arsenal.
Letters of support can be sent to Michele Naar-Obed, Western Tidewater Regional Jail, 2402 Godwin Blvd., Suffolk VA 23434.
After more than 16 months of abiding by their conditions, Naar-Obed determined to challenge this sanction and return home. She did this in April 1999. Federal marshals arrested her at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, June 21. She was held for a probation revocation hearing at 3 p.m. before Magistrate Judge James Bredar at the Garmatz Federal Building, Baltimore, Maryland.
The hearing dealt with the issue of transport to Norfolk for an appearance before Judge Rebecca Smith, the Judge who sentenced Naar-Obed. Naar-Obed won the right to travel to Norfolk with her family, over-riding Judge Smith's request that she be held in custody and transported by Federal Marshals.
The magistrate in Norfolk was prepared to release Naar-Obed at
the hearing on the morning of June 22, but was deterred by Judge Smith's
request for incarceration and solved the dilemma for himself by sending
Naar-Obed immediately before Rebecca Smith. At that hearing, the prosecutor
asked for her release and was upbraided by the judge. She then agreed to
release Naar-Obed on $50,000 bail with the following conditions: that
Naar-Obed
not engage in
any public protest,
not speak on
any talk shows,
not speak at
any public forum or medium,
remain in the
Eastern District of Virginia,
live at a residence
approved by the court,
turn in her
passport to the court,
report in person
twice a week, and
associate only
with law-abiding persons.
Michele refused the conditions and was remanded to jail. She will appear again before Judge Smith for a violation hearing on July 28, 1999.
Judge Smith justified her treatment of Michele by saying that she was
a danger to the community because she flaunted her conditions of probation;
that she was a danger to the community for going on talk shows, and that
she was a danger to the community for associating with persons who have
committed crimes. (Going on talk shows is, it would seem, a violation
of supervised release).
The Jonah House Community is infuriated with the federal probation
office in Baltimore, which, in refusing to allow Michele to return to her
home, added a level of punishment not imposed by the court at time of sentencing.
The community prays and works together, has a common purse, and has a long
history of nonviolent civil disobedience. The community, moreover, is convinced
the U.S. government is involved in criminal activity by disregarding international
law in refusing to disarm its nuclear
arsenal.
Letters of support can be sent to Michele Naar-Obed, Western Tidewater
Regional Jail, 2402 Godwin Blvd., Suffolk VA 23434.
