Bill Ofenloch
As reported in America, the “Kings Bay Plowshares 7” defendants, arrested for acts of civil disobedience intended to protest the nation’s continuing nuclear weapons program, were found guilty on Oct. 24 of four separate federal crimes. The activists are grandparents, parents and caregivers. Several of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, including Dorothy Day’s granddaughter, Martha…
Read More“When something difficult is attempted,” Daniel Berrigan said, “it is like trying to break a rock with an egg.” Berrigan, a Jesuit priest and social radical, who died in 2016, at the age of ninety-four, spent the last third of his life doing something difficult: trying, through protest, civil disobedience, and a steady stream of…
Read MoreDefendant urges this Court to set aside the conviction of either count two or three because in combination these convictions constitute multiple convictions for the same conduct and thus violate the constitutional protections against double jeopardy. On October 24, 2019, defendant was found guilty of four counts. This motion challenges the conviction of defendant on…
Read MoreIt is one of the abiding principles of American Exceptionalism that Americans, no matter what they do, are exempt from the Nuremberg Principles or most any other aspect of international laws against war crimes or crimes against humanity. Or as the US recently made clear: as far as any allegations of US crimes are concerned,…
Read MoreA Doubtful Proposition By Brian Terrell “Whether nuclear weapons are actually illegal under international or domestic law (a doubtful proposition) is not relevant or an appropriate issue to litigate in this case,” so ruled Judge Lisa Godbey Wood of the US District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, late on Friday October 18. This…
Read More“…You are the hope you have arrived to find.” So ended a brief message that Fr. Steve Kelly wrote from jail last month to be read to more than 100 friends and supporters. We had travelled from across the United States for a Festival of Hope on the eve of the trial of the Kings…
Read MoreDear Mainstream News Media – I’m talking to you, New York Times, Washington Post, MSNBC, CNN, and all your upstanding, highly professional conglomerate cohorts. Thank you one and all very, very much for not covering the trial of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7. Huh, you ask? Trial? Kings Bay? Plowshares 7? What Kings Bay Plowshares…
Read MoreOctober 24, 2019, Thursday – Judge Lisa Godbey Wood came into the courtroom at 9:37 to review the charge sheets and jury instructions with the lawyers. Bill Quigley entered a few objections into the record, and by 10:10 the jury was brought into court. Prosecution Closing Prosecutor Knoche presented the closing argument for the government.…
Read MoreThe KBP7 trial commences. The indictment is read to the jury: The U.S. vs. Stephen Kelly et al. Count 1: Conspiracy; Count 2: Destruction of government property; Count 3: Depredation of government property; Count 4: Trespass. Conspiracy is a charge they claim, in the truest sense of the word. Breathing together to enact the biblical…
Read MoreJury selection began at 9:00am on Monday October 21st, with seventy-two prospective jurors filling the courtroom; most audience members were seated on metal folding chairs in a specially-arranged small overflow room watching on a 32 inch screen. Despite several long signal interruptions, we were able to follow much of the proceedings. At 11:10am the judge…
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