June 2013 Philadelphia Chapter of Pax Christi U.S.A.
John Dennis Apel, Scott Fina and the
U. S. Supreme Court
I’ve been around CPF a long time. It’s quite amazing to think that some of the most peaceful, non-violent human beings I’ve had the joy of knowing are apparently deemed such a security threat that the U. S. Supreme Court will decide their right as U.S. citizens to say No to nuclear weapons.
Scott Fina’s article, A Political Economy of Faith & Freedom Part II: Courts and Catholics, in the April 2012 CPF newsletter, speaks of a series of appeals made for the many charges for trespass and violation of ‘ban and bar’ letters logged against Dennis Apel for his protests at the Vandenberg Air Force Base. Vandenberg, where he and many others have demonstrated, houses the largest number of Nuclear missiles in the U.S.
Scott, not an attorney, has provided invaluable assistance to Dennis Apel, Guadalupe Catholic Worker, et al, in a lengthy string of appeals. The critical decision Scott made on behalf of Dennis was to appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court that the Case of U.S. v. Hobert Parker was applicable to Dennis’ case. In the Hobert case the court upheld Parker’s right to protest his firing from Vandenberg on a public road next to the base. Hobert was not guilty of trespass. However the legal department at Vandenberg and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles interpreted this to mean that Hobert’s ruling only applied narrowly to his case and on the specific road where Hobert was arrested.
Without Scott’s appeal on behalf of Dennis, the court would not have been presented with the decision that Hobart’s ruling was applicable to Dennis’s case. The decision to establish the legal right to publically demonstrate at any military base in the U.S. becomes the law of the land. The Pentagon and the U.S. Solicitor General resist this right to the point of appealing to the U. S. Supreme Court.
With all the subterfuge and secrecy transpiring every day in our government; here is a case of a right that is transparent as daylight. The idea that our friends, many unnamed here, fools for Christ, if you will, are changing the course of American history is a bit mind boggling.
Joe Bradley
The following is from an email Scott sent me …
… The odds are against us because of the conservative makeup of the court – regardless that we won in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. I am sure the court took the case because it affects military power and authority over civilians.
The U.C. Irvine Law School – specifically the dean – Erwin Chemerinski (and First Amendment scholar) will argue before the court. There are three other attorneys involved for our side. We are hoping there will be some key Amicus Briefs also submitted by folks on our side.
In case folks want to follow the Supreme Court case, here is a good website they can use, where eventually all the briefs will be posted: http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/united-states-v-apel/ Of course, the arguments, while important, will be very esoteric and technical and pretty boring. We don’t have a schedule yet for the oral heAaring before the court — which will be
more interesting and easier to follow. But it will be recorded and also made available on line within one week after it is conducted.
Scott and Dennis and friends are back at Vandenberg, exercising their constitutional right to freedom of speech. Let’s hope the
U.S. Supreme Court will not abrogate that right!
