BALTIMORE
NAGASAKI COMMEMORATION
For the 35th year, the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration
Committee will remember the atomic bombings of Japan on August 6 & 9, 1945,
which killed more than 200,000 people. It has been 74 years since these
awful events occurred. Other organizations involved in the commemorations will
be Homewood Friends Meeting, Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility,
Prevent Nuclear War/Maryland and the Baltimore Nonviolence Center.
NAGASAKI COMMEMORATION on Friday, August 9, 2019
5 to 6 PM Join the Friday peace
and justice vigil organized by Homewood Friends Meeting, 3107 N. Charles St.,
Baltimore 21218.
6:15 PM Savor a potluck dinner with members of the peace and justice
community in the basement of Homewood Friends Meetinghouse. Bring a dish
to share, and consider reading a poem or performing some music. Remember the
work of Dr. Dick Humphrey.
7:15 PM Les Bayless of the Silver
Spring Three will speak on the 50th anniversary of a remarkable draft board
raid. Patrick O’Neill, a member of the Kings Bay Plowshares, will discuss the
current legal situation for the seven Roman Catholic activists, including
Elizabeth McAlister, arrested at a Trident Submarine Base in Georgia on April
4, 2018. McAlister has been imprisoned since the arrest. The evening will be
dedicated to showing the link between an earlier time’s draft board raids and
today’s anti-nuclear Plowshares movement.
RSVP
at mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net or 410-323-1607.
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST
7, 2019
CONTACTS:
Mary Anne Grady Flores, Ithaca, NY, 607-280-8797, gradyflores08@gmail.com Bill
Ofenloch, NYC, 212-369-1590, billcpf@aol.com
Federal
Judge Hears Kings Bay Plowshares' Motion to Dismiss Charges Under RFRA
BRUNSWICK,
GA – The Kings Bay Plowshares 7 in federal court today made oral arguments
concerning the denial of the pre-trial motions to dismiss the charges against
them. Appearing for the first time before Judge Lisa Godbey Wood, who
will be the trial judge, four of the pro-se defendants and two of the lawyers
spoke about why they felt Magistrate Benjamin Cheesbro had improperly ruled
against them after two days of hearings last November. The main focus of
today’s hearing was the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which is
being used for the first time in a case like this.
Defendants
were only given 90 minutes for all arguments. The government used 30 minutes of
its allotted time. The courtroom was packed with more than 60 supporters
inside, including actor and activist Martin Sheen, and 25 were kept outside for
lack of space.
It
was the first time this year that the three defendants still incarcerated in
the Glynn County jail for 16 months, Mark Colville, Fr. Steve Kelly, SJ, and
Elizabeth McAlister, saw their codefendants. They have been prevented
from in-person legal preparation since last November.
Stephanie
McDonald, attorney for Martha Hennessy, began by arguing that the government
failed to meet its obligations under RFRA. The law requires that there be
specific and individual consideration for each defendant’s beliefs and actions.
Defendant
Clare Grady said that the government’s attempted criminalization of the
defendants' religious practice is not only an undue substantial burden but is
also a violation of RFRA, the law of the land. Mark Colville, Patrick O’Neill,
and Carmen Trotta also spoke in court.
Bill
Quigley, attorney for Elizabeth McAlister, began the closing argument by
reminding the court of the bedrock religious belief “Thou shalt not kill.” He
summed up his comments by noting that the atrocities committed by Hitler and
Stalin would pale in comparison were the Trident nuclear weapons ever
used. He said, “In 30 minutes after launch millions of innocent people
would be killed."
The
judge invited additional motions be submitted within a week to arguments made
today. She indicated that she would give thoughtful attention to these complex
issues, and if necessary, would promptly schedule a trial.
###
EMAIL:
Media: kbp7media@gmail.com
General:
kingsbayplowshares@gmail.com
WEBSITE:
www.kingsbayplowshares7.org
INSTAGRAM:
https://instagram.com/kingsbayplowshares7
--
Mary
Anne Grady Flores
Ithaca,
NY 14850 1-607-280-8797
Ithaca
Catholic Workers / Los Obreros Catolicos de Ithaca
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