Bangor Judge, Too, Recognizes Importance of Civil Disobedience
by Nancy Galland and Richard Stander
Judge Alan Hunter leaned over and peered at us above his glasses: "As I
remember, it wasn't you who weren't ready for a sentence two weeks ago. It
was I who needed more time. In fact, this is the most difficult sentencing
I've ever had to do." Our pro-bono lawyers, Lynne Williams and Phil Worden,
who have defended most of the recent CD cases in Maine, glanced at each
other nervously. We were facing the possibility of a thousand dollar fine
each for criminal trespass at the Federal Building in Bangor for refusing to
leave the building when ordered to by the Bangor Police Department.
On March 20, 2003, we joined thousands across the country and hundreds here
in Maine in acts of civil disobedience as a last resort response to the
beginning of Bush's "Shock and Awe" bombing of Baghdad. When the security
guards at the Bangor Federal Building invoked the rule of "only three at a
time," we insisted on our First Amendment Right to enter Sen. Collins'
office as a whole group. Then we sat down in the lobby to wait for an answer
to our demands from the Senator. The arrests went smoothly, and
respectfully. "You have your job to do and we have ours," one of the
officers said. We decided to go to trial to put to the test our insistence
that our rights were violated.
The consistent support of our strong affinity group and the entire peace and
justice community during the whole process buoyed us up along the way.
We knew that District Attorney Chris Almy was happy when we were found
guilty of the charge by a jury of twelve. He claimed this was a "frivolous
waste of the state's resources," and was determined to discourage protesters
from future use of the court in this way.
But Judge Hunter is a courageous man, a man unafraid to tell it like he sees
it, even in this charged atmosphere of the Patriot Act and "Homeland
Security." On the sentencing day, November 1, 2003, he took 20 minutes to
explain why this was in fact an important case, and that it made the best
use of the court system and was not frivolous. "From time to time in our
history, we see events that involve civil disobedience that make us all
uncomfortable. I'm not sure that's a bad thing." He placed our action in the
context of other historic acts of civil disobedience, including the protests
of the 60's; he invoked the names of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King. He
took the DA's attempt to paint us as rabid radicals with a history of 30
years of protesting, and turned it on its head by saying how remarkable it
was that in 30 years of protesting, this was the first time we had been
charged with a crime. And then he gave us a lower sentence than what our
attorneys had recommended ‹ 20 hours of community service, waving his hand
as if dismissing a fly from his papers.
This was a pebble dropped in a pond, and the circles are still spreading out
from it. We know of reports from San Francisco, Minneapolis, and even
Alsace, France where the story that a judge in Maine recognized the
importance of civil disobedience has reached incredulous ears.
We should take heart from this, because it's how change happens. Just listen
to the people in the Republic of Georgia, in the former Soviet Union, who at
this moment are taking to the streets by the hundreds of thousands
protesting the fraudulent elections whose results they refuse to accept.
Would that we had done that three years ago.
Back to Peace Talk Index,
Winter, 2003 - 2004