Steve Kelly and the final chapter of Disarm Now Plowshares prison time

Below is a brief report from Felice and Jack Cohen-Joppa of The Nuclear Resister about Steve Kelly’s hearing yesterday in Federal Court.

Yesterday’s hearing and Steve’s resulting final bit of jail time will bring to an end the prison journeys of Bill Bichsel, Susan Crane, Lynne Greenwald, Steve Kelly and Anne Montgomery, at least for the their common journey as the Disarm Now Plowshares.

These five peacemakers willingly and without reservation came together to commit an act of spirit-led resistance to the scourge of nuclear weapons, knowing the price they would pay. And pay they did; the state (or should I say empire) does not take kindly to those who question its imperial intentions, let alone those who embarrass it with their Plowshares actions.  With thanks to each of these people of steadfast faith, courage and conviction.

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Dear friends,Steve Kelly was given a 60 day sentence [both defense and prosecution asked for the minimum sentence] by Judge Settle for violating conditions of supervised release put in place at the end of his prison sentence for the Disarm Now Plowshares action. It’s expected he will be released in 9 days [around May 29th], since he’s been held in custody since a Good Friday arrest at Lockheed Martin in California, and gets credit for most of the time served… then his Disarm Now Plowshares file will be closed!

Attorney Blake Kremer, part of the legal team for the Disarm Now Plowshares, reports that there were eloquent statements in court made by Steve and supporters. Blake also forwarded a powerful legal brief written and filed with the court for the hearing by Steve’s standby counsel for the Plowshares trial, Roger Hunko [see the previous post at Disarm Now Plowshares].

Stay tuned – before long Steve will be able to eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, and enjoy the summer sunshine!

Peace,

Felice and Jack

Editor’s End Note: Here is an additional comment from Mira Leslie, who was present at court as a witness and supporter: Steve ‘s courage and presence is absolutely pure. He appealed emotionally to the judge to help abolish nuclear weapons.  There were about 15 supporters, and no doubt  Ann Montgomery was presente.