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Civil
disobedience as hunt sab and what to expect after an arrest.
"I
Submit that an individual who breaks the law that conscience tells him is unjust
and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of
the community over it's injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest
respect for the law."
Martin Luther King Jr.
Most
legal experts agree that Hunter Harassment Laws are very weak and quite possibly
unconstitutional. Maybe this is why game wardens are reluctant to issue
citations for it.
Civil Disobedience is the knowledgeable disobedience of a law that one feels is
unjust. Hunt Sabbing in this area is a fight for your constitutional right to
free speech on public land. If you are going to engage in a CD, be certain that
you understand the consequences and are willing to fight your charges to the
highest court possible.
Before organizing your Hunt Protest, examine your goals. Do you wish to
challenge the hunter harassment statutes out right, or is this secondary to
saving animal lives? Are you inviting the media so you can educate the general
public, or are you in the woods to educate the hunters?
Check out this link:
Civil Disobedience Manual
and this one
Just cause law
collective "Beat the Heat. How to handle encounters with law enforcement
Arrest
Despite your best planning, or because of it, you are in the custody of
the state. The first part of this page deals with the process you will typically
encounter. The second half is for those of you who loved study hall so much you
want to see if jail is close.
Activists
Under Attack - News, Legal Info, Police Tactics
Legal Process
The language and mystique of the U.S. legal system can be intimidating,
confusing, and overwhelming for people who have been arrested. Although this
system creates the impression that individuals in jail are powerless and
isolated, the authorities depend on prisoner consent to keep order and control.
When prisoners stand together and withdraw their cooperation, they can use their
collective power to win major victories over the legal system. This unity among
prisoners is called jail solidarity, and it is the most direct way for prisoners
to defend each other and fight for demands. The conscious withdrawal of
cooperation by prisoners is called non-cooperation, and it is the main tactic
that gives bargaining power to jail solidarity. Non-cooperation, like a strike
or a boycott, is designed to paralyze the legal system with costly and
time-consuming disruption. When combined with media publicity and outside
support, jail solidarity is a very effective and empowering way to force
concessions from the authorities. If you understand this potential power before
an arrest, you will see choices at every step of the legal process, and you will
have a strong defense against the courts, jails, and police.
Step 1.
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Arrest: You will
be handcuffed, given a pat search, and taken to jail. In some areas district
police stations will hold you temporarily before transferring you to a
central jail for booking. After an arrest, police will separate youth,
adults, men, and women. A lawyer will be the only person who will be able to
communicate between separated groups.
Choices: In a mass arrest, you may decide to cooperate (by walking)
or to not cooperate (by going limp and refusing to walk). If you are isolated
or if your group is small, your choices are limited since non-cooperation
will likely result in greater police violence.
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Step 2.
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Booking: You
will be photographed, fingerprinted, and searched. Your property and clothes
may be taken, and you may be strip-searched. Police will ask for your name,
address, date of birth, occupation, and social security number. After being
processed, you will either be held until arraignment or be cited
out. When you cite out, you sign a citation promising to return for
arraignment. If you don't have i.d. or if you have outstanding warrants such
as unpaid parking tickets, you will be held until arraignment. If you cite
out and miss your arraignment, a warrant will be issued for your arrest. Citing out reduces costs for the legal system by releasing inmates who are
facing minor charges or who pose a small risk of flight due to housing,
work, or other community ties.
Choices: You can choose not to cooperate by giving no
information, giving limited information, or refusing to cite out. Refusing
to cite out is important because the presence of physical bodies in jail is
often the greatest leverage you have when making demands on the legal
system. You may also choose to cooperate, cite out, and then build support
for your case beyond the prison walls.
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Step 3.
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Arraignment:
Within 48 - 72 hours after your arrest, you should be brought before a judge
who will officially charge you and ask for your plea. If you cannot afford a
lawyer, a judge will appoint an attorney for your case. You may also choose
to represent yourself.
Choices:
Plead guilty. You are admitting guilt and forfeiting your right to a
trial. You will be sentenced by a judge, although you may have to return for
sentencing at a later date.
