- from Norfolk
by Michele Naar-Obed

On July 29, 1999, I once again appeared before the notorious Judge Rebecca Smith in Norfolk, Virginia federal district court. I say notorious because she is known for her harsh sentences, lack of compassion, and outbursts of verbal abuse during trials. The charges - leaving the district of Minnesota without permission from a probation officer and associating with felons. In other words, I went home to the Jonah House community. The sentence - 12 months prison.

From the time I was released from prison for the Jubilee Plowshare East action, our community tried to get the Baltimore federal probation department to accept supervision of my probation. They refused to allow me to live at Jonah House, an unprecedented condition. As we began to look deeper, it became apparent that this tactic was an attempt to break up our community. After 17 months of seeking recourse and basically complying with the forced exile by taking refuge at the Loaves and Fishes Catholic Worker in Duluth, Minnesota, my family and I returned home.

Ramsey Clark came down to Norfolk to help and made a rather astounding analogy with the plight of South Africans who were under apartheid. Our fight against nuclearism/militarism is like the South African fight against apartheid. The injustice/oppression by the probation departments and courts is like what South Africans termed "mini-apartheid" or apartheid within apartheid. They experienced banishment, exile, and separation from families in an attempt to terrorize activists and weaken their resolve to fight the bigger apartheid.

The editorial in the "Virginian Pilot" compared this situation with one that would be common in a totalitarian state and suggested that "the federal courts stop using probation as a tool for limiting dissent." It's amazing how we become more like the countries we criticize, and worse yet sanction, because of their abuse of human rights.

Like South Africans who were able to stay focused on apartheid, I believe we need to stay focused on the oppression that "the bomb" puts us under and not let our government's tactics intimidate us or weaken our resolve. I do, however, feel good about our exposure of the courts and probation offices because it helped break down the illusion that this is a just and democratic nation. Mainstream Americans were appalled. Maybe more will be willing to stand up and say enough.