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ELF RESISTERS JAILED |
For federal magistrate Stephen Crocker, punishment initially seemed pointless. Four of the five people he sentenced November 20 for trespass at Project ELF had already served from two months to two years behind bars for similar actions in the past. The fifth had once defended a disarmament activist in the same court, and despite the risks, had crossed the line and the nuclear submarine communication antenna with the others last May.
In his Madison, Wisconsin, courtroom, Crocker admitted that "I have no illusions that anything I do today will deter these five defendants, but I don't want to encourage others." He sentenced attorney John Bachman, Cory Bartholomew, Jane Hosking, John LaForge, and Jeff Leys to six months unsupervised probation and 85 hours community service.
"This is almost like a hug from the court," griped U.S. prosecutor Tom O'Shea.
"I'd love to be hugged," quipped Bartholomew, whereupon O'Shea rolled his chair over to the defendants table and exchanged a hug with the defendant.
Jane Hosking, Jeff Leys, and John LaForge refused to consider community service as punishment, so on April 25, Crocker went plainly punitive. Hosking and LaForge were sentenced to 60 days behind bars. Leys' recent month in Iraq was not acknowledged as community service, so he was given an additional 20 weeks to complete the sentence.
On February 3, seven more resisters faced trial in Magistrate Crocker's court. Crocker again dismissed arguments of faith, law, and conscience as irrelevant to the trespass charges, and found them all guilty. Six were fined $150, and the seventh, $300. At least four told the judge they would not pay, and await a new hearing.
Although local authorities no longer prosecute trespass at Project ELF, some cases still linger in litigation. Scott Mathern-Jacobson served nine days in the Ashland County, Wisconsin Jail in January for nonpayment of a Project ELF line-crossing fine. Newly married Molly and Jerry Mechtenberg-Berrigan turned themselves in at the same jail on February 14, each facing a sixty day sentence for refusing to pay $200 in ELF fines. They chose Valentine's Day in honor of the Saint's legacy. At a time when Claudius II believed unmarried conscripts would better serve his need for warriors than those with wives and families, Valentine lifted love above the warmaking power of the Roman state by marrying young lovers in defiance of the law. Perhaps touched by the spirit, the presiding judge affirmed the outstanding fines but vacated their jail warrants, and the Mechtenberg-Berrigans were released a few hours later.
John Heid completed a seven month sentence in federal prison on April 10 - one month for trespass at Project ELF, six for trespass at Ft. Benning/SOA.
For more information, contact Nukewatch, POB 649, Luck, WI 54853, (715)472-4185, nukewatch@lakeland.ws
