PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

POG members claim victory in August 20th court proceedings
by pogger Friday, May. 12, 2006 at 11:30 AM

The generosity and solidarity that surfaced during this time was overwhelming, and we would like to send out a heartfelt thank you to everyone who took part.

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POG members claim victory in August 20th court proceedings.

On May 8, Pittsburgh Organizing Group (POG) members De’Anna Caligiuri and Justin Krane, as well as about twenty friends, family, and activists (several of whom drove four hours to get there!) arrived at the Allegheny County Courthouse prepared to face trial for charges stemming from the counter recruitment protest on August 20, which was a part of POG’s CR campaign. Justin and De’Anna were two of the six originally arrested or issued citations during the demonstration that had succeeded in closing the recruitment station for the day.

While many of the charges were dropped at the preliminary hearing on September 27, including a felony riot charge (carrying a maximum 5 years in prison), three were still left for trial. De’Anna’s remaining charge was obstruction of administration of justice, and Justin was still facing resisting arrest and disorderly conduct; all were misdemeanors, which carry a maximum fine of $1,000 each, up to a one year prison sentence (rarely the case unless the judge is feeling particularly cranky that day), 6-12 months of probation, and community service.

Upon arriving at the courthouse, the two learned that the District Attorney was offering a plea bargain that was offered informally weeks before, which the two immediately rejected. The deal offered was each would plead guilty to one misdeamor and enter into Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition, referred to as ARD. It involves a period much like probation, during which you must complete certain requirements, or pay restitution, or meet other conditions that vary according to your charge. You must also check in with your assigned supervision periodically and pay court costs. Once the specified time is over, anywhere between six months and two years, your charge is dismissed, and often expunged). One of the sticky things with ARD is that during that time frame, if an individual gets arrested, the ARD ends, and you are legally back at square one with having to deal with that first arrest, meaning you will be brought to trial on those charges as though the deal never occurred, on top of whatever new charges you may be facing.

The DA then put forth another offer before the court proceedings: drop the misdemeanors and plead guilty to just one summary offense of disorderly conduct (comparable in severity to a traffic ticket), and pay the fine (which is up to $300 for a summary offense) if the judge issues one.

Though Justin and De’Anna had arrived fully prepared to go to trial and fight the few remaining charges, in the end, they collectively made the decision to accept this deal. This decision was made largely out of looking at the reality that there is always a risk of arrest when organizing and participating in demonstrations, and if that were to happen again before the an ARD or probation was finished, the charges would return. During the brief court proceeding to go before the judge to officially accept this deal and receive the fine, the judge ruled that the 26 hours they spent in jail following the arrest was “time served” and no fines were assessed. As everyone left the courtroom, the judge commented on the amount of people who came in solidarity with the two. More than half the courtroom emptied when their case finished.

Now that the legal process is finally completed, and there are no more court proceedings, legal meetings, planning for fundraisers and the stress for all those involved, we can once again put that energy back into the ongoing efforts to counter military recruitment in Pittsburgh.

If the ever increasing surveillance and attacks on anti-war and CR events/activists is an indication of what the future holds this certainly will not be the last time that the social justice community of Pittsburgh faces repression. Solidarity is an effective weapon in combating ongoing and warding off future repression. This was a situation where members of a heavily targeted group publicly organized to shutdown the center of military recruitment in Pittsburgh and succeeded. When direct and violent conflict with the police arose many people did what they should have and attempted to help those being attacked. It’s only due to the successful un-arresting of multiple people by participants that more of our time was not focused on additional courtroom battles.

Those arrested faced a slew of trumped up charges and eventually won almost the best result possible. They consider the penalty a reasonable price to pay for shutting down the center and coming to the aid of their comrades. They were able to do this only because so many people were standing behind them- most of those targeted by the state are not so fortunate.

Obviously the war is not going to end itself and military recruiters are not going to cease their predatory recruiting tactics on their own. When you know you’ve got the support of a community behind you, you’re more likely to take risks. It helps to further the actions of activists by showing that there is support if anything were to happen. It also makes it far more likely that folks will consider effectiveness as a primary reason for choosing particular tactics to utilize, rather than fear of what the consequences might be.

Pittsburgh activists certainly showed their solidarity and commitment to social justice throughout this whole ordeal. Bonds were strengthened, new relationships between various sectors of the community were created, and levels of trust deepened. The solidarity put forth by so many people, beginning with the day of arrests, from those who spoke assertive and heated comments to the media, to the refusal to disperse from outside the recruiting station following the police brutality and arrests, to those who did jail solidarity and slept outside the jail all night and had food for us, (and cigarettes for us smokers!) to those who graffitied the ROTC board outside of the Board of Public Education Building that night in solidarity, the folks who organized the press conference, put on benefit fundraiser shows, offered up time, individuals and groups who donated their money and resources up until the day of the trial, when folks came to the courthouse early in the morning and stayed patiently for hours waiting for the proceedings to begin, was truly inspiring.

The generosity and solidarity that surfaced during this time was overwhelming, and we would like to send out a heartfelt thank you to everyone who took part.

Yours in love and rage,
De'anna
Justin
Members of POG

Congrats, POG folks....
by Tom F. Sunday, Jun. 11, 2006 at 3:02 AM

Great to hear. Proud of y'all...