Plead no contest. You are not admitting guilt, but you will forfeit your
right to a trail. The court will treat a no contest plea like a guilty plea
and proceed with sentencing.
Plead not guilty. You are challenging your charges and beginning the
process for a trial.
Enter a creative plea. A creative plea can be used to make a political
statement (I plead for the end of ____), but a "not guilty" plea will likely
be entered for you. Most judges will not acknowledge creative pleas and may
issue additional charges.
Stand mute. You may refuse cooperation with legal procedures to protest
actions by the court or to challenge the legitimacy of the judge, the court,
and other government institutions. In such cases, a not guilty plea will
usually be entered for a defendant, but physical abuse and additional jail
time are very likely.
After you have plead not guilty, a judge will set a trial date and choose
to:
Release you on your own recognizance, which is a promise to appear for
trial - OR -
Set bail or bond which is money or a physical security given to the court
before your release - OR -
Keep you in custody until your trial date.
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Step 4.
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Trial: If you
plead not guilty, you must be tried and convicted by a judge or a jury
before you can be sentenced.
Choices: Make a plea bargain with the prosecuting attorney. You
may plead guilty to a particular charge and avoid trial in exchange for a
lighter sentence, reduced charges, or another compromise.
Choose an individual or group trial. When a number of people have been
charged with the same offense in similar circumstances, the cases may be
tried collectively or separately. Individual trials are expensive and time
consuming for defendants and the courts. Group trials proceed faster as one
case with a verdict that will be applied to all defendants.
Choose a court trial or a jury trial. A court trial is heard by a judge
who will give a guilty or not guilty verdict. Court trials allow for
individual circumstances to be heard with little time and expense. Jury
trials are more costly and involved since a jury must be selected, listen to
the case, and deliver a verdict.
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Step 5.
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Sentencing:
After a guilty plea, a no contest plea, or a guilty verdict, a judge will
sentence you to jail time, fines, probation, and/or community service.
Choices: You can accept or refuse fines, probation, and
community service. If you refuse, you will have to do jail time. Some people
may choose jail over other sentences because probation limits your future
action and fines only reinforce the strength of the legal system. Other
people may decide to avoid jail because they can be more effective
organizing on the streets or because of financial pressure, family support,
or other responsibilities.
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Jail Solidarity
Jail solidarity is the unity of purpose among prisoners to exert collective
strength, to defend each other, and to achieve a particular demand. Jail
solidarity is the main way for prisoners to use group power and directly change
conditions in the legal system. Solidarity demands could include equal and fair
treatment for everyone in jail or in court, reduced charges, better prison
conditions, access to medical care, communication with lawyers, or an end to
abuses such as solitary confinement, strip searches, or physical violence. Demands for legal aid are important since lawyers will be the only way to
communicate between men and women, youth and adults, or other separated groups. Demands for mass arraignments, trials, and sentencing are important since they
ensure that previous demands for equal treatment are being met. If your previous
demands have not been met, mass court appearances will allow you to communicate
with co-defendants and respond quickly with the force of numbers.
Solidarity tactics are designed to clog up the legal system using
noncooperation to become a costly, time-consuming burden to the courts and
jails. Specific tactics could include the refusal to give identifying
information, to walk, to eat, to participate in jail routine, or to cite out.
Other tactics could include singing or dancing in custody, pleading not guilty,
demanding a jury trial, or not waiving your right to a speedy trial. During
court proceedings you could refuse to enter a plea, accept a lawyer, stand in
court, recognize the judge's authority, take the witness stand, or question
witnesses. You could also make a speech to those people gathered in the court,
sit on the floor, or try to leave unless forcibly restrained. Many judges,
police, and guards will take solidarity tactics as a personal affront and
penalties can be severe. You may face additional charges, longer jail time,
solitary confinement, restricted privileges, physical violence, and
psychological abuse. Jail solidarity is difficult to keep up under harassment,
but it is a powerful and inspiring way for prisoners to win victories for
themselves.
