Podcasts about Catonsville Nine

Vandalism at draft board offices as U.S. involvement in Vietnam was escalating was deeply divisive. Opponents of the war were stereotyped as dirty hippies and sanctimonious white college kids, but the anti-Vietnam-war movement in the U.S. was really broad. Research: "Statement: the Boston Eight" Newsletter. ULS Digital Collections. https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735058194170 “Draftees ‘Lost’ in Raids Immune for January.” Boston Globe. 12/10/1969. “Draftees ‘Lost’ in Raids Immune for January.” The Boston Globe. 12/10/1969. “Hardy Rites Tomorrow.” Camden Courier-Post. 10/4/1971. Arnold, Hillel. “Draft Board Raids.” https://hillelarnold.com/draft-board-raids/ Associated Press. “Testify FBI Had Role in N.J. Break-in.” De Moines Register. 5/21/1973. Astor, Maggie. “Their Protest Helped End the Draft. 50 Years Later, It’s Still Controversial.” New York Times. 5/19/2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/19/us/catonsville-nine-anniversary.html Berrigan, Frida. “50 years later, the spirit of the Catonsville Nine lives on.” Waging Nonviolence. 5/16/2018. https://wagingnonviolence.org/2018/05/catonsville-nine-50-years-later/ Cassie, Ron. “Trial by Fire.” Baltimore. May 2018. https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/historypolitics/50-years-ago-catonsville-nine-sparked-national-wave-of-vietnam-war-resistance/ Dear, John. “The Camden 28.” National Catholic Reporter. 9/18/2007. https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/road-peace/camden-28 Enoch Pratt Free Library. “Fire and Faith: The Cantonville Nine File.” 2005. http://c9.digitalmaryland.org/ Fisher, James T. “Debating 'The Camden 28': A scholar and an activist discuss a new film about the Catholic Left.” America: The Jesuit Review. 9/17/2007. https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/625/100/debating-camden-28 Fisher, James T. “Debating 'The Camden 28': Activist nuns, punk rock and the demise of the Catholic Left.” America: The Jesuit Review. 9/17/2007. https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/625/100/debating-camden-28-0 Friedman, Jason. “Draft Card Mutilation Act of 1965.” Free Speech Center. 7/2/2024. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/draft-card-mutilation-act-of-1965/ Giacchino, Anthony, director. “Camden 28.” PBS Point of View. 2007. Gilette, Howard Jr. “Camden, New Jersey.” The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/camden-new-jersey/ Greenberg, Kyrie. “Camden 28 revisit court where they were tried for ’71 break-in to protest Vietnam War.” WHYY. 12/6/2018. https://whyy.org/articles/camden-28-revisit-court-where-they-were-tried-for-71-break-in-to-protest-vietnam-war/ Hammond, Linda C. “FBI Says Informer Was Paid $7500.” Courier-Post. 5/30/1973. Hardy, Robert. “Affidavit.” Via Camden28.org. Kroncke, Francis X. “RESISTANCE AS SACRAMENT.” http://www.minnesota8.net/Kroncke/essays/resistance.htm Lacy, Tim. “The Media Raiders: The FBI, Hoover, and the Catholic Left.” Society for U.S. Intellectual History. https://s-usih.org/2024/12/media-raiders-fbi-hoover-catholic-left/ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Photos: The Milwaukee 14 - a fiery '68 protest against the Vietnam War.” 9/20/2016. https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/life/2016/09/20/photos-the-milwaukee-14---a-fiery-68-protest-against-the-vietnam-war/90517276/ Mische, George. “Inattention to accuracy about 'Catonsville Nine' distorts history.” National Catholic Reporter. 5/17/2013. https://www.ncronline.org/news/justice/inattention-accuracy-about-catonsville-nine-distorts-history Nelson, Paul. "Minnesota Eight." MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. http://www.mnopedia.org/group/minnesota-eight Nelson, Paul. “The Minnesota Eight’s attempts to destroy draft files during the Vietnam War were mostly unsuccessful.” MNopedia via MinnPost. 6/15/2020. https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2020/06/the-minnesota-eights-attempts-to-destroy-draft-files-during-the-vietnam-war-were-mostly-unsuccessful/ Nixon, Richard M. “The Great Silent Majority.” https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/nixon-silent-majority-speech-text/ Norland, Rod. “Camden 28 Trial Looks to Juror No. 10.” The Philadelphia Inquirer. 5/20/1973. O’Farrell, Sean. “Milwaukee Fourteen.” Encyclopedia of Milwaukee. https://emke.uwm.edu/entry/milwaukee-fourteen/ Presbrey, Paul. “Draft Vandalism Willful? Jury Hears Father’s Beliefs.” Minneapolis Star. 12/2/1966. Roden, Renee. “Book paints the Camden 28 as 'Spiritual Criminals.' But were their actions effective?” National Catholic Reporter. 2/22/2025. https://www.ncronline.org/culture/book-reviews/book-paints-camden-28-spiritual-criminals-were-their-actions-effective Rothman, Lily. “This Photo Shows the Vietnam Draft-Card Burning That Started a Movement.” Time. 10/15/2015. https://time.com/4061835/david-miller-draft-card/ Sadowski, Dennis. “After 50 years, draft board protesters insist what they did was right.” National Catholic Reporter. 9/1/2018. https://www.ncronline.org/news/after-50-years-draft-board-protesters-insist-what-they-did-was-right Silver, Maayan. “Member Of The Milwaukee 14 Reflects 50 Years After Draft Card Burning.” WUWM. 9/25/2018. https://www.wuwm.com/podcast/wuwm-news/2018-09-25/member-of-the-milwaukee-14-reflects-50-years-after-draft-card-burning Stanford University Libraries. “The Berrigans & the Catonsville Nine, 1968-1972.” https://exhibits.stanford.edu/fitch/browse/the-berrigans-the-catonsville-nine-1968-1972 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Lyndon B. Johnson". Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Mar. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lyndon-B-Johnson. Accessed 20 March 2025. The Harvard Crimson. “Six Draft Boards Raided; Paint Thrown on Records.” 11/10/1969. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1969/11/10/six-draft-boards-raided-paint-thrown/ Walsh, Lori. “The Camden 28: Standing Against The Vietnam War.” SDPB. 9/8/2017. https://www.sdpb.org/margins/2017-09-08/the-camden-28-standing-against-the-vietnam-war Zinn Education Project. “Aug. 21, 1971: Anti-war Protesters Raid Draft Offices.” https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/anti-war-protesters-raid-offices/ Zunes, Stephen and Jesse Laird. “The US Anti-Vietnam War Movement (1964-1973).” International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. January 2010. https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/us-anti-vietnam-war-movement-1964-1973/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The draft board raids were part of an antiwar movement, largely grounded in Catholic religious convictions, that spanned almost four years. Part one covers the basic context of the Vietnam War and why the U.S. was involved in the first place, and the earliest raids on draft boards. Research: "Statement: the Boston Eight" Newsletter. ULS Digital Collections. https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735058194170 “Draftees ‘Lost’ in Raids Immune for January.” Boston Globe. 12/10/1969. “Draftees ‘Lost’ in Raids Immune for January.” The Boston Globe. 12/10/1969. “Hardy Rites Tomorrow.” Camden Courier-Post. 10/4/1971. Arnold, Hillel. “Draft Board Raids.” https://hillelarnold.com/draft-board-raids/ Associated Press. “Testify FBI Had Role in N.J. Break-in.” De Moines Register. 5/21/1973. Astor, Maggie. “Their Protest Helped End the Draft. 50 Years Later, It’s Still Controversial.” New York Times. 5/19/2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/19/us/catonsville-nine-anniversary.html Berrigan, Frida. “50 years later, the spirit of the Catonsville Nine lives on.” Waging Nonviolence. 5/16/2018. https://wagingnonviolence.org/2018/05/catonsville-nine-50-years-later/ Cassie, Ron. “Trial by Fire.” Baltimore. May 2018. https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/historypolitics/50-years-ago-catonsville-nine-sparked-national-wave-of-vietnam-war-resistance/ Dear, John. “The Camden 28.” National Catholic Reporter. 9/18/2007. https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/road-peace/camden-28 Enoch Pratt Free Library. “Fire and Faith: The Cantonville Nine File.” 2005. http://c9.digitalmaryland.org/ Fisher, James T. “Debating 'The Camden 28': A scholar and an activist discuss a new film about the Catholic Left.” America: The Jesuit Review. 9/17/2007. https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/625/100/debating-camden-28 Fisher, James T. “Debating 'The Camden 28': Activist nuns, punk rock and the demise of the Catholic Left.” America: The Jesuit Review. 9/17/2007. https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/625/100/debating-camden-28-0 Friedman, Jason. “Draft Card Mutilation Act of 1965.” Free Speech Center. 7/2/2024. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/draft-card-mutilation-act-of-1965/ Giacchino, Anthony, director. “Camden 28.” PBS Point of View. 2007. Gilette, Howard Jr. “Camden, New Jersey.” The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/camden-new-jersey/ Greenberg, Kyrie. “Camden 28 revisit court where they were tried for ’71 break-in to protest Vietnam War.” WHYY. 12/6/2018. https://whyy.org/articles/camden-28-revisit-court-where-they-were-tried-for-71-break-in-to-protest-vietnam-war/ Hammond, Linda C. “FBI Says Informer Was Paid $7500.” Courier-Post. 5/30/1973. Hardy, Robert. “Affidavit.” Via Camden28.org. Kroncke, Francis X. “RESISTANCE AS SACRAMENT.” http://www.minnesota8.net/Kroncke/essays/resistance.htm Lacy, Tim. “The Media Raiders: The FBI, Hoover, and the Catholic Left.” Society for U.S. Intellectual History. https://s-usih.org/2024/12/media-raiders-fbi-hoover-catholic-left/ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Photos: The Milwaukee 14 - a fiery '68 protest against the Vietnam War.” 9/20/2016. https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/life/2016/09/20/photos-the-milwaukee-14---a-fiery-68-protest-against-the-vietnam-war/90517276/ Mische, George. “Inattention to accuracy about 'Catonsville Nine' distorts history.” National Catholic Reporter. 5/17/2013. https://www.ncronline.org/news/justice/inattention-accuracy-about-catonsville-nine-distorts-history Nelson, Paul. "Minnesota Eight." MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. http://www.mnopedia.org/group/minnesota-eight Nelson, Paul. “The Minnesota Eight’s attempts to destroy draft files during the Vietnam War were mostly unsuccessful.” MNopedia via MinnPost. 6/15/2020. https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2020/06/the-minnesota-eights-attempts-to-destroy-draft-files-during-the-vietnam-war-were-mostly-unsuccessful/ Nixon, Richard M. “The Great Silent Majority.” https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/nixon-silent-majority-speech-text/ Norland, Rod. “Camden 28 Trial Looks to Juror No. 10.” The Philadelphia Inquirer. 5/20/1973. O’Farrell, Sean. “Milwaukee Fourteen.” Encyclopedia of Milwaukee. https://emke.uwm.edu/entry/milwaukee-fourteen/ Presbrey, Paul. “Draft Vandalism Willful? Jury Hears Father’s Beliefs.” Minneapolis Star. 12/2/1966. Roden, Renee. “Book paints the Camden 28 as 'Spiritual Criminals.' But were their actions effective?” National Catholic Reporter. 2/22/2025. https://www.ncronline.org/culture/book-reviews/book-paints-camden-28-spiritual-criminals-were-their-actions-effective Rothman, Lily. “This Photo Shows the Vietnam Draft-Card Burning That Started a Movement.” Time. 10/15/2015. https://time.com/4061835/david-miller-draft-card/ Sadowski, Dennis. “After 50 years, draft board protesters insist what they did was right.” National Catholic Reporter. 9/1/2018. https://www.ncronline.org/news/after-50-years-draft-board-protesters-insist-what-they-did-was-right Silver, Maayan. “Member Of The Milwaukee 14 Reflects 50 Years After Draft Card Burning.” WUWM. 9/25/2018. https://www.wuwm.com/podcast/wuwm-news/2018-09-25/member-of-the-milwaukee-14-reflects-50-years-after-draft-card-burning Stanford University Libraries. “The Berrigans & the Catonsville Nine, 1968-1972.” https://exhibits.stanford.edu/fitch/browse/the-berrigans-the-catonsville-nine-1968-1972 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Lyndon B. Johnson". Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Mar. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lyndon-B-Johnson. Accessed 20 March 2025. The Harvard Crimson. “Six Draft Boards Raided; Paint Thrown on Records.” 11/10/1969. