[act-ma] CASE DISMISSED on Rumsfeld Protester Shaun Joseph

[Shaun Joseph]

**PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY**

ALL CHARGES DISMISSED - DO NOT COME TO COURT!
(unless you really like crypto-fascist architecture)

Friends, I am happy to tell you that all charges against me have been
dismissed by the Suffolk County DA as of this afternoon. After an
extraordinarily tangled and drawn-out process--the court first tried
to delay my trial AGAIN; then Assistant District Attorney Susan Terrey
dropped the "resisting arrest" charge; then the Judge Tracy-Lee Lyons
took us through a kind of undergraduate seminar on existential logic
(with her honor playing the undergrad) before storming out for lunch;
then Terrey finally dropped the "assault on a police officer"
charge--my 18-month tour through the criminal "justice" system has
ended with my total vindication.

There is much to say--and I hope to write about the political lessons
of my experience soon--but for now I will limit myself only to
thanking everyone who helped me through this ordeal, especially my
superb lawyer Myong Joun and everyone else at the National Lawyers
Guild; my comrades in the International Socialist Organization, the
United National Antiwar Coalition, Boston United for Justice with
Peace, Veterans for Peace, the RI Mobilization Committee to Stop War
and Occupation, and many other social justice organizations; and
everyone who expressed their support, signed a petition, and/or came
out for court solidarity.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to share a very fine article
from Ralph Lopez that reminds us all of why it's necessary to protest
criminals like Donald Rumsfeld (note: contains some graphic/disturbing
images).

http://warisacrime.org/content/ma-prosecutor-lets-rumsfeld-walk-charges-protester-instead-bonus-can-you-see-karate-chop

Thanks again for all your political, emotional, legal, and moral support.

shaun