Peace activists in court in D.C. on October 7, 2010 relating to arrests on September 26, 2006

Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore, 325 East 25^th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski at verizon.net

 

PRESS RELEASE-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   October 6, 2010

 

Contact: Max Obuszewski [410] 366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net

 

PEACE ACTIVISTS BACK IN D.C. SUPERIOR COURT FACING CRIMINAL CONTEMPT CHARGE

 

WHO: The Iraq Pledge of Resistance was formed for individuals willing to engage in nonviolent civil resistance to first prevent and later to protest the war in Iraq. The group  has been renamed the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR].

 

Pledge activists have repeatedly risked arrest to protest the war with Iraq.  On Sept. 26 & 27, 2006, for example, they joined with activists from around the country in protests organized by the Declaration of Peace aimed at urging Congress to cut off funding for the war in Iraq.  In response, religious and secular peace activists were denied access to their legislators and arrested on Capitol Hill.  The 71 peace activists arrested on Sept. 26 were charged with either “crossing a police line” or “unlawful assembly.”  The 26 citizens who were arrested outside the Rayburn House Office Building on Sept. 27 were charged with “unlawful assembly.”

 

WHAT:  The defendants were either prosecuted in a trial which concluded on Feb. 16, 2007 or on March 14, 2007.  Both trials were conducted by Chief Judge Rufus King III, and all but one protester were convicted and sentenced to pay a $50 assessment fee.  Eleven defendants, including Maria Allwine, the Green Party candidate for governor in Maryland, Michelle Grise, and Max Obuszewski, wrote letters to the judge to inform him that in good conscience they would not pay the fee. They felt they were unjustly convicted, and paying the fee would be an admission of guilt. On May 11, King held the activists in contempt, and was prepared to jail them.  However, once he was apprised of the law, the case was moved to be heard by Associate Judge John Ramsey Johnson.

 

Because the original convictions were appealed, the contempt case was on hold.  So it moved from Johnson’s docket to that of another judge.  By the time the appeal was denied, the contempt case was on Associate Judge Craig Iscoe’s docket.  Iscoe then held several hearings to prompt the defendants to pay the fee.  He was successful, as only Allwine, Grise and Obuszewski remain as defendants.

 

Lawyers representing Grise and Obuszewski argued that “crossing a police line” is not a serious misdemeanor, and the defendants cannot be compelled to pay the fee.  Iscoe ruled it was a serious misdemeanor, and that decision was appealed.  At an earlier status hearing, Iscoe wanted to proceed in the case even though his decision was appealed.   But objections were raised, so a hearing is scheduled to determine if case law allows the judge to proceed with the contempt case before the appeals court rules on his decision that “crossing a police line” is a serious misdemeanor.

 

WHEN:  Thursday, October 7, 2010 at noon

 

WHERE:  Courtroom 319, District of Columbia Superior Court, 500 Indiana Ave., NW, Washington, DC

 

WHY:  The original decision by Judge King to hold eleven activists in contempt in 2007 was held up as the convictions from the 2006 action were on appeal.  The decision on the appeal was not rendered until 2010.  In other words, the appeal held up any legal proceedings on the contempt charges against eleven defendants.

 

The defendants appealed Iscoe’s ruling that “crossing a police line” is a serious misdemeanor.  Three other judges decided not to proceed on the basis of the original conviction being appealed.  What is different which would allow Iscoe to take the case to trial despite a pending appeal?

 

Several attorneys have been involved in this case which started with arrests on September 26, 2006—Mark Goldstone, John Briley, Steve Polin and Ann Wilcox.  At this time, Polin is representing Grise, Briley, Obuszewski and Wilcox is acting as an attorney advisor to Allwine. 

 

It is difficult to predict what might happen at the October 7 hearing.  The defendants, though, expect Iscoe to eventually find them guilty of contempt at a trial.  It is unclear what might be the sentence, but Obuszewski is prepared to serve some time in the D.C. Jail.  Of course, the defendants could appeal a conviction of contempt.  So it remains very unclear when this legal saga will conclude.

 

While the case has been proceeding, many of the defendants have continued their anti-war activities.  For example, Obuszewski is scheduled for trial in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia after being arrested at the Pentagon on August 9.  He and three others from the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance are facing a charge of “failure to obey.”

 

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"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs