MEDIA ADVISORY
For Immediate Release: 12 July 2002
CONTACT: Abe Bonowitz
800-973-6548
<abe@cuadp.org>
CUADP AND DIRECTOR BONOWITZ JOIN AMICUS BRIEF
[Synopsis: Death penalty opponents joined the growing
chorus of opposition to the misappropriation of the Racketeer Influenced
and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act Friday when a prominent anti-death
penalty group announced it has filed a friend-of-the-court brief with
the U.S. Supreme Court. See below for actual text.]
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JUPITER, FL - Citizens United for Alternatives to the
Death Penalty (CUADP) and its director, Abraham J. Bonowitz, today
joined with other US citizens and organizations concerned with the
preservation of the sacred and historical right to "dissent"
in filing a "Brief Amicus Curiae" to the United States Supreme
Court concerning Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc., et
al. The "Friend of the Court Brief" is filed in opposition to
the use of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act
against activists expressing themselves through the use of nonviolent
civil resistance.
"In view of the current political climate, with the
USA PATRIOT act, COINTELPRO II, John Ashcroft and the "war against
terrorism," it is not just important to challenge the use of RICO
against protesters, it is vital," said Bonowitz. "The 'criminalization
of dissent' is very real and very dangerous to the American tradition of
political protest. Nonviolent civil resistance should never be confused
with 'extortion' or 'racketeering'."
Bonowitz, a leader in the movement for alternatives to
the death penalty, has risked arrest more than a dozen times, and late
last month was among seven abolitionists acquitted of charges stemming
from the unfurling of a banner reading "Stop Executions!" at
the top of the steps on the plaza of the United States Supreme Court.
(See <http://www.cuadp.org/abe_bio.html>)
In stark contrast to most of his fellow Amici Curiae,
Bonowitz would not normally stand with the anti-choice activists who are
the defendants in the case.
"For me, this is a simple matter free speech and
the preservation of the strong tradition of public debate in this
country," said Bonowitz. "I believe the precedent of using
RICO against protesters is far too dangerous to go unchallenged, and
that if the position of the National Organization for Women (NOW) is
allowed to stand, my work and the work of CUADP and others could be
severely impacted. Having said that, because of the alleged actions of
the defendants in this case, and because of their issue of concern
(abortion), I must be absolutely clear that CUADP takes no position on
the issue of abortion. Furthermore, I personally am firmly and
unapologetically pro-choice. While it pains me to stand opposed to NOW
in this case, I consider myself a feminist and I have stood with NOW
members on many occasions and on various issues, and I will do so
again."
For more information on the case, contact:
Edward McGlynn Gaffney, Jr.
Counsel of Record
Valparaiso University School of Law
219-465-7860
***********
The Following is the actual text of the statements
contributed to the Brief by CUADP and Abe Bonowitz:
"Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death
Penalty [CUADP] is a national organization that works to end the death
penalty in the United States through aggressive campaigns of public
education and the promotion of tactical grassroots activism. CUADP takes
no position on the abortion issue. It does not endorse or support the
stand of these defendants on that issue, nor does it necessarily approve
of their tactics or actions. It supports the defendants' appeal to the
U.S. Supreme Court strictly as a legal matter, urging the Justices that
"peaceable, non-violent direct action" -- that is, peaceful
civil resistance which "crosses the line" and may involve
sit-in's or blocking access that "interfere" with somebody's
legal "rights" -- should not be held to constitute the federal
felony crime of "extortion." Nor should a "pattern"
of such "direct action" be condemned as
"racketeering." END
and
"Abe Bonowitz is the director of Citizens United
for Alternatives to the Death Penalty [CUADP], a national organization
that works to end the death penalty in the United States through
aggressive campaigns of public education and the promotion of tactical
grassroots activism. On occasion he has engaged in peaceful acts of
civil resistance. While CUADP takes no position on the abortion issue,
Bonowitz is pro-choice and, therefore, he is in profound disagreement
with the petitioners on that issue and deplores the violent tactics that
abortion opponents have been known to employ. He does not know these
petitioners and has no personal knowledge of their tactics. He is
informed, though, that jurors at the trial of this case found
petitioners or unidentified persons "associated with" them
responsible for four acts or threats against persons or property. He
supports this appeal only because, as a legal matter, political protest
involving sit-ins or blocking access should not be condemned as
"extortion" or "racketeering." END
*******
SENT BY:
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Abraham J. Bonowitz
Director
Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (CUADP)
PMB 335, 2603 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hwy,
Gainesville, FL 32609
800-973-6548 <http://www.cuadp.org>
<abe@cuadp.org>
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