With Hands Tied

Trey Smith

“The Defendants may not present a defense of necessity or justification … evidence that the operations at Y-12 violated international or domestic law, evidence that their actions were compelled by the Nuremberg Principles or evidence of their motives”.

This April 30 ruling by US District Judge Amul Thapar makes a sham of the upcoming Knoxville, Tenn. trial of three pacifists who snipped through four wire fences to string “Crime Scene” tape around paint slogans on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility at the Y-12 complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Y-12 houses 400 tons of HEU. (That’s 800,000 pounds of material that the US has threatened to bomb Iran over, if a single ounce of it is ever found there.)
~ from Protecting the Fiction of Legal H-bombs by John LaForge ~

Is this even legal? How can a judge preempt a defense argument before it is even made? What is the point of having a jury if they are blocked from hearing a substantial part of the evidence?

It is as if Judge Thapar has declared that individuals who commit civil disobedience have no other motivation than simply to break the law! In most situations, this is not the case. People commit civil disobedience because they often believe that the moral imperative to protest is more important than the law[s] they have chosen to violate. Their entire defense centers on what they believe these moral imperatives are. The jury then decides which they believe is more important: the moral imperatives or the law.

I wholeheartedly agree with LaForge's characterization of the judge's ruling. His ruling has taken away the only defense the defendants have. It makes the verdict a foregone conclusion before the trial actually gets underway.

If I was one of these three defendants, I would ignore the judge's ruling. I would tell the jury WHY I had committed this act of civil disobedience. I'm confident this would cause this judge to find me in contempt of court, but so what? I am going to jail anyway, so why not go down fighting!

More Punitive "Justice"

Trey Smith

In a previous post today, I shared with you the case of Spc. William Millay who was sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for attempting to commit espionage for money. As luck would have, three other individuals face a similar sentence.

An elderly nun and two other environmental activists who broke into a supposedly secure facility that stores enriched uranium for nuclear bombs [went] on trial on Tuesday over the incident that embarrassed the U.S. government.

Lawyers will present opening arguments in the case of the three activists charged with sabotage and destruction of government property after they cut through several fences in July to reach the heavily guarded Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

They admitted to walking for two hours through the complex, which prosecutors described as the "Fort Knox" of U.S. nuclear installations, and spray-painted slogans and hammered on the walls of an enriched uranium facility.

Okay, let's recap. Millay was attempting to sell state secrets to Russia. These three folks are guilty of a symbolic gesture. Millay committed his crime to enrich his own bank account. The three activists were protesting against our violent foreign policy -- acts that involved no personal financial enrichment whatsoever.

But these three peace and environmental activists face the potential of serving the same number of years as Millay in federal prison.

Something is seriously wrong with not only our justice system, but the whole of our society!!

Might I Get Your Permission to Lodge a Complaint?

Trey Smith

Conservative government leaders like to paint themselves as strict constitutionalists. Their whole motivation, they eagerly tells us, is to protect the freedoms we enjoy in western democracies. This is just as true in England or Australia as it is in the US...or Canada.

If you've been paying attention, then you might have noticed that these conservatives are -- how should I phrase this? -- lying through their teeth!! They certainly wish to safeguard the freedoms of the elite, but they don't care too much for the freedoms of the rest of us.

Two of these freedoms -- the rights of free speech and assembly -- irritate them to no end. How are they supposed to rule the world with so many loud people in the streets? It is not fair to have their train of thought so rudely knocked off track!

Here in the US, city governments have been trying to clamp down on lawful protests for years by erecting a dizzying number of municipal regulations aimed at frustrating groups that wish to hold protests and demonstrations. Not to be outdone, the City of Montreal passed Bill 78 last week which, among other things, requires that

public demonstrations involving more than 50 people have to be flagged to authorities eight hours in advance, include itinerary, duration and time at which they are being held. The police may alter any of these elements and non-compliance would render the protest illegal.

Did you get that? What it basically comes down to is that you need a permission slip from the government in order to protest against it! Even worse, the government is allowed to change any of your plans and, if you refuse to abide by the changes, your protest becomes illegal.

