• Greg Boertje-Obed, Michael Walli and Megan Rice are currently in the Irwin County Detention Facility in Ocilla, GA, awaiting their sentencing on September 23, 2013. The three were found guilty by a jury in Tennessee in May on two counts”Judge Amul Thapar revoked their pre-trial release saying they were technically guilty of a crime of violence and must be held.
There are two things you can do to support Michael, Megan and Greg.
One is to send letters to them. Here are the addresses:
Gregory Boertje-Obed 22090
Irwin County Detention Center
132 Cotton Drive
Ocilla GA 31774
Michael Walli 4444
Irwin County Detention Center
132 Cotton Drive
Ocilla GA 31774
Megan Rice 22100
Irwin County Detention Center
132 Cotton Drive
Ocilla GA 31774
You must make sure to include your entire return address on the outside of the envelope. No staples or paperclips can be included in your mail; no oversized envelopes. Magazines and books must be sent directly from the publisher or bookstore/Amazon. Photocopies of brief articles are likely to be permitted (based on our past experience). If you include inappropriate material or fail to comply with these rules, your mail will not get through”it will be returned to you.
The second thing you can do is send a letter to Judge Thapar. We have suggested guidelines for your letter, and we are asking people to send their letter not only to the Judge, but to Bill Quigley, lawyer for Mike Walli (address below), so they can be collected and delivered to the judge.
We want the judge to receive a steady stream of letters to keep this on his mind; we also want to have copies filed with Bill to be presented at the sentencing hearing. If you want to send a copy of your letter to us, that would be great”our address is also below.
• Invite Judge Thapar to think about sentencing in light of the fact that this was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience intended to awaken the conscience of the nation, and no evidence was presented that it was an act of terrorism meant to harm anyone. You could write that you share the court’s concern that Congress would write a law that wouldn’t allow a judge to distinguish between peace activists and terrorists, and are disturbed that the government defines the crime they stand convicted of as a violent “crime of terrorism”.
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/munger/2013/05/judge-rules-convicted-y-12-pro.html As testimony of the defendants showed during trial, they carried out their action in a spirit of nonviolence and hope.
• Without making it the focus of the letter, you could mention that the action was carried out with the clear understanding of the illegality and immorality of nuclear weapons, and intent to uphold higher laws. Read some of Ramsey Clark’s testimony at a pre-trial hearing re: the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and international law: http://transformnowplowshares.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/ramsey-clark-on-nuclear-weapons-and-update-on-charges/
• Encourage him to consider downward departures from the high guidelines for the charges, and to use his discretion at sentencing to bring more justice into the situation by recognizing that the defendants are NOT violent terrorists as the government has implied through its interpretation of the crime; and remind him of the intentions of the three nonviolent activists: to follow the words of the prophet Isaiah to beat swords into plowshares, and build a safer and more secure world for all.
Our purpose with these letters is not to reargue the case, nor is it to condemn nuclear weapons production”the judge is not engaging those issues at this time. Our purpose is to address the legal system’s distortion of the nonviolent action of the TNP resisters and to provide support to the judge for a sentencing decision that takes into account the nature of their action and their nonviolent behavior throughout their action.
Letters should be sent to:
The Honorable Amul R. Thapar
United States District Court
35 West Fifth Street
Covington, KY 41011
with a copy to:
US District Judge Amul R Thapar
c/o Professor Bill Quigley
Loyola Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice
7214 St. Charles Avenue
Campus Box 902
New Orleans, LA 70118
If you care to send a copy to OREPA we would appreciate it:
orep@earthlink.net, or
OREPA
P O Box 5743
Oak Ridge, TN 37831