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1969/11/10/six-draft-boards-raided-paint-thrown/ Walsh, Lori. “The Camden 28: Standing Against The Vietnam War.” SDPB. 9/8/2017. https://www.sdpb.org/margins/2017-09-08/the-camden-28-standing-against-the-vietnam-war Zinn Education Project. “Aug. 21, 1971: Anti-war Protesters Raid Draft Offices.” https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/anti-war-protesters-raid-offices/ Zunes, Stephen and Jesse Laird. “The US Anti-Vietnam War Movement (1964-1973).” International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. January 2010. https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/us-anti-vietnam-war-movement-1964-1973/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A presentation from "Censorship and Official Lies: The End of Truth in America?" This event was co-hosted by the Mises Institute and the Ron Paul Institute, and recorded in Lake Jackson, Texas, on April 13, 2024.Full Written Text (Audio link is above): Over the past three years, the word “sedition” has again become popular among regime agents and their friends in the media. It's certainly not the first time the word has enjoyed a renaissance. It's frequently employed whenever the ruling class wishes us to become hysterical about various real and imagined enemies, both domestic and foreign.This time, the regime's paranoia about sedition was prompted by the Capitol Riot in January 2021, when we were told that Trump supporters nearly carried out a coup d'etat. Since then, regime operatives have frequently referred to Trump supporters and Trump himself as seditionists.Yet, out of the approximately 850 people charged with crimes of various sorts, only a very small number have been charged with anything even close to treason or insurrection. Rather, most charges are various forms of infractions related to vandalism and trespassing. However, because these charges have to do with the regime's sacred office buildings, the penalties are outrageously harsh compared to similar acts, were they to occur on private property.For a small handful of defendants, however—the ones the Justice Department has most enthusiastically targeted—the federal prosecutors have brought the charge of “seditious conspiracy.”Why not charges of treason, rebellion or insurrection? Well, if federal prosecutors though they could get a conviction for actual rebellion, insurrection, or treason for the January 6 riot, they would have brought those charges.But they didn't.What they did do is turn to seditious conspiracy, which is far easier to prove in court, and is—like all conspiracy charges in American law—essentially a thought crime and a speech crime. Seditious conspiracy is not actual sedition, or rebellion, or insurrection. That is, there is no overt act necessary, nor is it necessary that the alleged sedition or insurrection actually take place or be executed. What really matters is that two or more people said things that prosecutors could later claim were part of a conspiracy to do something that may or may not have ever happened.Moreover, the regime now routinely employs other types of conspiracy charges for prosecuting Americans supposedly guilty for various crimes against the state. At the moment, for example, Donald Trump faces three different conspiracy charges for saying that the 2020 election was illegitimate.As we shall see, purported crimes like seditious conspiracy are crimes based largely on things people have said. They are a type of speech crime. Now, some may ask how that is even possible if there is freedom of speech in this country.Contrary to what a naïve reading of the First Amendment might suggest, the federal government has never been especially keen on respecting the right to free speech.The federal government has long sought tools to get around the First amendment, and one of them is seditious conspiracy.Now, the term seditious conspiracy contains two pieces. There's the sedition part, and there is the conspiracy part. Let's explore both parts of this in a bit more detail to see what we can learn about this inventive way the regime has developed to silence those who question the legitimacy of the American state.Seditious Conspiracy Was Invented to Get Around Limitations on Treason Prosecutions From the very beginning, federal politicians have sought ways to create political crimes above and beyond the Constitution's very limited definition of treason. This began with the Sedition Act of 1798, and continued with the creation of the Seditious Conspiracy law in 1861, and carried on through to the Sedition Act of 1918, and the Smith Act of 1940, and a plethora of various types of “conspiracy” laws used to punish many different types of antiwar and dissident activities since then.All of these laws, involve restrictions on freedom of speech, and open up suspects to punishments for saying things.The reason why federal politicians believe they need extra sedition laws on top of treason can be found in the fact that the framers of the Constitution defined treason in very specific and limiting terms:Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.Note the use of the word “only” to specify that the definition of treason shall not be construed as something more broad than what is in the text. As with much of what we now find in the Bill of Rights, this language stems from fears that the US federal government would indulge in some of the same abuses that had occurred under the English crown, especially in the days of the Stuart monarchs. Kings had often construed “treason” to mean acts, thoughts, and alleged conspiracies far beyond the act of actually taking up arms against the state.Treason could have been anything the king didn't like, and it how you end up with a situation in which St. Thomas More was executed for treason simply for refusing to say that the king was head of the church.By contrast, in the US Constitution, the only flexibility given to Congress is in determining the punishment for treason.Naturally, those who favored greater federal power chafed at these limitations and sought more federal laws that would punish alleged crimes against the state. It only took the Federalists ten years to come up with the Alien and Sedition Acts, which stated:That if any persons shall unlawfully combine or conspire together, with intent to oppose any measure or measures of the government of the United States … or to impede the operation of any law of the United States, … from undertaking, performing or executing his trust or duty, and if any person or persons, with intent as aforesaid, shall counsel, advise or attempt to procure any insurrection, riot, unlawful assembly, or combination, whether such conspiracy, threatening, counsel, advice, or attempt shall have the proposed effect or not, he or they shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor.Note the references to “intent,” “counsel,” and “advise” as criminal acts so long as these types of speech are employed in a presumed effort to obstruct government officials. In the twentieth century, we will again see this type of language designed to ensnare Americans in so-called crimes of conspiracy.A great many Americans—some of whom who still took the radical liberalism of the revolutionary era seriously—saw the Sedition Act for what it was. A blatant assault on the rights of Americans, and an attack on freedom of speech. Thanks to the election of Thomas Jefferson in 1800 the Sedition Act was allowed to expire,Then, for sixty years, the United States government had no laws addressing sedition on the books. But the heart of the 1798 Sedition Act would be revived. As passed in July 1861, the new Seditious Conspiracy statute statedthat if two or more persons within any State or Territory of the United States shall conspire together to overthrow, or to put down, or to destroy by force, the Government of the United States, or to oppose by force the authority of the Government of the United States; or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States; or … prevent any person from accepting or holding any office, or trust, or place of confidence, under the United States. . . . Shall be guilty of a high crime.Note the crimes here are not overt acts like “overthrowing the government” of “delaying the execution of a law.” No, the crime here is conspiring to do something about it. That is, saying things about it to another person. That is what constitutes “conspiracy” here.Now, some people who have a rather benign view of the state might think, well, people shouldn't conspire to do bad things. Well, in real life, conspiracy as prosecuted, does not necessarily look like a group of bad guys getting together in a dark room and explaining how they're going to blow up some government building. That's Hollywood stuff.In real life, people can be found guilty of conspiring with people with whom they have never been in the same room, or with whom the "conspirator" expressed any actual violent intent.We'll return to this, and this is just something to keep in mind, whenever looking at government conspiracy laws.Given the timing of the seditious conspiracy legislation that I just read—i.e., in 1861, following the secession of several Southern states—it is assumed that the legislation originated to address alleged Confederate treason. This is not quite the case. The legislation did enjoy considerable support from those who were especially militant in their opposition to the Confederacy. However, Rep. Clement Vallandigham of Ohio—who would later be exiled to the Confederacy for opposing Lincoln's war—supported the bill precisely because he thought it would help punish opponents of the fugitive slave laws.” Congress had initially become serious about punishing “conspiracies” not in response to Southern secession, but in response to John Brown's 1859 raid at Harper's Ferry.Thus, there was support for the idea in the South before the war. Soon thereafter, however, the Confederate secession and fears of rebellion helped enlarge the coalition in favor of a new sedition law. The new sedition law represented a significant expansion of the idea of “crimes against the state.” Senator Stephen Douglas, the bill's sponsor understood this perfectly well, statingYou must punish the conspiracy, the combination with intent to do the act, and then you will suppress it in advance. … If it be unlawful and illegal to invade a State, and run off fugitive slaves, [a reference to John Brown] why not make it unlawful to form conspiracies and combinations in the several States with intent to do the act?Others were more suspicious of expanding federal power in this way, however. Sen. Lazarus Powell and eight other Democrats presented a statement opposing the passage of the bill. Specifically, Powell and his allies believed the new seditious conspiracy law would be a de facto move in the direction of allowing the federal government to expand the definition of treason offered by the federal constitution. The statement read:The creation of an offense, resting in intention alone, without overt act, would render nugatory the provision last quoted, [i.e., the treason definition in the Constitution] and the door would be opened for those similar oppressions and cruelties which, under the excitement of political struggles, have so often disgraced the past history of the world.Powell is here describing what George Orwell would later call a “thoughtcrime.” This “crime” Powell tells us, rests “in intention alone, without overt act.” To anyone who actually valued freedom in 1861, this would set off major alarm bells.Even worse, Powell saw that the new legislation would provide to the federal government “the utmost latitude to prosecutions founded on personal enmity and political animosity and the suspicions as to intention which they inevitably engender.”Like so many political crimes invented by regimes, the legislation tends to grant unusual flexibility and discretion in prosecuting the state's perceived enemies. This opens up political dissidents to new kinds of prosecution.Such legislation COULD have been used against opponents of the fugitive slave acts, as well as against opponents of federal conscription during the war. After all, opponents of both the Civil War draft and the Vietnam War draft “conspired” to destroy government property—as with the heroic draft-card burnings of the Catonsville Nine, for example.It would be far harder to prove in court that such acts constituted treason, so sedition laws have paved to way for more frequently prosecuting various acts of resistance against the regime and its crimes.It's bad enough that federal policy makers schemed to insert into federal law new crimes against the state. But, as Powell correctly noted, the greater danger is in the part of the sedition law that enables prosecutions for conspiracy.What Is Conspiracy?So now we look at the other component of seditious conspiracy: the conspiracy part.Now conspiracy laws are used far more broadly than for political crimes. They are also used in the war on drugs and countless other federal legal crusades.Current federal conspiracy laws outlaw conspiracy to commit any other federal crime. Other provisions include conspiracy to commit some specific form of misconduct, ranging from civil rights violations to drug trafficking. Conspiracy is a separate offense under most of these statutes, regardless of whether the conspiracy accomplishes its objective.This latter point is an important distinction. As was explicit in the Sedition Act of 1798, so it is today: it is not necessary that the defendant charged with conspiracy harm anyone —i.e., that there be any actual victim. Indeed, conspiracy charges act as a way of charging individuals with crimes that might occur, but have not.Moreover, it is not even necessary in all cases that a "conspirator" take any affirmative steps toward completion of the alleged conspiracy. While it is true that some federal conspiracy statutes require at least one conspirator to take some affirmative step in furtherance of the scheme, It is also the case that Many have no such explicit overt act requirement. Even in those cases where some "affirmative step" or overt act take place, it is not necessary that the act be illegal. The "act" could be publicly stating an opinion or making a phone call.In a 2019 interview with the Mises Institute, Judge Andrew Napolitano highlighted his own problem with conspiracy