Greetings Disarm Now Plowshares Supporters!
In just over one month our dear Disarm Now Plowshares 5 – Anne, Bix,
Lynne, Steve and Susan – will walk into the Union Station Courthouse
in Tacoma once more, this time to face sentencing following their
conviction resulting from their November 2009 Plowshares action.
That grinding noise you may hear as you read this is from the wheels
of justice crushing the Constitution, as well as a number of
international laws and sovereign treaties to which the United States
is party to and which, by and large, our nation’s leaders ignore while
continuing to upgrade the nation’s nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons
research and production infrastructure, and delivery systems (Can you
say NEW ballistic missile submarine???).
Our courts are ill-equipped to deal with such matters even as so many
of us understand (as stated by Anabel Dwyer) “that planning,
preparing, and daily threatening to unleash the vast heat, blast and
radiation of even one of these [nuclear] weapons is grotesquely
unlawful according to existing law. Numerous treaties, fundamental
rules and principles of humanitarian law, human rights and
environmental law prohibit any threat or use of such weapons.”
Nuclear weapons in general and especially Trident are quite simply
ILLEGAL, and of course immoral.
So the Disarm Now Plowshares 5 will return to Judge Settle’s courtroom
on March 28th for sentencing, and certainly face the probability of
some serious jail time. But that will not be the end of this; guilty
verdicts and jail terms will not stop the Disarm Now Plowshares voices
from being heard, nor will it end our support of their efforts or our
continuing resistance to nuclear weapons and our work to abolish them.
We can support the Disarm Now Plowshares and their efforts to speak
truth to power in two ways as they approach sentencing. We can write
letters to Judge Settle on their behalf and if possible, be present
for their sentencing and the events leading up to it.
CLICK HERE for information on writing pre-sentencing letters of
support to Judge Settle. It will tell you everything you need to
know, including where to send your letters:
http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com/support-us/
Here is the schedule of events leading up to and including the March
28th sentencing. Please check the Disarm Now Plowshares Blog “Events”
page for the most current information. We will be sure to update that
page if anything changes or if there are any additions:
http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com/events/
—
SATURDAY MARCH 26 – 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. Vigil at the US Naval Base
Kitsap-Bangor Main (Trident Ave.) Gate.
SUNDAY MARCH 27 – 10:30 a.m. MASS AT ST. LEO CHURCH, 710 South 13th
St., Tacoma, Fr. Pat Lee, SJ, Oregon Provincial
SUNDAY MARCH 27 – 5:30 p.m. FESTIVAL OF HOPE AT ST. LEO CHURCH,
Potluck Dinner, Music by St. Leo’s Choir, Mooncoyne, Native American
Drummers. Speakers include BISHOP THOMAS J. GUMBLETON– longtime peace
activist and founding member of Pax Christi.
MONDAY MARCH 28 – 9:00 a.m. SENTENCING for all five Disarm Now
Plowshares co-defendants begins at the U.S. District (Union Station)
Courthouse, Tacoma. 8:00 a.m. Vigil in front of the Union Station
Courthouse in support of Disarm Now Plowshares. Come out and support
them!
You can call Bix at 253-304-6612 with questions or if you will be in
Tacoma and need hospitality, and be sure to check out the Disarm Now
Plowshares Blog for the most recent posts. You can also drop me an
email and I will be sure you get an answer to your question(s).
Peace,
Leonard Eiger
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action (Media & Outreach) www.gzcenter.org
Puget Sound Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (Coordinator) www.psnukefree.org
Disarm Now Plowshares (Media & Outreach)
http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com
Email: subversivepeacemaking@gmail.com
Blog: http://nuclearabolitionist.blogspot.com
Blog: http://subversivepeacemaking.blogspot.com