314 - The Green Scare (The Federal Crusade Against Activists)

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Episode #314 - The Green Scare (The Federal Crusade Against Activists)

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⌚ Sun 9 July 2006  ☻Daniel Meyers, Andrew Erba, Lauren Regan

Download Hour1 Download Hour2This week we hear a forum on how the law has been used to suppress social movements in the past, and how it is now being used in what has been termed, the green scare. The forum was held June 26 in New York City and arranged by the National Lawyers Guild, nlg.org, which is assisting in the defense of the green scare prisoners.

Conventional wisdom is that there are no political prisoners in the United States. But that's incorrect, there are and there have always been. Every development that was decent and good in this country has required the people to face down the government and its police - the end of slavery, human and civil rights for women and people of color, an improvement of the conditions under which most must labor, to name a few.

Before any reforms have been enshrined in law or policy, reformers were beaten, imprisoned and even killed. It required a critical mass of deliberate and, disobedient citizenry to reject what was then lawful in favor of what was right, thus causing the system to bend so it would not break. It has always taken great courage. And like soldiers, the reformers in the front lines take the most casualties. The strategy of the state is to rout them before reinforcements arrive, to silence them before they can inspire others to join the cause

Recent revelations that environmental and antiwar groups top the government's list of domestic threats have elicited responses of puzzlement from many ordinary citizens. But it's not a mistake or foolishness on the part of the state -these movements challenge the arrogance of the powerful to own the natural world and its creatures as chattel, their right to despoil the homes and habitats of others for personal gain, and the production and consumption of endless more that has led us to an impending environmental catastrophe that threatens to end life as we know it on this planet.

On the program this week you will hear how the law punishes people who burn down buildings for money with far less severity than those who burn down buildings for love. In the past few months, federal officials have arrested dozens of environmental and animal rights activists in connection with a series of arsons and other militant actions that occurred in several western states in the 1990's. The charges could result in prison sentences of life plus hundreds of years, while those who do arson for profit normally receive 5-10 years in prison.
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