charges:If it were up to me, there would be no such thing as conspiracy crimes because they are thought crimes and word crimes. But, at the present time in our history and in fact, for all of our history, regrettably, an agreement to commit a felony, agreement by two or more people or two or more entities to commit a felony and a step in furtherance of that agreement, constitutes an independent crime. ... In the world of freedom, where you and I and people reading this live, conspiracy is a phony crime. For 600 years of Anglo-American jurisprudence, all accepted [that] crime contained an element of harm. Today, crime is whatever the government says it is.Napolitano is right, and the fact that crime is whatever the government says it is becomes apparent in one of the other key problems with conspiracy laws. Namely, as one legal commentator put it, “few things [are] left so doubtful in the criminal law, as the point at which a combination of several persons in a common object becomes illegal.”That is, at what point do a bunch of people talking about things become a criminal act. The law is very vague on this, and it is why it's not so easy to say “well, golly, I won't ever be prosecuted for conspiracy, because I don't plan to do anything illegal.But you are not safe because it is not clear in the law, at what point, statements encouraging legal activities become illegal —or statements encouraging legal activities, but without real criminal intent, become felonies.So, you can imagine yourself mouthing off unseriously and saying “we oughta burn down the offices of the department of education.” And then your friend texts back and says “I agree.” Well, congratulations, a prosecutor could easily use that exchange as a way of building a case for conspiracy against you.Would a single expression of an opinion against the regime be enough to convict? Probably not, but combined with other unrelated acts and legal activities such as a stated plan to visit Washington DC or buy a gun for unrelated activities, a prosecutor could, with enough convincing, tie them together in the minds of jurors to get a conviction for conspiracy.Legislators and the courts have never been able to provide any objective standard of when these disconnected, and often legal acts become crimes, and thus, prosecutors are afforded enormous leeway in stringing together a series of acts and claiming these constitute a conspiracy. For an indictment, the prosecutor merely need convince a grand jury that legal acts are really part of an illegal conspiracy. This is not difficult, as noted by Judge Solomon Wachtler when he cautioned that district attorneys could convince grand juries to "indict a ham sandwich."Not surprisingly, people who are actually concerned about regimes abusing their power have long opposed conspiracy prosecutions.For example, Clarence Darrow wrote on conspiracy prosecutions in 1932, concluding "It is a serious reflection on America that this wornout piece of tyranny, this dragnet for compassing the imprisonment and death of men whom the ruling class does not like, should find a home in our country."Darrow was at least partly joined in this opinion several years earlier by Judge Learned Hand who in 1925 described conspiracy charges as "that darling of the modern prosecutor's nursery" for the way it favors prosecutors over defendants.Crimes of Thought and Speech Vaguely DefinedConspiracy crimes have been a favorite of government prosecutors in going after political opponents historically.And, In the wake of the Vietnam War and the federal government's many attempts to prosecute antiwar protestors and activists for various crimes, many legal scholars took a closer look at the nature of conspiracy charges. Many were skeptical that conspiracy charges are either necessary or beneficial. The elastic and vague nature of conspiracy "crimes" means that, as legal scholar Thomas Emerson puts it, "the whole field of conspiracy law is filled with traps for the unwary and opportunities for the repressor."One of the more famous cases of conspiracy prosecutions running amok was the 1968 prosecution and trial of American pediatrician and antiwar activist Benjamin Spock. Spock and four others were charged with conspiring to aid, abet, and counsel draft resisters. That is, they were charged with saying things. Although prosecutors could never show the "conspirators" committed any illegal acts—or were ever even in the same room together—Spock and three of his "co-conspirators" were found guilty in federal court. The case was eventually set aside on appeal, but only on a legal technicality.Spock was able to avoid prison, but countless others have not been so lucky. Defendants who do not enjoy Spock's level of fame or wealth continue to find themselves locked in cages for saying things federal prosecutors don't like.The legal incoherence of the charges laid against Spock—and against antiwar activists in general—was covered in detail in Jessica Mitford's 1969 book The Trial of Dr. Spock, in which she writesThe law of conspiracy is so irrational, its implications so far removed from ordinary human experience or modes of thought, that like the Theory of Relativity it escapes just beyond the boundaries of the mind. One can dimly understand it while an expert is explaining it, but minutes later, it is not easy to tell it back. This elusive quality of conspiracy as a legal concept contributes to its deadliness as a prosecutor's tool and compounds the difficulties of defending against it.Mitford further draws upon Darrow to illustrate the absurdity of these prosecutions, pointing out that Darrow described conspiracy laws this way: if a boy steals a piece of candy, he is guilty of a misdemeanor. If two boys talk about stealing candy and do not, they are guilty of conspiracy—a felony.Again, we find that the foundation of conspiracy laws are thoughts and words, rather than any actual criminal acts. Or, as legal scholar Abraham Goldstein put it in 1959: "conspiracy doctrine comes closest to making a state of mind the occasion for preventive action against those who threaten society but who have come nowhere near carrying out the threat."This ability to treat this "state of mind" as real crime means, in the words of legal scholar Kevin Jon Heller:the government currently enjoys substantive and procedural advantages in conspiracy trials that are unparalleled anywhere else in the criminal law. Conspiracy convictions can be based on circumstantial evidence alone, and the government is allowed to introduce any evidence that "even remotely tends to establish the conspiracy charged.Conspiracy Prosecutions Are a Means of Quashing DissentConspiracy laws----including seditious conspiracy of course -- have long been used for a wide variety of alleged crimes.However, as the Dr. Spock case makes clear, conspiracy prosecutions are also a tool against those who protest government policies. More specifically, given that conspiracy "crimes" are essentially crimes of words and thoughts, conspiracy prosecutions have long been employed as a way of circumventing the First Amendment. As the editors of the Yale Law Journal put it in 1970:Throughout various periods of xenophobia, chauvinism, and collective paranoia in American history, conspiracy law has been one of the primary governmental tools employed to deter individuals from joining controversial political causes and groups.Or, put another way by the Journal, through conspiracy prosecutions, the "government seeks to regulate associations whose primary activity is expression." Naturally, citizens are more reluctant to engage in expressive activities with others that could later be characterized in court as some kind of conspiracy.So, if you and the other members of your gun club like to get a bit over-the-top in your comments about the crimes of America's political class, be careful. The federal informant in your midst may be taking notes.So it was the case with many government informants placed to investigate groups that opposed the War and the draft. Those who simply agreed with radical opinions could find themselves on the wrong end of a federal indictment.Yet, any strict interpretation of the First Amendment—which is the correct type of interpretation—would tell us that this ought to be protected speech under the First Amendment. Federal courts, however, have long disagreed, and some advocates of conspiracy might claim that speech encouraging a specific crime ought not be protected.Yet, in real-life conspiracy prosecutions, it is not easy to determine whether or not a "conspirator" is actually inciting a crime. As legal scholar David Filvaroff notes, the actual intent and effect of the speech in question in these cases is difficult to interpret. Thus, judgements about whether or not speech counts as protected speech is highly arbitrary:He writes:With a conspiracy to murder, one faces a potential crime of finite proportion and of near unmistakable content. There is little, if any, risk that either the defendants themselves, or the court or jury, will mistake the criminality of what the defendants propose to do. The probability of such a mistake both by the alleged conspirators and by the trier of fact is very high, however, in the case of conspiracy to incite.Back to our case about burning down the dept. of education. Was that casual comment a conspiracy to incite arson? Did the defendant intend it as such? This is largely up to the unilateral interpretation of the prosecutor.Most of the time, it is difficult for a "conspirator" to guess how others will interpret his words and what concrete actions might take place as a result.Under these circumstances, innocent people can end up serving years in prison for expressing their views about what government agents or government institutions ought to do or stop doing.The fact that legal acts can become illegal, and the fact that intent need not be proven makes conspiracy crimes, especially seditious conspiracy an excellent avenue for political prosecutions against perceived enemies of the state. It is not a coincidence that most of the charges against Donald Trump are conspiracy charges. They largely come down to Trump making statement both public and private questioning the validity of the election. Prosecutors have turned these opinions into a legal theory that Trump “incited” others to commit crimes. Thanks to conspiracy laws, it is not necessary that any actual crimes take place, or that any actual victims materialize, to get a guilty verdict.Thanks to his wealth, Trump has been able to mount a defense. Most people accused of various conspiracy laws are not so lucky, and countless Americans have endured financial ruin and prison thanks to the vast and abusive powers handed over to prosecutors by conspiracy laws.These are most dangerous when wielded against political opponents because, conspiracy laws essentially nullify the First Amendment and enable prosecutors to turn words into crimes.End All Political CrimesSo what is to be done? Obviously, conspiracy laws, including seditious conspiracy laws, ought to be abolished. All sedition laws are especially ripe for repeal given that the United States survived for decades without any federal political crimes other than treason, narrowly defined.Yet, if we are to win any meaningful victory against the state, we ought to repeal all political crimes, including treason, altogether.For one, political crimes like treason and sedition are simply unnecessary.It is already illegal to blow up buildings. It's especially illegal to do it with people inside the building, whether those people are government employees or not. It is already illegal to murder people, regardless of whether or not they represent the state. Destruction of property is illegal in every state.What political crimes like treason and sedition do is create a special class of people and institutions: government employees and government property, to send the message—via harsher penalties and punishments—that the destruction of government property, or the killing of government employees is worse than crimes against the mere taxpayers who pay all the bills.Political crimes are often subject to fewer regulations protecting the rights of the accused, and are often prosecuted by authorities more directly under the control of the central executive power. In the United States, the federal government has taken over control of most political crimes, centralizing enforcement and thus strengthening the central state. Certainly this has been the case with sedition laws.This scam that all modern regimes embrace exists not to keep the public safe. It exists for propagandistic purposes. These laws exist to send a message.Treason and sedition laws create the illusion that loyalty to the regime to which on presently pays taxes is morally important.Or, as historian Mark Cornwell puts it, regimes have long used crimes such as these “as a powerful moral instrument for managing allegiance.”Freedom of speech has always been a grave threat to this manipulation of allegiance, and its why sedition and conspiracy laws have so long been employed to weaponize speech against dissidents.The remedy lies in taking a page from those early Jeffersonians who abolished early sedition laws and refused to create new ones. The regime does not need or deserve a way around the First Amendment. The country does not need these “wornout pieces of tyranny” that are sedition and conspiracy laws. Abolish them now.

