Anti-torture protesters invade the Court
on Jan 11, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Supreme Court police arrested 80 individuals on Friday afternoon, after about half of them entered the Court building as part of a protest against torture. Most of the individuals were wearing orange T-shirts, symbolic of the orange jumpsuits that are worn by prisoners whom the U.S. is holding at the military prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The group identified itself as Witnesses Against Torture. In early afternoon, they assembled on the Court’s front plaza, in total numbers that were not counted by the Court. After some of the demonstrators entered the Court’s Great Hall, making considerable noise, police arrested 45 inside the building and 35 outside on the plaza. Court aides said there was no violence and no resisting of arrest. The Court was not in session when the protest occurred and the Justices had completed their private Conference.
 The arrested individuals were turned over to District of Columbia police for detention and processing.
Those who entered the building were charged with violating two federal laws — a ban on speeches and “loud, threatening, or abusive language” in the Court building or on its grounds, and a ban on parades, assemblages, and display of flags in the building or on the grounds. Those who were arrested outside were charged with violating only the second law.
Anyone convicted of violating either law may be jailed for up to 60 days, or fined, or both.
