Vietnam Vet and Civil Resister, Peter DeMott, Sentenced in Federal Court

[Clara T]

Vietnam Vet and Civil Resister, Peter DeMott, Sentenced in Federal Court
Submitted by kqj on Tue, 2006-01-24 18:47.
 
January 24, 2006
by Katie Quinn-Jacobs

Peter DeMott, a Vietnam veteran and civil resister, began his opening remarks at his sentencing in Binghamton federal court today by asking the court for a moment of silence to remember the dead who had perished in Iraq: both the American and Iraqi casualties. DeMott noted that thirty percent of the Iraqi dead are children. Judge Thomas J. McAvoy granted this request stating, “The Court will join you in a moment of silence because it is a good thing to do. I feel that loss deeply.”

DeMott, 59, was sentenced for two misdemeanor convictions arising out of an act of non-violent civil disobedience he took with three other activists (Daniel Burns, Clare Grady, Teresa Grady) on March 17, 2003. The four protesters are known as the St. Patrick’s Day Four. DeMott said that American civil disobedience has “helped to change unjust laws and realize a more just and equitable society” since the inception of the nation beginning with the Boston Tea Party, through the Underground Railroad, Women’s Suffrage, and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s.

The federal prosecutor, Miroslav Lovric, stated this morning, as he had yesterday at the sentencing of Daniel Burns, that DeMott and his colleagues lacked a sense of contrition for the crime that they had been found guilty of last September in federal court in Binghamton, NY. Lovric also made the argument before the Judge that because of the way DeMott’s actions may encourage others, he should be punished for a term beyond the federal guidelines of 2-8 months.

Judge McAvoy sentenced DeMott to 4 months in federal prison and 4 months in community confinement. The judge explained that the community confinement term was assigned out of consideration for DeMott’s family. At present, DeMott is the health care proxy for an ailing family member.

http://stpatricksfour.org/?q=demottsentence&PHPSESSID=b95335d89ddf66743f7f95277c979999