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The January 28, 2013 sentencing of three nuclear disarmament activists (one from Duluth) is fast approaching.

Supporters of the three are hosting a letter-writing event, Sat., Dec. 14, at the Central Hillside Community Center, 12E 4th Street, from 3 to 5 p.m.
The letter-writing campaign is hoping to see that US District Court Judge Amul Thapar does the right thing. The three radical pacifists, Sister Megan Rice, 83; former Army medic Greg Boertje-Obed, 57, of Duluth; and Vietnam Veteran Michael Walli, 63, have been held in federal custody awaiting sentencing since their disarmament trial last May.
Back in July 2012, the three snuck far inside one the most secure sites in the United States, if not the world: the Y-12 nuclear weapons production complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. With a lot of luck, combined with the shocking incompetence of the site security patrol, the three walked around inside for over an hour. They approached the fortress-like Highly Enriched Uranium building, and — considering the blood bath caused by the use of nuclear warheads, like those built at Y-12 — they spray-painted: “Woe to an Empire of Blood.”
For the cost of cleaning off the paint and of patching up three wire fences — but mostly for humiliating the National Nuclear Security Administration  — the three were convicted of “damage” to property and “sabotage,” the latter a felony that carries a possible max of 25 years in prison.
Michele Naar-Obed is married to Greg and in 1998 she wrote, “Maternal Convictions: A Mother Beats a Missile into a Plowshare.” She told me how she sees the letter-writing project. “It’s an opportunity, a gift so to speak, one last chance in the ‘system of injustice’ to turn the case around.” Michele said she wants to remind Judge Thapar that, “Trying to transform weapons of mass destruction, to expose the corruption that they are wrapped in, and to expose the laws that have been changed to protect the corporate warmongers is not an act of ‘terrorism.’”
Michele’s mention of “terrorism” is a reference to the judge’s decision last May to incarcerate the three (now for nine months). Prior to trial — from July 2013 and May 2013 — all three were allowed to walk free on a signature bond. During those months, they were even invited to testify at two Congressional hearings and visited Capitol Hill.
Suddenly, after trial, the judge decided all three were “threatening.” Because of vagueness in the sabotage statute, the judge ruled that the three life-long peace activists had to be treated as potential national security threats, “terrorists” even. The judge later reiterated this absurd position in ruling against a formal appeal.
“Close to 2000 letters and postcards from 41 US states, DC, Puerto Rico and nine foreign countries.”. Prominent among them is one from 1976 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire. Maguire described the dilemma Judge Thapar faces: How to treat three religious pacifists — one an 83-year-old nun — that federal prosecutors pretend can’t be distinguished from kidnappers or bomb builders.
Maguire wrote in part, “The court faces a great challenge — making a careful distinction between persons who act in clear conscience, guided by a moral vision, and others whose actions may be self-serving or maleficent in nature. In cases like these, the law is sometimes incapable of making such distinctions. The burden of seeking a just disposition then falls to the jurist who will render a sentence.”
Michele says, “So we are giving this judge another chance to demonstrate his humanity, and help chip away at the deadly lie of nuclearism.” The lie that says nuclear weapons and deterrence protect anything. The lie that declares modern hydrogen bombs are good for something.

The judge needs reminding that painting anti-war slogans is no cause for imprisonment. The Community Center gathering is free and open to everyone. For info, call Michele at 218-727-4051.