After a six-month wait, Judge Lisa Godbey Wood has set two dates at the end of May for sentencing the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 defendants who were found guilty on Oct. 24, 2019 for their nonviolent symbolic disarmament action at Kings Bay Naval Base.
On May 28th, Carmen Trotta of the NYC- St. Joseph House Catholic Worker, Mark Colville of the New Haven, Amistad Catholic Worker, and Clare Grady of the Ithaca Catholic Worker will be sentenced in the Southern District Federal Court of Brunswick, Georgia.
On May 29th, Fr. Steve Kelly, S.J. held for the last 2 years in GA county jails (and who would welcome notes from us on US Post Office postcards); Martha Hennessy of the NYC Mary House Catholic Worker, a granddaughter of Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement; Elizabeth (Liz) McAlister of Baltimore’s Jonah House and the widow of Phil Berrigan, and Patrick O’Neill of the Garner, N.C. Catholic Worker; will also be sentenced by the same court.
We will inform you of how sentencing may take place in the time of COVID-19 as we hear further details from the court. The arrival of the virus has brought delays to the whole process. These dates are all we know at this time. There is a possibility that they may be sentenced by video conferencing with the judge, but as of today, we don’t know. Supporters may not be allowed in the courtroom. The sentencing recommendations call for 15-21 months for Liz (already served 17mo.); 18-24 months for Martha; 21-27 months for Carmen, Clare, Patrick, and Mark; and 28-48 months for Fr. Steve (already served two years).
There are a number of petitions circulating calling for the release of vulnerable prisoners in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic causing widespread death in all prisons and jails. Here’s one you might support. Faithful America Petition, or join the RAPP Campaign,Release Aging Persons in Prison.
On March 23, the Tribune & Georgian announced the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Camden County. That same day, the U.S. Navy announced that it had awarded a contract for up to $592.3 million to prepare the Kings Bay Naval Base for the new generation of Trident nuclear submarines. The plan to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal is projected to cost as much as $2 trillion. Meanwhile, we are failing to keep people healthy and safe during the COVID-19 crisis. Clearly, our priorities have to change.
This April 4th was the second anniversary of the KBP7 action at the largest US nuclear submarine base in the world which houses has one-quarter of the US deployed nuclear weapons.. They chose to act on April 4th to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination to lift up his message to end the evil of the triplets, racism, poverty, and militarism, underlining that the triplets must always be eradicated together.
We recommend that you watch the specially prepared video from supporters if you didn’t see it earlier:
Video of Kings Bay Plowshares Second Anniversary Celebration
#VentilatorsNotBombs
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