Brad Wolf's "A Ministry of Risk" stands as the authoritative anthology of Philip Berrigan's writings, offering a profound journey through the evolution of a revolutionary spirit. Authorized by the Berrigan family, this collection is meticulously arranged chronologically, providing readers with an intimate portrayal of Berrigan's transformation amidst a nation entrenched in martial obsessions. Through autobiographical insights, introspective theology, and a fervent call to activism, the book weaves together the vibrant tapestry of history while serving as both a manifesto of nonviolent resistance and a testament to spiritual reflection. Philip Berrigan, renowned for his activism as an American peace activist and Catholic priest, endured 11 years of imprisonment for his unwavering advocacy of nonviolent resistance against war. Engaging in prominent protests such as the Baltimore Four and Catonsville Nine, Berrigan left an indelible mark on movements spanning from Vietnam to Iraq. His prolific literary contributions, including numerous books, earned him a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. "A Ministry of Risk" not only encapsulates Berrigan's life's work but also serves as a beacon for future generations committed to peace and social justice.Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Six more movies reviews, don't worry we have more showcases coming soon, but hey let's dive in. Today we are doin it, ever so slightly differently. For you dear listener it is basically nothing, but for us or me specifically it feels like great fun. We have our five prepared reviews, and then we pause the pod car, watch the 6th then come back and give our freshest review ever. Starting off today we tackle (the Trial of the Catonsville nine 1972) Sadly this isn't streaming and is only available on VHS, it's probably not an accident that an extremely left movie about direct action gets buried. These 2 priest brothers and 7 others grabbed all the files of those tagged to be next in the draft to Nam and publicly burned them using homemade napalm to protest the bombings. They are well spoken and unapologetic in the trial, and we hear at D.U.I. think its an important 70's event and film that should definitely get a re release now. Film is based off a play written by Daniel Berrigan, one of the 9. Movie number 2 today is (the Homecoming 1973) Oh dear this movie. I will say this, in thinking about why I didn't love it, its actually getting more thought provoking and interesting in my head. Ian Holm is great in this, and perhaps now let us move on to something with a little more passion for life. (Rocky 1976) I'm sorry, but I had seen this film so many times before realizing that Sly pretty much runs the whole show, and is quite underrated. He wrote most if not all the Rocky's, and heck he wrote first blood. He did not direct this one though that's the next movie. Our director here is John G Avildson of karate kid fame. Not sure what to say here, but we do say a lot, now this movie did very well at the box office and the oscars, is it deserved, let's see. Personally I'd of given the best picture to 2 over one because there is simply less Paulie in it. you can just listen so let's move on shall we. (Opening night 1977) Our 2nd John Cassavettes film. Here have a decade under the influence favorite Gena Rowlands giving a breathtaking performance as stage and screen star Myrtle Gordan. Say what you will but she rules and this film really takes you inside of a stage production, I mean really in there. Listen and we'll tell you if there's issues but issues or no, this for us was really quite something to see. Next up we have for you (Rocky II 1979). Sly IS writer and director here and this is another film that I do have a memory of seeing in the theater in 79. I was 8 and remember it as, pretty great for a non Star Wars movie. High praise indeed. I should have said before but Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith, and awesome Carl Weathers are all back again and pretty great, also Burt Young as Paulie, great actor douchee character. Finally today we pull the pod car over and pause to watch then review (where the lilies bloom 1974) another 70's rated g family film that doesn't really seem all that family or G. Is it insulting to intelligence and kids now to just give them a simple story cartoon and call it good. Wall E is pretty darn heavy actually. I liked that I watched some pretty heavy films as a kid, now they didn't scar me like some of my friends were by being taken to go see Alien when they were 7 just so the parents could see Alien. Our friend of the pod Eddie was even taken to see the Texas chainsaw massacre and told to NOT look at the screen. I on the other hand was taken to see heavy themed Ordinary people at 8 or 9 and shown one flew over the cuckoo's nest as a kid and these are still 2 of my most favorite movies and I don't feel I was scarred or that I didn't understand the concepts as a kid, I understand them better now, but I love the journey of re watching great movies or re looking at good art or music over the years, here's to the journey. Thanks so much for listening.

