Jonah House, 1301 Moreland Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21216
Ph: 410-233-6238 or disarmnow@erols.com

PRESS RELEASE--IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 13, 1999

CONTACT: Max Obuszewski 410-323-7200 or 410-377-7987
Jonah House 410-233-6238

PLOWSHARES ACTIVIST APPREHENDED BY FEDERAL MARSHALS & SCHEDULED FOR COURT HEARING

WHO: In 1973, Philip Berrigan, Elizabeth McAlister and other anti-war activists founded Jonah House, a Christian resistance community. Over the years community members have been involved in protests against U.S. government policies. On Sept. 9, 1980, for example, Berrigan and seven others, including his brother Daniel, began the Plowshares movement by hammering and pouring blood on two nose cones for nuclear warheads at a General Electric plant. Since then, there have been more than 60 Plowshares disarmament actions.

WHAT: Susan Crane, of the Jonah House, joined with Philip Berrigan and four others as the Prince of Peace Plowshares in disarming an Aegis destroyer at the Bath [Maine] Iron Works on Feb. 12, 1997. Berrigan was released from prison in Nov. 1998 and returned to the Jonah House. Crane, however, released in Feb. 1999, was told by Baltimore probation to report to Maine. She had no job or shelter there, so she refused.

Today, she was taken into custody at 9 AM at the Jonah House by federal marshals. She appeared in federal court for an 11 AM hearing and will now re-appear.

WHEN: Thursday, May 13, 1999 at 2 PM

WHERE: Courtroom 7C, Garmatz Federal Building, 101 West Lombard Street, Baltimore, Maryland

WHY: This hearing deals with the question of transporting Crane to federal court in Portland, Maine for a probation violation hearing. The federal judge in Baltimore, against objections by the federal prosecutor, agreed to contact the court in Maine, as the defendant requested she be allowed to self-report for the hearing.
If Crane is not permitted to travel to Maine on her own, federal marshals would transport her, in shackles.

The Jonah House Community is infuriated with the federal probation office in Baltimore, which added a level of punishment not imposed by the court at time of sentencing. Suggesting one is guilty until proven innocent, Gregory B. Cole, Senior U.S. Probation Officer, in an Aug. 28, 1998 letter wrote, "...she [Crane] should be specifically instructed that a release plan should be developed that does not include her continued association with any religious affiliation or group that would continue to perpetrate crime against the government."

The biblically-based Jonah House Community, located in inner city Baltimore, practices the mandates of the Beatitudes, both in service to those made poor and in the works of justice. The community prays and works together, has a common purse, and has a long history of nonviolent civil disobedience. The community, moreover, is convinced the U.S. government is involved in criminal activity by disregarding international law in refusing to disarm its nuclear arsenal.

Michele Naar Obed, after serving 18 months for her Jubilee Plowshares action of Aug. 6, 1995 at Newport News [Virginia] Shipbuilding, was released from in Nov. 1997. However, the US District of Maryland Probation Office in Baltimore said she could not return to the Jonah House, so she was forced into exile with her husband Greg Boertje Obed, who had lived in the community for 14 years, and their daughter Rachel.
However, she is now back at the Jonah House and also facing a probation violation hearing.

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