Anti-war activists get prison terms
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©Copyright 1997 Guy Gannett Communications A federal judge Wednesday imposed prison terms ranging from six months to 27 months on three of the six anti-war protesters who vandalized a Navy destroyer at Bath Iron Works.
The others, including former Roman Catholic priest Philip Berrigan, were sentenced Monday.
U.S. District Court Judge Gene Carter on Wednesday sentenced Susan Crane, 53, of Ukiah, Calif., to 27 months, the longest prison term. Steve Baggarly, 31, of Norfolk, Va., received 13 months and Thomas P. Lewis-Borbely, 56, of Worcester, Mass., got six months.
Each of the six faces two years of supervised release after leaving prison and was ordered to pay $4,703.89, a one-sixth share of the roughly $28,000 in damage to the guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans.
Berrigan, 74, of Baltimore was sentenced to 24 months; Stephen M. Kelly, 48, of New York got 21 months, and Mark Colville, 36, of New Haven, Conn., 13 months.
The six were charged with destroying government property and conspiracy for the Feb. 12 incident in which they boarded the destroyer in the pre-dawn darkness, damaged the control panels with hammers and spilled blood onto the ship.
This week's court action did not deter a handful of other protesters, who were arrested Wednesday shortly before noon at Bath Iron Works on Commercial Street.
Jessica Stewart of Yarmouth and Audrey Stewart of Orono, both 18, were arrested and charged with criminal trespass, failing to disperse and obstructing a public way after they chained themselves to BIW's front gate, police said. The two women are also facing criminal mischief charges for splattering blood on a BIW sign, police said.
Gregory Phelan, 65, of Brunswick, Sean Donahue, 23, of Durham, N.H., and Anna Alloco, 23, of Barrington, R.I., are also facing criminal trespass charges, police said.
- A Mother Jones story from 1993 looks back at the Catonsville Nine protest and tracks the subsequent peace protests conducted under the name Plowshares.
- A jury-selection consulting firm uses the trial of Philip Berrigan as an example and offers a quiz:Who would you want to have on the jury if you were Berrigan's lawyer?
- Yahoo has a list of links to peace organizations.
- This "American Experience" site describes the background of the movement which brought Philip Berrigan to prominence in the 1960s.
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