Laurentian Shield
Donna and Tom Howard-Hastings were paroled from home confinement in early August, the final phase of their sentence for the Earth Day, 1996, Laurentian Shield disarmament action at Project ELF in Wisconsin.
Gods of Metal Plowshares
The government lowered charges against the five Gods of Metal Plowshares, dropping felony charges and prosecuting only a misdemeanor count of willful destruction of property, less than $1000 damage. Trial for Fr. Frank Cordaro, Kathy Shields Boylan, Carol Gilbert, OP, Ardeth Platte, OP, and Fr. Larry Morlan has been set to begin at 9 a.m., September 22 in federal court, Greenbelt, Maryland. On May 17, the 30th anniversary of the Catonsville Nine anti-draft action, the five began disarming a B-52 strategic bomber during a public air show at Andrews Air Force Base. They are free on their own recognizance. A Festival of Hope begins with dinner at 6 p.m. on Monday evening, September 21, at Greenbelt Community Church, Greenbelt, Maryland. For details & overnight accommodations call Reba or Scott at Dorothy Day Catholic Worker community in Washington, D.C., (202)882-9649 or 829-7625.
Prince of Peace Plowshares
Phil Berrigan's visitation privilege was restored in June, 90 days after it was suspended because a visiting Nobel Peace Laureate, Mairead Maguire from Northern Ireland, refused to leave the prison following her February 16 visit with Berrigan to protest threatened U.S. attacks on Iraq. Susan Crane continues to serve her sentence in California, while Steve Kelly, SJ, remains generally uncooperative with authorities but content with "God's gift of time," locked down in a federal prison in Pennsylvania. Persistent eye problems were finally addressed after supporters pressed for an opthamological exam that disclosed a cataract. Laser surgery is a possibility.
Berrigan, Crane, and Kelly's three co-defendants from the February, 1997 disarmament of an Aegis destroyer at the Bath Iron Works shipyard, all fathers of young children, living in communities serving the poor, are wrestling with their own dilemmas over the subject of paying restitution. Steve Baggarly's restitution was paid and he is reporting by mail from his home at the Norfolk (Virginia) Catholic Worker to his probation officer in Maine. Mark Colville has been assured that their sentencing judge will soon return from vacation and summon him to Maine for a hearing in September regarding his reasons for refusing to pay restitution. Tom Lewis-Borbely had agreed to a payment plan but has yet to pay, and likewise expects to be summoned before the judge sometime in September to explain his action.
Letters
of support may be sent to Philip Berrigan, Susan Crane, and Steve Kelly,
SJ, at the addresses shown in Inside
& Out.
April Fool/Silo Pruning Hooks
On July 10, Fr. Carl Kabat was released on parole, having reached the maximum release date of a probation violation sentence. After completing his prison sentence for the November, 1984 Silo Pruning Hooks disarmament action in Missouri, Kabat violated probation when he was arrested at a North Dakota nuclear missile silo on Good Friday, April 1, 1994, dressed as a clown - a "fool for Christ" - and disarming the silo cover with hand tools. Kabat served a North Dakota prison sentence first, and was then handed over to federal authorities to complete the sentence for probation violation.
Because of his steadfast refusal to pay restitution for the weapons he has disarmed, Kabat had difficulty establishing an approved parole plan. He was compelled to agree to placement in a Kansas City half-way house. He arrived in Kansas City July 11, expecting to spend six to nine months there, and deal with pressure to take paid employment to pay restitution. Fortunately, his new parole officer in Kansas City accepted a plan offered by Kabat's brother Bob, and the priest was released to his brother's home in Illinois on July 23. Kabat reports it is great to be out of prison!
The Nuclear Resister will forward correspondence to Kabat at his new address.