Be prepared for jail solidarity before getting arrested, anticipate responses
from the legal system, and avoid changing plans under duress. Successful
intimidation from guards will only encourage harsher treatment for other people
using jail solidarity. Remember that guards will try to break prisoner unity by
taking privileges from one group and giving them to another. Make certain that
your demands for better treatment or better conditions do not come at the
expense of others. When preparing for jail solidarity, be prepared to provide
extra support for groups that the legal system tends to target. Such groups
include repeat offenders, known organizers, queers, people with AIDS/HIV, people
of color, youth, and undocumented immigrants.
Action Support
Before risking arrest designate at least one person who can provide action
support. Action supporters are legal observers and outside contacts who help
group members during an arrest and subsequent court proceedings. Support people
should not be involved in any illegal activity during an action.
Before an action:
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Get identifying information for each member of
your group (name, address, date of birth, occupation, and social security
number) so you can keep track of people after an arrest.
Record special medical issues, legal needs, people to be notified, and
tasks to be done (care for children, pets, or plants) for each group member
risking arrest.
Review plans for jail solidarity and levels of noncooperation for each
group member.
Find out where arrested group members will be taken and have a vehicle
prepared to follow the arresting officers.
Set up a phone tree which can be activated to support group members after
an arrest. Be prepared to target the district attorney, the sheriff, the
jail, district police stations, and elected political representatives. |
During an arrest:
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Maintain a reasonable distance from the arrest
scene, tell the police that you do not want to interfere, and explain that
you have a right to observe their actions. Avoid quick or sudden movements.
Record the details of each arrest. Write down the names of each arrested
person, the time, the date, the location, and the nature of arrest. Be
prepared to document police misconduct with photography and/or video.
Identify police involved in an arrest. Get their names, badge numbers,
departments, patrol car numbers, and license plates. Have a presence at the
police station where people have been detained to collect property, provide
transportation, offer support, and monitor police misconduct.
Get names and full contact information for all witnesses.
Take charge of items left behind by an arrested team member. If the items
are incriminating evidence such as radios, climbing equipment, paint, or
gloves, pick them up discreetly or return after the police have left. |
From arrest to release:
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Organize demonstrations, letter writing
campaigns, phone zaps, and solidarity events to raise support for defendants
and to put pressure on the legal system.
Publicize the case in the media to generate community support.
Organize public support for all court appearances.
Provide for the emotional and physical needs of defendants. Send letters
and reading material, arrange jail visits, contribute money to their
commissary funds, bring medicine to the jail, and follow up to see if
medicine was administered.
Coordinate communication between defendants especially around jail
solidarity and legal issues.
Have food ready for defendants at the time of their release.
Arrange transportation home. Release times often occur late at night in
locations far from public transit.
Rotate responsibilities so that past supporters can participate in future
actions. |
Parting thoughts:
As the person who has been arrested the most within the collective, I have a
few words of advise for you.
1. Jail is better with friends. If involved in a civil disobedience action
try to not be the only male or female in your action.
2. Talk to previously jailed activists in the area. My first arrest was not planned beyond the point when we went into the
paddy wagon. If I knew then what I know now, we would have been under a lot
less stress.
3. Do not completely trust the public defender appointed to you, especially
student lawyers.
4. The longer you can drag out the court dates the better chance that crucial
prosecution witness will become unavailable.
5. Decide as a group what the strategies will be after arrest. Be
honest with yourself and others. If you have to bond, etc. know this ahead of
the action. Additionally respect the choices of each member of the action and
don't try to change another's mind.
6. Put a deck of new cards sealed in the cellophane in your coat. You may get
to bring it in.
7. Misdemeanor and felons are rarely mixed together in holding cells. The guy
that claims that he just whacked someone probably forgot to pay his parking
tickets.
8. Announcing you are beginning a hunger strike will usually get you put in
the infirmary.
9. If it is possible, get arrested with people you like.
Herne the sabber
- portions compiled from the International Day of Nuclear Disarmament Handbook and
the Civil Disobedience Handbook for the 1987 National Lesbian and Gay March on
Washington
See Also: Know your rights.htm
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