http://groups.google.com/group/National-CW-E-mail-List/browse_thread/thread/1188316221e5cc48
Ralph Hutchison <orep@earthlink.net>
Wed, May 11, 2011
Y12 Resisters Found Guilty; Eight Taken Into Custody Awaiting Sentencing
The outcome was never in doubt—the scales of justice were
tipped against the defendants long before the trial began. But the
prosecution had to work harder than they imagined, as the twelve Y12
Resisters mounted a vigorous defense, successfully putting US nuclear
policy on trial at several points, and challenging plans for a new
bomb plant in
In the end, the jury found them all guilty. Seven of the
defendants refused to continue under the terms of their pre-trial
supervised release; they were taken into custody at the close of the
trial, joining Bill Bichsel who was already in custody from a
Plowshares Action in
it become clear where they are. All twelve of the defendants will be
sentenced at a date to be determined.
The verdict came at the end of a long day in court; the
proceedings began at 9
some. In response to the court’s refusal to allow Mary Dennis Lentsch
to submit as evidence the sign she carried over the line on July 5
(which pointed out that continued weapons production at Y12 violated
international law, US Nonproliferation Treaty obligations and, by
virtue of the Supremacy clause of the Constitution, US law as well),
Mary Dennis, Ardeth Platte and Carol Gilbert arrived at the courthouse
an hour before court and stood gagged before the front door for
forty-five minutes. Behind them, David Dwyer held a sign that read
simply
Brad Lyttle led off the testimony and began with his life
story. Despite the judge’s repeated urgings that he move with haste to
something “relevant,” Brad calmly spoke of his amazing life of
resistance; of rooming with a Japanese American who had been interned
in the second world war, of playing tennis with Enrico Fermi (a better
physicist than tennis player, according to Brad), of going into
medical equipment manufacturing with a veteran of the Danish
resistance. From Gandhi, Brad said, he learned civil disobedience and
the responsibility to oppose injustice. His trip around the world
brought him to
breaking he described a visit to the cemetery there for
row upon row of crosses, and the cemetery guard who said he was the
first American visitor in more than a year. He told of anti-nuclear
demonstrations, anti-Vietnam war demonstrations, walking from San
Francisco to Moscow and leafletting the streets of Russia,
passed through
today the C B King federal courthouse is named after the African
American lawyer who represented the Freedom Riders. “Our demonstration
may have helped change things,” he noted.
Brad spoke of studying political science and attempted
three times to get papers he wrote on the probability of a nuclear
cataclysm; each time the papers were declared irrelevant by the judge.
Still, Brad told the jury nuclear weapons were almost certain to be
used, and used catastrophically. Finally the judge silenced Brad by
eliminating his arguments. Do you have anything else you’d like to
say, Mr. Lyttle? Brad answered
say, but I can’t. I went to
objection was sustained.
In cross-examination, the prosecutor managed to give Brad
one more chance to talk about the danger of nuclear weapons.
Attempting to get Brad to agree that Y12 needed tight security, Jeff
Theodore asked Brad if the materials Y12 houses were dangerous.
“That’s an understatement!” Brad declared. “They are catastrophicallly
dangerous!” But, argued the prosecutor, they have to keep them secure.
“Get rid of them!” Brad suggested, “then we’ll really be secure!” In
his closing Brad said he had a responsibility as a citizen to bring
the danger of nuclear weapons to the attention of all Americans. “They
can destroy us totally at any moment,” he said. When he got to,
“Society can be improved with certainty if all injustice is opposed
calmly,” the judge shut sustained another objection. “Is there
anything else, Mr. Lyttle?” asked Judge Guyton. “Why I can think of
all kinds of things,” said Brad, relishing the thought. “I didn’t mean
it that way,” Guyton said quickly. “Well, all right,” said Brad, and
he stepped down.
Beth Rosdatter was next on the stand. Her attorney, Wayne
Stanbaugh, presented her and she raised her hand for the oath. “Do you
swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?”
asked the court officer. “I promise I’ll tell nothing but the truth,”
said Beth, “but I can’t swear it will be the whole truth.”
Then she told the jury her story and her goal as a
philosophy and ethics instructor. “I think we’ve lost the ability to
talk about things that really matter like the moral or political
direction of our country,” she said.
In cross examining Beth, the prosecutor asked her if she
taught Aquinas, which Beth noted she had used in her classes. Asked if
Beth taught her students to break the law, she said, “No, but I do
teach about necessity, the idea that if someone is strangling their
wife, whether it is trespass or not to go in to stop him.” Asked if
the protesters who did not get arrested were ineffective, Beth said,
“It’s part of what citizen’s do, but not because of the first
amendment but the sixth, the citizens’ duty when the government is
breaking the law.
With that, the judge admonished all parties about
violating his order. The prosecutor then began questioning Beth about
whether or not she could pick which laws she wanted to follow. “No,”
Beth said. “This law did not apply?” asked the prosecutor. Beth looked
at the judge, aware of his admonishment. “You’re asking me a question
you don’t want me to answer,” she said. Seconds later she was off the
stand.