ABOUT WILL McFADDEN AND #STORYTIME Welcome to the award winning #Storytime Podcast! The Internet is a dumpster full of stories, and our host Will McFadden is the most fearless and skilled dumpster diver in the game. #Storytime features the top podcasters, YouTube creators, TikTok stars, Reddit masters, and everyday folks who all share a love of great storytelling. Subscribe now and follow on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook to become an official Fable Baby today! This season guests include Rider Strong, Adam Pally, McCall Mirabella, SeanDoesMagic, and many more. Episodes here: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-storytime-podcast-77077583/ ABOUT WILL McFADDEN Will McFadden is Chief Creative Officer at Collab and Company Member at The Actors' Gang. The Actors' Gang ensemble has included accomplished actors such as Jack Black, Lee Arenberg, John Cusack, John C. Reilly, Brent Hinkley, Helen Hunt, Kate Walsh, Kyle Gass, Fisher Stevens, Ned Bellamy, Jeremy Piven, Ebbe Roe Smith, Kate Mulligan, and Tim Robbins. The theater company has presented the work of innovative theater artists including Georges Bigot, Simon Abkarian, Charles Mee, Culture Clash, Bill Rauch and The Cornerstone Theatre Company, Tracy Young, Namaste Theater Company, Roger Guenver Smith, Eric Bogosian, Oskar Eustis, Danny Hoch, Beth Milles, David Schweitzer, Brian Kulick, Stefan Haves, Jason Reed, Michael Schlitt and Tenacious D. Guest artists that have appeared on The Actors' Gang stage include: Jackson Browne, Sarah Silverman, Ben Gibbard, John Doe, Tom Morello, Jenny Lewis, Wayne Kramer, Paul Provenza, Zooey Deschanel, Serj Tankian, David Crosby, Pink, Felicity Huffman, Jill Sobule, William H. Macy, Phillip Baker Hall, Jeanne Tripplehorn, T.C. Boyle. and the late, beloved, Gore Vidal.Touring productions include The New Colossus, Harlequino: On to Freedom, A Midsummer Night's Dream, George Orwell's 1984, The Exonerated, Tartuffe, Embedded, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine and The Guys. Over the last thirty years The Actors' Gang has toured the U.S. in forty-five states and on five continents, performing across the world from London to Milan, Bucharest, Athens, Madrid, Barcelona, Bogota, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Buenos Aires and recently, to Santiago and Concepcion, in Chile.

