Arlington Resident Sentenced to Prison for Non-Violent Protest

By Irene Lagan
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 2/20/03)

Arlington resident Judith Kelly (pictured recently at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Falls Church) was among 85 human-rights advocates who faced charges for civil disobedience at the former School of the Americas (SOA), now known formally as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC) in Columbus, Ga.

The U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA), based in Fort Benning, Ga., trains Latin American soldiers in combat, counter-insurgency and counter-narcotics. On Jan. 17, 2001, the SOA was replaced by the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, as a result of a Department of Defense proposal included in the Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal 2001. The name-change measure passed when the House of Representatives defeated a bi-partisan amendment to close the SOA and conduct a congressional investigation by a narrow ten-vote margin. The re-named institute is housed in the same building and offers the same courses as the SOA, and has a nearly identical mission statement.

Kelly is a member of the SOA Watch, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that seeks to close the SOA through non-violent protests, lobby efforts and by raising public awareness. The national organization was founded in response to the 1989 massacre in El Salvador of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and the housekeeper’s daughter. It was later discovered that those responsible for the murders were trained at the School of the Americas.

SOA Watch held its first event in 1990 to commemorate the first anniversary of the massacre. Ten people, including Maryknoll priest Father Roy Bourgois, fasted outside the gates of SOA. Since that time, the annual protest has swelled to numbers in excess of 10,000 people from a range of backgrounds. In addition to the annual trek to Fort Benning, thousands of individuals participate in organized lobby efforts and fasts held in Washington in March and April.

Kelly, a 57-year-old activist, became involved with SOA Watch in 1996 after hearing "too many stories" about people directly affected by the violence at the hands of SOA-trained military personnel in South America.

"I have had a long connection to several countries in South America," Kelly said. "Specifically, I was an exchange student in Mexico, a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru and a Peace Corps staff member in Paraguay, and have been on human rights delegations with a faith-based group called Witness for Peace since 1990 in Guatemala, Chiapas and Haiti. I have traveled throughout the region and have met many people in my life. I heard too many stories through all of these contacts, and felt that I needed to respond, to work to effect change," she said.

Since becoming involved with SOA Watch, Kelly has participated in fasts, lobby efforts, delegation work and public education. This year, she said, it was time to take a further step.

Kelly was one of 85 protesters who "crossed the line" last November at the annual protest in Fort Benning. Those who cross the line are arrested for trespassing. Most are sentenced to prison for a period of three to six months, or probation, depending on how they plead.

Kelly, who entered a plea of not guilty with stipulations, acknowledged that while she was technically guilty of crossing the line, she trespassed without criminal intent. Because it was her first offense, Kelly was sentenced to three months in a prison facility that is yet to be determined.

Crossing the line is, in Kelly’s view, a "major act of love."

"Stepping across the line is a way of remembering all those people who have been affected by the violence," she said.

As a Catholic, Kelly believes that her participation in efforts to preach non-violence is part of her Christian calling.

"I believe in Christ and his message of love and non-violence," she said. "I believe we are all trying to be Beatitude people, and ought to live the Beatitudes in our actions every day. My goal is to live this with respect, love and compassion for all our brothers and sisters wherever they are."

In addition to her participation in SOA Watch, Kelly is a non-violence trainer who leads workshops in parishes in Arlington and Washington. The training curriculum, "From Violence to Wholeness," is from the Franciscan Non-violence Service in Oakland, Ca. Kelly and her counterpart, Micheline Toussaint of Falls Church, received eight weeks of training in non-violent spirituality and the practice of non-violence before they began offering workshops locally. Kelly and Toussaint have held trainings at St. Charles Borromeo and Our Lady, Queen of Peace Parishes in Arlington as well as St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parish in Washington.

"Father Tuck Grinnell at St. Anthony Parish and Father Gerry Creedon at St. Charles have both supported this ministry," Kelly said. Father Grinnell led a commissioning service before Kelly’s arrest in Fort Benning. He hopes that Kelly will be able to conduct a seminar at St. Anthony Parish during Lent, before she begins serving her prison term.

In addition to support from local priests, Kelly said that other local Catholics have formed a support committee to assist her spiritually and practically during her prison witness and to continue efforts to raise public awareness.

While some consider prison witness to be a "waste of time," Kelly said it has proven effective in drawing attention to the issue. "People really listen when you say you are going to prison to be a witness. Prison witness made a difference. We began with 10 protestors in 1990. Now we have 10,000. All of us, young and old, want the same thing — this school that is funded by our tax dollars to close. Serving time in prison helps with public education and keeps the movement strong."

Copyright ©2003 Arlington Catholic Herald.  All rights reserved.