Sadly, hundreds of thousands of Montreal residents didn't get the memo as they held a massive protest throughout the city on Tuesday. I think the message they sent came across loud and clear: You can take Bill 78 and shove it!

The Question of Who III

Trey Smith

The same kind of thing happens in the case of police and federal law enforcement officials. Increasingly militarized themselves, they are trained to believe not that their duty is to “protect and serve” or to uphold the nation’s freedoms and liberty, but rather that they are centurions tasked with enforcing “order” and protecting property -- generally government property and the property of the wealthy. The general public then becomes a kind of “enemy” to be subdued with whatever force is necessary. Those who stand up for their rights under the law are perceived as threats to the authority of the enforcers, and are dealt with as enemies, to be beaten, pepper-sprayed in the face, spied upon and locked up.
~ from So then Who in the Hell Are We? by Dan DeWalt ~

One of the most disturbing trends in American society over the past generation or so is the increasing militarization of our domestic police forces. These days it often can be hard to tell the difference between an urban police department and the US Army or Marines!

Just look at how most big city police forces have dealt with peaceful OWS protesters. The men and women in blue don bullet-proof vests and other types of body armor. They put on helmets with face protectors. They grab shields, billy clubs, guns, tasers and tear gas canisters. In some instances, drone aircraft and tank-like vehicles are held at the ready.

All of these forces and tools are marshaled to deal with a few hundred -- in some instances, thousands -- individuals who are doing little more than exercising their rights of free assembly and free speech. If the police respond this way to protesters who are predominantly peaceful and pose no threat to the health and safety of others, imagine what the response would be to a group of citizens who might plan to be a slightly less peaceful!

Why are the police allowed to intimidate and, in many cases, brutalize citizens who have broken no laws? This returns us to central idea behind dehumanization. When anyone who might disagree with the machinations of power is painted as a faceless threat to peace and security, the listless public subserviently looks the other way. Why standup for people who somehow don't really count?

Justice in America

As we have all seen, many of the people most responsible for the US and world economic recession have not served a day in jail nor paid one penny in fines. This hasn't happened because hardly ANY of them have been charged with a crime! Consequently, they continue to play Russian Roulette with the financial and physical lives of others, while being paid astronomical sums.

Tim DeChristopher didn't lead the world toward financial ruin. He doesn't work on Wall Street nor in the boardrooms of Corporate America. He hasn't illegally foreclosed on anyone's home and he hasn't speculated on the commodities most of the poor in this world depend on. DeCristopher was merely a college student moved to perform an act of civil disobedience based on his belief that certain governmental and corporate acts are hastening our mad dash toward irrevocable climate change.

What vile act did he commit?

As Bidder No 70 [at a government auction], DeChristopher disrupted what was seen as a last giveaway to the oil and gas industry by the Bush administration by bidding $1.8m (£1.1m) he did not have for the right to drill in remote areas of Utah.

In an ironic twist, "The Obama administration later canceled most of the sales, because of doubts about Bush's leasing plan," but the cancellations certainly didn't stop the government from prosecuting him. Yesterday, he was found guilty of an attempt to defraud the government. He was sentenced to two years in prison plus he was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

This case offers a clear indication of justice in America. Amoral corporations are allowed to rape and pillage the American people and landscape with impunity, yet few face ANY legal charges and, in those rare cases in which the government decides to come down on one here and there, they receive tepid wrist slaps and meager fines. On the other side of the ledger, a college student acting out of a sense of moral indignation is thrown in jail and hit with a significant fine.

And there is another aspect to this story that should make us proud of Tim DeChristopher. While corporate execs hide behind the rock of plausible deniability and rarely, if ever, admit to any degree of wrongdoing, DeChristopher never denied his actions. Whether you agree or disagree with what he did, he should be given his props for standing tall. More importantly, while others commit acts that injure or kill others, his act was symbolic and in no way injured anyone.

Tim DeChristopher makes me proud to call myself an American and a tree-hugger!