Emmy Award-winning actor Christian Jules Le Blanc will joinin The Locher Room on to celebrate his 30th anniversary portraying Michael Baldwin on The Young and the Restless. Christian joined the cast of The Young and the Restless back in October 1991, departing in 1993. He returned to the series in April 1997. A 12-time Emmy Award nominee, Christian Jules Le Blanc received three Emmy Awards for “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series” for his role. Le Blanc first appeared on daytime television as Kirk McColl on As the World Turns. Also, he was a series regular on the primetime series “In the Heat of the Night,” opposite Carol O'Connor and Howard Rollins. His guest appearances include “Perry Mason,” “Cheers” and “Gabriel's Fire.” He produced and starred in his first short film, “Puppy Love,” with Grace Zabriskie, which was honored as the Outstanding Short Film at the Los Angeles and New York International Short Film Festivals.Le Blanc's theater credits include “Ladies In Retirement,” with the legendary actresses Julie Harris and Eileen Brennan, “No Orchids for Miss Blandish,” “The Catonsville Nine” and “Appearances to the Contrary.” In 2011, he appeared in “The Tennessee Williams Literary Festival” in New Orleans. Christian is excited to be returning to the stage in January 2022 in Tennessee Williams Cat On A Hot Tin Roof at Theater at St. Clement's in New York City.THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESSNow in its 46th season on the CBS Television Network, The Young and the Restless has been the number one daytime drama for 28 years. It revolves around the rivalries, romances, hopes and fears of the residents of the fictional Midwestern metropolis, Genoa City. The lives and loves of a wide variety of characters mingle through the generations, dominated by the Newman, Abbott, Baldwin and Winters families. When The Young and the Restless premiered in 1973, it revolutionized the daytime drama. It continues to set the standard with strong characters, socially conscious storylines, romance and sensuality. The show airs weekdays on CBS at 12:30 p.m. EST.Original Airdate: 12/1/2021

VONN HARRIS: Growing up in Baltimore, MD with his mother, after graduating from Mill High School, Vonn joined the US army, served 4 years then went back to Catonsville Community College majoring in Business Law. Taking a theater class out of boredom, he changed his major to Theater receiving an Associates in Arts degree in 2007. Later he earned a leading role in the play “The Catonsville Nine”. Two years later Vonn was selected to play the character, Shawn Wyatt -for which he received great reviews- in the play “Tears In My Eye” performed at ‘The Lyric Opera House', Baltimore's largest theater, realizing a childhood dream. In 2010 he then landed the lead role as Kingston James in “Razorblade City”, an independent film that sold over ½ million copies worldwide. Vonn relocated to New York to work on his craft studying at the famous Susan Batson Studios and in 2011, landed a supporting role in “America's Most Wanted” and a DC Film Festival award winning film, “All in the Game” as well as a lead role in “Celebrity Ghost Stories”. He appeared in various film and television shows such as: Tower Heist, Monica Z, HBO Girls, Major Crimes and more. In addition, Vonn has written 2 feature film scripts with the intention of producing them himself. In 2013 Vonn won 2 Aurora Gold Awards, for playing the lead, SFC Morgan in “Warrior Adventure Quest”. Before the onset of covid, Vonn began his ‘Line-up Sports Projections' and picks as the STAT MAN, “to help the average joes compete with the pros”, Vonn The Stat Man is the number one Draftkings and Fanduel Lineup predictor on YouTube . He also began his ‘THINK IN INK' mentoring series that deals with writing down one's dreams to set them in motion, allowing for accountability. Vonn has added to his multiple streams of income by building his own recession proof auto-hauling business. A dreamer with a keen instinct for business and being self-sufficient, while helping others. Follow him at: https://vonnthestatman.com/ as well as https://twitter.com/VonnTheStatMan --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ozzie-stewart/support

