court they witnessed drinking games, bottles of liquor and altercations during the party.

One of the teens reportedly told the court that they had taken 15 shots of alcohol and had played a game of beer pong with Schillinger, according to a report published by the Bucks County Courier Times. Another testified that it was common knowlege that alcohol would be available at the party, which was the second time in a month that police responded to the home on an underage drinking complaint.

According to the news report, a third teen told the court that at one point during the evening when tempers were flaring, Schillinger grabbed him by the shirt and hit him multiple times with a closed fist around his chin and cheek.

According to the Courier Times report, Schillinger’s attorney Matthew Brittenburg argued during the hearing that the state hadn't established a prima facie case to warrant the simple assault charge or for "furnishing" alcohol to minors.

"Ms. Schillinger has dedicated her life to public service," Brittenberg wrote in an email to Patch in January. "Additionally, she has always been a law-abiding citizen. Ms. Schillinger looks forward to the opportunity to defend against these allegations."

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Buckingham Police received a call that a number of assaults had taken place at the Schillinger home between intoxicated adults and juveniles during a party hosted by Schillinger to celebrate her daughter's birthday.

Police were told that 15 to 20 minors, ranging in age from 15 to 18, began gathering at the home around 9:30 p.m. and that Schillinger had directed them to stay in the basement area of the home where police were told Schillinger not only provided them with alcoholic beverages, but poured shots, drank along with the minors and played beer pong with them, the affidavit says.

At one point during the evening, police were told a disturbance broke out between the intoxicated adults, which made the minors uncomfortable and wanting to leave. A 15-year-old was punched in the face, one teen was punched in the area of his left eye, and several others were assaulted,
police documents said. The events were recorded from two separate phones, the affidavit says.

While multiple minors were gathering at the front door to leave in defiance of Schillinger's order to say, police said video shows Schillinger lunging toward one of the partygoers before others restrained her. That individual told police Schillinger struck him three times with a closed fist but that he wasn’t injured, according to the affidavit.

A formal arraignment is scheduled for March 1 at the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas in Doylestown.

Schillinger, who ran unsuccessfully for Pennsylvania Lt. Governor in 2022, has been a leader in the conservative movement in Pennsylvania and Bucks County on the issue of parental rights. Through her PAC, she poured thousands of dollars into school board races in 2021 throughout the Commonwealth to successfully elect conservative candidates opposed to COVID mandates and committed to keeping leftwing ideologies out of Pennsylvania schools.