Steve Baggarly followed; he spoke of 25 years of service
as a Catholic Worker and his two boys. He launched into two brief
stories and began telling the story of a hibakusha (survivor of the
atomic bombings). As the first sentence ended, the prosecutor was on
his feet. “Objection,” he said and then, revealing his secret gift of
clairvoyance, he said, “I believe I can see where this is going.” The
judge decided to defer his ruling, and Steve continued, describing the
inferno of
Steve said he might proffer the stories and the judge said
he could accept them as a proposed exhibit, disallowed. “Doesn’t mean
anyone would get to read them?” asked Steve. “Not likely,” said the
judge. Steve went on to note Y12’s bomb would turn the world to hell,
noting the root word of terror is the same as deterrence. “We keep
fear alive as long as we keep nuclear weapons.” Steve urged people to
read Martin Luther King, Jr and Gandhi, and then he recounted Jesus’
unlawful acts—healing a man on the Sabbath—“and they went out
immediately to counsel to put him to death.”
“The no trespass law at Y12 is one of a web of laws used
to protect Weapons of Mass Destruction,” Steve said. “The laws and the
courts defend weapons for doomsday. The law is in the service of
death. My action at Y12 was to willfully do good in the service of
life.
And the defense rested. On cross examination, the
prosecutor attempted to spar with Steve, asking him if he planned to
go to
home,” noted Steve. Asked if it was unlikely that nuclear weapons
would be abolished Steve said, “People in
likely they would overthrow the leadership of their country.”
Dennis DuVall was last on the stand, and Robert Kurtz put
him through the paces. Prompted by his lawyer’s questions Dennis told
of traveling to
nations say they wanted to limit nuclear weapons but said they
couldn’t do it.
Unlike Mary Dennis, Dennis’ sign was returned to him and
put into evidence. The sign has a photo of Martin Luther King, Jr and
the words Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now. Dennis then went on to speak of
his respect for King as one of the reasons he went onto Y12 property.
Closing arguments started with the government’s display of
disjointed reasoning, “When it comes to nuclear weapons, it doesn’t
matter which side of the fence you are on—“ said Melissa Milliken at
one point.
Francis Lloyd made initial closing argument for the
defendants. “History is not begin famous,” said Lloyd, “You are
participating in history right now. History is made moment to moment.”
He argued the legal case for willful and closed with a
graphic description of
house, pulls his pistols and shoots the house down.
Mike Whalen quoted Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech about
seeing the promised land. Did Bix think crossing the line would end
nuclear weapons? No, but it’s a start. He recited the facts about the
cost of the new
the federal trough. “Bix saw it, “ Mike said. “He said, ‘Enough!’”
Brad Lyttle closing was concise—the danger is imminent and
total, so demonstration is warranted.
John Eldridge began his closing and ended it with a poem,
“One woman up, with dawn in her eyes, multiplies.” If you’ve been
awakened, he said, even a little bit, by her honesty, go to your jury
room and find her not guilty.
Erik Lutton laid out a legal argument about evidence on
the fence surrounding Y12, and Brad Henry read a passage from a Martin
Luther King sermon
conscience,” and noted that King called for a revolution of values
which will say ‘War is not just.’” My client and the others were not
doing this for themselves, he said, his voice dropping. They did it
for me. And for you. And for humankind. Jackie Hudson’s action, said
Brad, was the ultimate expression of her wisdom, her justice, and her
love.
Wayne Stanbaugh chided the government for suggesting the
protesters were playing a game. “This is no game. This is serious.
Look at these defendants. This is about their lives, and they took it
very seriously, and they exercised their civic duty to be at Y12 and
to do what they did.”
Steve Baggarly asked what it means to be human in a world
of extreme poverty where the military spends more than $3 million per
minute. “Every minute is important,” Steve said, “every minute we move
toward or away from the
sword and share bread,” Steve concluded.
Robert Kurtz asked the jury to use its common sense and
invoked Martin Luther King, Jr. who acted intentionally, he said, but
not with bad purpose. “I work up this morning and looked in the mirror,” said
Robert, “and I remembered something Mary Dennis had said. ‘I put my
life on the line,’ she said. I have to admire that.”
And it was over. The prosecutor attempted to cast
aspersions on witnesses which did not testify, suggesting they were
hiding. And she attempted to lump them with terrorists—“What territory
are we getting into here?” she asked, “Do you believe there are people
out there who want to harm
The jury was instructed, deliberated a little more than an
hour, and returned a verdict of guilty for each of the twelve
defendants. Seven of them
Carol Gilbert, Steve Baggarly, Jackie Hudson, and Jean Gump declared
they had no intention of continuing to accept supervised release
pending a sentencing hearing. They asked to report on Thursday morning
but were taken into custody by the federal marshals.
Sentencing was not scheduled.
Outside the courthouse that evening, a circle of voices
raised in song—Hold on, Bill Bichsel, hold on—keep your eyes on the
prize; hold on.
More information is available from Ralph Hutchison at 865 776 5050 or orep@earthlink.net
-------
Seven Nuclear Resisters in Federal Custody After 12 are Convicted of
Trespass at Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex - by John LaForge
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