David Dark shares his research and reflections on Daniel Berrigan, a Catholic priest and anti-war activist best known for being a participant in the Catonsville Nine action when Catholic activists burned draft files in protest of the Vietnam War. David … Read More The post I See What I See: Daniel Berrigan’s Witness to Christ, Gospel, and Sanity Itself appeared first on The Project on Lived Theology.

David Dark shares his research and reflections on Daniel Berrigan, a Catholic priest and anti-war activist best known for being a participant in the Catonsville Nine action when Catholic activists burned draft files in protest of the Vietnam War. David suggests that Berrigan’s witness—as one who took the Christian Gospel … Read More The post I See What I See: Daniel Berrigan’s Witness to Christ, Gospel, and Sanity Itself appeared first on The Project on Lived Theology.

From www.theaterreviewsfrommyseat.com, Broadway and Off-Broadway reviews from my January blog entries. This month's episode features Kerry Washington in American Son, Ethan Hawke and Paul Dano in True West and the reliably hilarious Beth Leavel and Brooks Ashmanskas in a new musical, The Prom. Lots of off and off-off Broadway discussions as well including another gem from the Transport Group called The Trial of the Catonsville Nine.

Daniel Berrigan’s play “The Trial of the Catonsville Nine,” based on the court transcripts from the trial of nine Vietnam War peace activists, tells the story of a break-in at the Maryland draft office on May 17, 1968, which resulted in the incineration of 378 draft cards with homemade napalm. Brothers Philip Berrigan and Daniel Berrigan—both Catholic priests—led the movement and are joined by seven church parishioners in their protest for peace. In sharp contrast to the wave of young, liberal extremists that were making headlines at the time, The Nine offered a fresh face to the anti-war movement and inspired a new generation of activists in the process. In this installment of “Leonard Lopate at Large” on WBAI, Daniel Berrigan’s editor, close friend and executor John Dear and director Jack Cummings III talk about staging the first New York production of “The Trial of the Catonsville Nine” in more than three decades.

On this Martin Luther King Day, Midday's special edition celebrates the man who brought the philosophy of non-violent protest to a broad public. It seemed to us a good time to update you on the story of Elizabeth McAlister, who has devoted her life to the cause of non-violence. Elizabeth McAlister is a former nun who was married to Philip Berrigan, a former priest. He was a member of the Catonsville Nine, activists who burned draft files in the parking lot of the Catonsville Draft Board in 1968. They served time in prison, and they inspired a number of other anti-draft and anti-war protests in the 1960s and 70s. Philip’s brother was the activist and poet Daniel Berrigan. Philip Berrigan died in 2002. Daniel Berrigan passed away at the age of 94 in 2016. In 1973, Philip Berrigan and Elizabeth McAlister founded Jonah House, a faith-based community of peace activists dedicated to non-violent resistance. It is located in West Baltimore. Currently, there are five people living there. The activism of the Catonsville Nine in the 1960s evolved, over time, to what have come to be known as “Plowshares Actions,” inspired by the Biblical passage from the prophet Isaiah which says, “they will beat their swords into plowshares.” Beginning in the 1980s, activists in the United States and elsewhere have concentrated their efforts on protesting nuclear weapons.On April 4, 2018, the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination, Elizabeth McAlister and six other protesters cut fences and entered the King’s Bay Naval Base in Southeast Georgia, to protest the United States nuclear weapons arsenal. King’s Bay is presumed to be home to several Trident Nuclear Submarines. The protesters were arrested, and they are awaiting trial in Federal District Court in Georgia. Four of the protesters accepted terms of release before trial that allowed them to return to their homes. They are required to wear ankle bracelets, and their travel is restricted. Elizabeth McAlister and two others, Fr. Steve Kelly, a Jesuit priest from the West Coast Province, and Mark Colville, a Catholic Worker from New Haven CT, chose to await trial in the Glynn County Detention Center in Brunswick, GA. On January 9th, Tom spoke with Elizabeth McAlister from that jail. She was able to place the call to Tom,, but the time of phone calls from the jail is limited by jail authorities. (And, as you’ll hear, the phone connection wasn’t great:)

In this episode, Laura Chandler takes a look back over the past year of interviews, revisiting key moments with inspiring guests that include renowned channel Paul Selig, activist and former nun Margarita Melville, and the exquisite electric cellist Jami Sieber. And you’ll also hear some new conversations with Robert Thurman and Lama Tsultrim Allione. It features music from some of the great musicians that have been on the show, including Grammy nominee and future guest Barbara Higbie, world music vocalist Lisa Kelman, the monks of Gaden Shartse Dokhang, Jami Sieber (featuring the elephants of the Thai Elephant Orchestra), and NuJazz artists The Allure (with guest vocalist Isa Gucciardi). This episode begins with eighty-eight-year-old activist and former nun Margarita Melville, who in the 1960s, left the Maryknoll sisters to join the Guatemalan resistance, and was dubbed “The Guerrilla Nun.” After barely escaping with her life, she and her husband, former Maryknoll priest Tom Melville, joined a group of activists in the US and became part of a famous civil action known as the Catonsville Nine. Here she talks about her escape from Guatemala and the action that sent her to prison. Lama Tsultrim Allione talks to Laura about her experience of the death of one of her teachers, the great Tibetan Dzogchen master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. He died on September 27, 2018 and is said to have entered a state known as tugdum. Best-selling author and channel Paul Selig had a spiritual experience 25 years ago that left him clairvoyant. Nine years ago, he began channeling a group he refers to as “The Guides.” In this segment, he talks about his role as a channel and the awareness of the Divine. Jami Sieber talks about her time in Thailand and her first mystical encounter meeting and playing music with the Thai Elephant Orchestra, which became the inspiration for her album, Hidden Sky. And in the final segment, Laura catches up with Robert Thurman at the Science and Non-Duality Conference in San Jose. They talk about one of his favorite subjects, nothing.

