Mass Moment: Anti-War Activists Sentenced to Prison

July 10, 2010 by Marie Posted in Culture, Greater Lowell, History, Politics 1 Comment

Mass Moments – an electronic almanac of Massachusetts history- reminds us today that:

…in 1968, four men were sentenced to federal prison for counseling young men to refuse military service. Dubbed the Boston Five, the defendants included famed baby doctor Benjamin Spock and Yale Chaplain William Sloane Coffin. They had participated in a series of protests at which young men turned in or burned their draft cards to demonstrate their unwillingness to serve in the Vietnam War. Boston’s long history of opposing authority when it came into conflict with conscience and its large student population made the city fertile ground for the draft resistance movement. Although the movement in Boston had considerable strength, anti-war activists in general, and draft resisters in particular, faced hostility from people who believed that to defy the government was unpatriotic.

Read the full story here to get the historical context and more information on  “draft card burning”  in protest of the Vietnam War. Over the following years into the 1970s, other anti- war events took place in Massachusetts including the arrests of protesters on the Lexington Green. Read the story at “Mass Moments – May 30, 1971” here.

One Response to Mass Moment: Anti-War Activists Sentenced to Prison

  1. PeteinDC says:

    Pre-Trial Press Conference:
    8:30 AM, Monday, July 12
    In front of DC Superior Court, 500 Indiana Ave., NW, DC
    SPEAKERS:
    CINDY SHEEHAN (GOLD STAR MOTHER ACCUSED OF CROSSING A POLICE LINE)

    ELAINE BROWER (MILITARY FAMILIES SPEAK OUT ACCUSED OF DISORDERLY CONDUCT)

    MATTHIS CHIROUX (IRAQ VETS AGAINST THE WAR ACCUSED OF DISORDERLY CONDUCT)

    JON GOLD (PEACE OF THE ACTION, ACCUSED OF CROSSING A POLICE LINE)

    MARK GOLDSTONE (ONE OF THE LAWYERS FOR THE DEFENDANTS)

    AND OTHERS…

    ——

    Cindy Sheehan and Six More “Peace Criminals” Go on Trial
    Monday, July 12
    (Postponed from June 10)

    Attorney, Mark Goldstonehad this to say from Washington, DC as he is preparing for the trial.
    “On Monday, July 12, Cindy Sheehan, Iraq Veteran Matthis Chiroux and 4 other activists will go on trial, before a Judge of the DC Superior Court. They face relatively minor charges, but their trial raises the public outrage that the war in Iraq still goes on after 7 years – and the US invasion of Afghanistan is approaching its 9th year. A broad range of citizens and activists gathered in Lafayette Park on Saturday, March 20, to protest the US Government’s continuing wars in the Middle East – which only continue to destabilize the region, and to use America’s precious economic resources.”

    Cindy Sheehan agreed from her home in Oakland, Ca and had this to add: “We ‘Peace Criminals’ feel that it is necessary to perform civil disobedience because our nation continues to slaughter innocent people, despite a change in administration. We have the absolute right to perform acts of peaceful, non-violent civil disobedience, and the police and government have zero right to stop us.”

    Six of the defendants already spent 52 hours in jail for infractions and expect to be exonerated on 1st Amendment Grounds.

    PEACE OF THE ACTION is a 501c3 non-profit activist organization established with the goal of promoting the actionable awareness of, and the practical solutions for, a wide range of global challenges. We promote the use of Civil Resistance in reaching our goals.
    http://peaceoftheaction.org/