Courage, Truth, and Justice in Bangor, Maine
Courage, Truth, and Justice at Penobscot County Courthouse
October 15, 2003
After two of the most glorious autumn days ever... mild sunny days with the bluest of blue skies and leaves bringing forth a palette of bright and pale scarlets, oranges, and yellows, October reminded us for a few hours of what is to come. October 15 started with a cold sheet of rain and brisk winds that inverted people’s umbrellas while other folks ran from car to building or building to car with jackets over their heads. A veritable river of brown water and leaves ran down Hammond Street. The wind blew down many of the campaign signs of various candidates for Bangor city council, and for a while extinguished the traffic lights downtown.
At 8:15 on this blustery morning, Nancy Galland and Richard Stander climbed the slippery granite steps of the Penobscot County Courthouse for their day with the State of Maine justice system.
Nancy and Richard have been charged with "criminal trespass" for their actions at the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building in Bangor on March 20, 2003, the day American soldiers invaded Iraq.
Nancy and Richard were among a group of 12 people that included a teacher, a painter, a potter, a social worker, two retired farmers, a federal park ranger, and others, who had gone to the federal building on March 20 to present a petition to U.S. Susan Collins regarding their objections to the invasion of Iraq, and they hoped to be able to talk about the invasion to the senator or her staff.
The efforts of the group were thwarted, however, when they found out that though they had arranged an appointment to go to the senator’s office they were told that they could proceed only in groups of three. The group was shocked and puzzled at hearing this news because on previous occasions they had been granted access to congressional offices in groups of 10-15 people.
The group’s petition was delivered to Senator Collins’ office. While waiting for a response a security officer told Nancy, Richard, and the others that they had to leave. The group felt that they had a right to stay so they sat on the floor of the lobby of the building. The Bangor police were called; names were taken; arrests were made. Some members of the group left under their own power, others were dragged from the building, and some were carried.
On the stand the testimony of Nancy and Richard evoked figurative images of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and the Nuremberg Trials. When asked about members of the group linking arms or holding hands, Nancy said that she hadn’t been doing either of those two things because during her time in the building she had been holding up one of Jim Harney’s photos of a young Iraqi mother and her child. (See attached photo) And she held up the literal image of the mother and child to show the jury...and she continued to hold it up for the jury to see.
Usually in civil disobedience cases the judge will set fairly narrow boundaries on what can be said about the motivation of defendants. Judges don’t like speeches from the witness stand. It really was quite amazing to me. I have attended over two dozen trials at the Penobscot Superior Court since 1991; I even was a jury member on a murder trial a year and a half ago. I have read trial transcripts; I have read numerous accounts of civil disobedience cases, but I have never heard of defendants having as much of a chance to tell their side of the story as Nancy and Richard did.
We heard of the bombing of innocent Iraqi men, women, and children; we heard that the war was illegal and that millions of people in this country and around the world opposed it; we heard about congress’ giving up its power to declare war and giving that power to the president, and in effect, giving George Bush the power of a dictator. We heard about the importance of being "active citizens."
We heard about the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States of America.
At the end of the court session I walked up Court Street to my apartment. The driving rain had stopped; the wind had let up. The sun broke through the clouds and the leaves on the maple trees were bright orange and red.
Years ago I was at a teachers’ workshop in Portland, Maine. Our speaker was the American Bar Association’s Education Director; he said that if we wanted our students to learn about truth and justice that we shouldn’t bother taking them to a court room.
Well, in Bangor, Maine, today, we heard a great deal of truth from Nancy Galland and Richard Stander. Tomorrow we shall hear closing arguments and the judge’s instructions to the jury. The jury will deliberate for a time.......Then we shall learn about justice in the State of Maine.
October 15, 2003
After two of the most glorious autumn days ever... mild sunny days with the bluest of blue skies and leaves bringing forth a palette of bright and pale scarlets, oranges, and yellows, October reminded us for a few hours of what is to come. October 15 started with a cold sheet of rain and brisk winds that inverted people’s umbrellas while other folks ran from car to building or building to car with jackets over their heads. A veritable river of brown water and leaves ran down Hammond Street. The wind blew down many of the campaign signs of various candidates for Bangor city council, and for a while extinguished the traffic lights downtown.
At 8:15 on this blustery morning, Nancy Galland and Richard Stander climbed the slippery granite steps of the Penobscot County Courthouse for their day with the State of Maine justice system.
Nancy and Richard have been charged with "criminal trespass" for their actions at the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building in Bangor on March 20, 2003, the day American soldiers invaded Iraq.
Nancy and Richard were among a group of 12 people that included a teacher, a painter, a potter, a social worker, two retired farmers, a federal park ranger, and others, who had gone to the federal building on March 20 to present a petition to U.S. Susan Collins regarding their objections to the invasion of Iraq, and they hoped to be able to talk about the invasion to the senator or her staff.
The efforts of the group were thwarted, however, when they found out that though they had arranged an appointment to go to the senator’s office they were told that they could proceed only in groups of three. The group was shocked and puzzled at hearing this news because on previous occasions they had been granted access to congressional offices in groups of 10-15 people.
The group’s petition was delivered to Senator Collins’ office. While waiting for a response a security officer told Nancy, Richard, and the others that they had to leave. The group felt that they had a right to stay so they sat on the floor of the lobby of the building. The Bangor police were called; names were taken; arrests were made. Some members of the group left under their own power, others were dragged from the building, and some were carried.
On the stand the testimony of Nancy and Richard evoked figurative images of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and the Nuremberg Trials. When asked about members of the group linking arms or holding hands, Nancy said that she hadn’t been doing either of those two things because during her time in the building she had been holding up one of Jim Harney’s photos of a young Iraqi mother and her child. (See attached photo) And she held up the literal image of the mother and child to show the jury...and she continued to hold it up for the jury to see.
Usually in civil disobedience cases the judge will set fairly narrow boundaries on what can be said about the motivation of defendants. Judges don’t like speeches from the witness stand. It really was quite amazing to me. I have attended over two dozen trials at the Penobscot Superior Court since 1991; I even was a jury member on a murder trial a year and a half ago. I have read trial transcripts; I have read numerous accounts of civil disobedience cases, but I have never heard of defendants having as much of a chance to tell their side of the story as Nancy and Richard did.
We heard of the bombing of innocent Iraqi men, women, and children; we heard that the war was illegal and that millions of people in this country and around the world opposed it; we heard about congress’ giving up its power to declare war and giving that power to the president, and in effect, giving George Bush the power of a dictator. We heard about the importance of being "active citizens."
We heard about the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States of America.
At the end of the court session I walked up Court Street to my apartment. The driving rain had stopped; the wind had let up. The sun broke through the clouds and the leaves on the maple trees were bright orange and red.
Years ago I was at a teachers’ workshop in Portland, Maine. Our speaker was the American Bar Association’s Education Director; he said that if we wanted our students to learn about truth and justice that we shouldn’t bother taking them to a court room.
Well, in Bangor, Maine, today, we heard a great deal of truth from Nancy Galland and Richard Stander. Tomorrow we shall hear closing arguments and the judge’s instructions to the jury. The jury will deliberate for a time.......Then we shall learn about justice in the State of Maine.
posted by Rev. G. | 7:44 AM
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