On this holiday in which we celebrate independence and the courage of our revolutionary heroes, a word about a different kind of revolutionary, and her exercise of the free speech and religious practice the founders fought for.Elizabeth McAlister has lived at Jonah House, on the West Side of Baltimore, for most of the last 50 years. She and her husband, the anti-war activist Philip Berrigan, founded Jonah House as part of a network of Catholic Worker Houses across the country. Philip was one of the Catonsville Nine, who burned draft records in 1968, setting-off a series of similar actions across the country. He died in 2002, but McAlister has continued to protest against violence and war, in particular, nuclear weapons.In April, on the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination, McAlister and six others cut through a fence and entered the King’s Bay Naval Submarine Base in Camden County, GA, which is home to a fleet of Trident Submarines, which carry nuclear war heads.The group’s purpose was to commit what they call a Ploughshares Action, based on a phrase from Isaiah in the Bible:“They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”The first Ploughshares Action took place in 1980. Since then, more than 100 similar protests have occurred in the United States and around the world.  When Elizabeth McAlister and her fellow activists entered the King’s Bay Naval Base, they were arrested, as they hoped they would be. They want a trial, so they can introduce evidence that contends that nuclear weapons are illegal, and that the United States is in violation of American and International law by using them, or even threatening to use them. It’s not a widely held legal theory.In a world that presents the kind of threats it presents, making an argument for complete nuclear disarmament is a tough sell, and many abhor the group’s strategy of breaking the law in civil disobedience. But these activists are afforded the right under our constitution to press their case, and they do so, animated by an intense faith in God, and their understanding of the message articulated by Jesus in the Christian New Testament.A pre-trial motion is scheduled for early next month. I spoke with one of their lawyers, who thinks that a trial might take place in November or December. Three of the activists posted bond, and were released from Federal prison. They are wearing ankle bracelets and are confined to their homes. McAlister and three others chose to stay in jail, in Brunswick, GA, and as they await trial, they’re engaging in prison ministry, helping their fellow inmates communicate with lawyers and families, and deal with the stress of incarceration.We’ll have updates as this case proceeds in the courts. And on this holiday when we celebrate the conviction and commitment to the democratic principles of our revolutionary forbearers, let’s pause to consider Elizabeth McAlister, a former nun, who at age 78 is so completely committed to her principles of non-violence that she is willing to forego her own physical freedom, and exercise her right to freedom of speech to make a point about the world’s right to be free of the threat of nuclear destruction.As we celebrate the courage and sacrifice of our founders, let’s also acknowledge the courage and sacrifice it sometimes takes to make use of the freedoms those revolutionaries fought for. I’m Tom Hall. Happy holiday.

Interview with Willa Bickham and Brendan Walsh who supported the Catonsville Nine and Joe Tropea, curator of MDHS Activism and Art: The Catonsville Nine 50 Years Later.

In this episode, Laura Chandler concludes her extensive interview with Margarita Melville–activist, educator, and member of the Catonsville Nine. Laura met with Margarita in her hotel room in Chula Vista, CA, where they discussed Margarita’s dedication to the Guatemalan people, her time in prison as a result of the Catonsville Nine action, her marriage to former Maryknoll priest Thomas Melville, and how marriage was part of their revolutionary plans. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Catonsville Nine, when nine Catholic activists burned draft files using homemade napalm to protest the Vietnam War on May 17, 1968. They were tried and convicted in federal court and sentenced to a total of 18 years in prison. At age 88, Margarita still exhibits the passion and energy that has been the signature of her life. She tells the story of the murders of student activists that she worked with and her own narrow escape from Guatemala after being betrayed to authorities for her participation in the resistance. Margarita also discusses politics today and how her view of spirituality and Christianity has grown over the years. And she has a special message for the young activists today. Melville was born in Mexico of American parents in 1930 and entered the Maryknoll order in 1949. In 1954, she was assigned to Guatemala where she taught students from elementary to university levels. She worked with university students on labor and literacy issues and was expelled in 1967 for involvement in the “internal politics” of the country. She left the Maryknolls and married former priest Thomas Melville in Mexico in 1968. The Melvilles returned to the United States in 1968 to work to change U.S. Latin American policy. She became involved with the Catonsville Nine as a way to bring attention to the plight of the people of Guatemala and sought to draw parallels between U.S. actions in Latin America and Southeast Asia. After serving prison time for her part in the raid, she earned a Ph.D. and became Head of Ethnic Studies at University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of several books and articles, and retired from Berkeley as Associate Dean in 1995. To find out more about the Catonsville Nine and the 50th anniversary commemoration with Margarita and Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, visit catonsville9.org. This episode features music from Lisa Kellman’s outstanding album, Nostalgias. Lisa is a San Francisco vocalist, activist, and herbalist. You can learn more about her and her music on our website, sacredstream.org.

In 1968, activists in our own backyard protested the Vietnam War in a way that would become a landmark in our nation’s history of civil disobedience. 2018 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Catonsville Nine. Joby Taylor, Director of the Shriver Peaceworkers Fellows Program at UMBC, tells us more about the historic events in Maryland and plans to acknowledge their impact.

Marjorie (Margarita) Melville is an activist, educator, and former Maryknoll nun. Along with her husband Thomas, she is the co-author of Whose Heaven, Whose Earth—written about their time in Guatemala and the circumstances that led to their decision to join the resistance. At age 88, she is still very active, living in Mexico, but making the five-hour drive once a month to San Diego to visit friends and family. Laura caught up with her at the Vagabond Inn in Chula Vista, California. In part one of this two-part episode, Margarita talks about her time as a Maryknoll nun, her activism in Guatemala, and the Catonsville Nine action that resulted in her spending time in prison. Melville was born in Mexico of American parents in 1930 and entered the Maryknoll order in 1949. In 1954, she was assigned to Guatemala where she taught students from elementary to university levels. She worked with university students on labor and literacy issues and was expelled in 1967 for involvement in the “internal politics” of the country. She left the Maryknolls and married former priest Thomas Melville in Mexico in 1968. The Melvilles returned to the United States in 1968 to work to change U.S. Latin American policy. She became involved with the Catonsville Nine as a way to bring attention to the plight of the people of Guatemala and sought to draw parallels between U.S. actions in Latin America and Southeast Asia. After serving prison time for her part in the raid, she earned a Ph.D. and became Head of Ethnic Studies at University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of several books and articles, and retired from Berkeley as Associate Dean in 1995.

3:50: Little Willie Adams was truly the stuff of legend — a heroic figure among African-Americans of Baltimore in the 20th Century, a one-time numbers-runner-turned-venture capitalist, philanthropist and political power broker. Adams died five years ago this month. Mark Cheshire has written a biography of him: "They Call Me Little Willie."23:15: Paula Gallagher has another book to recommend, this one a collection of non-fiction essays by the best-selling author Neil Gaiman.26:44: The other Baltimore legend we’ll be hearing about today is Philip Berrigan, the one-time Catholic priest who, with his brother Daniel Berrigan, a Jesuit priest, were prominent protesters of the Vietnam War. They were both part of the Catonsville Nine, jailed for their destruction of files from the draft board in Catonsville in May 1968. Later Phil Berrigan, with his wife Elisabeth McAlister, established the Jonah House peace community in Baltimore; he lived here the rest of his life. He died at the age of 79 in 2002. Dan Berrigan died at the age of 94 in April. Phil and Dan Berrigan wrote letters to each other for years, and those letters have now been edited and published as a book. One of the editors, Dan Cossachi, is our guest today.View full show notes with links at http://bsun.md/28IE333.

9/5/10 SUNDAY HOUR TWO (9-9:30 PM Eastern) Marjorie Jones (cont’d) AND 9:30-10:00 – Joe Tropea and Skizz Cyzyk “Hit and Stay” a feature-length documentary (in-production) about the Catonsville Nine and the antiwar movement www.hitandstay.com