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Mary Kelly Hasn't Gone Away, Y'Know ! galway |
anti-war / imperialism |
news report
 Sunday September 05, 2004 20:21 by Tommy Donnellan - Galway Mary Kelly Support Group tommyjoe at eircom dot net
 The Very Minimum ! This past week, anti-war activists in Westmeath and Galway manned information stalls in Athlone and Galway city disseminating info on the case of Mary and her struggle with the Irish government which is hell bent on jailing her for the act of conscience that she visited on the US warplane in Shannon Warport,  June Kelly, a member of the Westmeath Anti-War Group doing her stuff outside the Golden Island Shopping Centre in Athlone. enough is enough, not in our name can these war criminals be permitted to collude further with Bush and co, and persecute one of the best of us and as such, other anti-war groups in Ireland are urged to engage in similiar awareness actions on the streets of our towns and cities, now is not the time to stand idly by, as her retrial is scheduled for this October 19th, at Ennis District Court, Co Clare and at the very minimum, Mary needs rock-solid solidarity?.
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makeshift stall in dublin
Interesting choice of title for this post. It rather gives the game away though, doesn't it?
good crowd
good people
worthy cause....
Like most of us who opposed this war on Iraq, Mary Kelly doesn't claim to be a pacifist.
Pacifist groups like the Quakers, Ghandians and Catholic Worker Ploughshares have always been a minority in anti-war movements.
U.S. & British Air Force & Navies made no pretence about waging the war within the parameters of the just war theory or whereever Moonwolf is coming from eg. no warnings, no "legitimate targets" no restrictions when you are firing misiles from thousands of mile off shore or dropping napalm and cluster bombs from 10,000 feet.
Nelson Mandela, Xanana Gusmao were no pacifists. I think this stream is not relevant to the case at hand. Mary Kelly has not been charged with failing to be a pacifist...she has been charged with criminal damage without reasonable excuse. From where I ( & thousands of dead Iraqi civilians & American cannon fodder) stand she seems to have a pretty good excuse.
Great news, Fairview Against the War will have an information stall for Mary at the spike this Saturday from 1 to 4pm and all succeding Saturdays (same venue/time) leading up to her retrial. Similiarly, the Galway Mary Kelly Support Group and the Westmeath Anti- War Group (Athlone) will be holding info stalls this Saturday - that's the midriff, as it were, of Ireland covered, but what about the top and bottom, Letterkenny/Cork, where ar' yez?. Cork !, Caithleen Ni Houlihan's arse needs to be covered?.
The law is an ass, the law is an idiot. Morality is not normally an issue in criminal cases and not normally considered. ..don't attack me on this I'm stating a fact.
As a person I sympathise with Mary Kelly and her actions. As a lawyer I think she's eventually going down one way or the other. The State will not allow a precedent to be set..where does it stop?
Surely you are not saying that morality & the criminal justice system are two entirely separate entities!?!
Pardon my ignorance, but i was under the impression that morality formed the basis / reasoning behind the criminal justice system.
Is the right to life etc. not a moral issue protected by criminal law.
I don't think i'm the only person who thought that the criminal JUSTICE system was put in place to protect the civil rights of the people.
Obviously, i stand corrected by bubble, the lawyer!
The criminal legal system is not designed to enquire into the morals / motives of somebody who breaks the law. Its a system designed to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant did what they were charged with contrary to the particular statute.
The civil system does allow motive, morality and ethical considerations, in the form of equity, but I'm not going into the path of law students and dissertations on the laws of tort...
In practice there may be a consideration of motive / morality etc in the form of lighter sentencing..however there is no way the judge will turn around and say 'You did what you did out of a strongly held views..case dismissed.'
The law is designed to protect both the individuals and the state. If the Shannon protesters had torched you car in the process of demonstrating, would you want redress against those that did it or would you let it go on the grounds of morality and strongly held views?
Haven't you heard of the Nurenberg Trials!
Yes. Nuremberg was set up to try Nazi war criminals including guys who arranged the murder of 6 million people. what is your point? That the Shannon protesters are war criminals or Nazi's or both?
The right of the citizen to peaceful protest doesn't include a waiver to permit criminal damage if they feel the morality justifies it.
Say what you like. A judge will take a seriously negative view of a 'moral justification' to break the law and he / she has the power to send you down to a grey place with bars on the windows and full of guys who you really wouldn't want to meet socially.