by Eileen Hanson
Today’s hearing before Judge Magistrate Stephen Crocker in US District Court was a re-sentencing motion filed by the government against the two for failure to pay the $75 fine imposed by the court in a bench trial last January. Judge Crocker began by hearing from Terrell on his motion opposing the re-sentencing. Terrell argued that it would be improper to impose a jail sentence at this stage since jail was not a sentence that could have been imposed at the time of the original sentencing under the Monroe County trespassing ordinance. (In the bench trial before Judge Crocker in January 2009, for instance, defendants were not offered representation by public counsel, specifically because jail time was not a potential consequence for the alleged crime.)
Further, Brollier and Terrell contested the government’s contention that “alternatives to jail are not sufficient deterrence”. Terrell spoke eloquently about the example of friends and mentors like Dorothy Day, Daniel and Phillip Berrigan and Daniel Ellsberg. He noted that “putting these people in chains and locking them in cages” served not as a deterrent to him and others, but rather as an inspiration to act with similar courage.
Brollier noted that their actions of August 8, 2008 did not take place in a vacuum and that the state of the world must be considered along with their actions. It is not permitted to yell fire in a crowded theater if there is no fire. But if there is a fire, we are duty bound to alert people to the danger.
Both defendants agreed that they were not seeking to go to jail, but were willing to do so, in part, to stand in solidarity with those who have no such choice. Speaking from recent experience in Washington DC city jail where Terrell met inmates who were unable to pay even a small fine to get out, he said “in a world where jails exist and some can pay and walk away while others cannot pay and their lives are ruined, I would rather go to jail”.
After Judge Crocker declared the sentence of 14 days, both defendants stated a preference to begin serving that time immediately. Brollier said he would “rather get this done and get back to the important work of resisting these wars and also to alleviating the suffering” that is so often the result. The two were escorted out by federal marshals to begin serving their sentence in Dane County jail.
