A federal judge sentenced Charles Liteky, a former Army chaplain and war hero turned lifelong demonstrator, to the maximum sentence of one year in prison yesterday, a term Liteky said he welcomed as a way of drawing attention to his cause.

Standing at the lectern in a Columbus, Ga., courtroom, 69-year- old Liteky, who lives part-time in San Francisco, read a 10-minute statement to U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson. The judge leaned forward and listened intently, clearly interested in hearing why one of 147 living recipients of the Medal of Honor would willingly spend a year of his life in prison.

Liteky got his one-year sentence and a fine of $10,000 for two counts of illegally trespassing at Fort Benning, the sprawling Army infantry post that is home to the controversial School of the Americas, a training facility for Latin American military officers.

Liteky and other critics charge that many of the school's graduates have been responsible for massacres of peasants and human rights workers in Central and South America.

``I consider it an honor to be going to prison as a result of an act of conscience in response to a moral imperative that impelled and obligated me to speak for voices silenced by graduates of the School of the Americas, a military institution that has brought shame to our country and the U.S. Army,'' Liteky told Lawson.

Under terms of the sentence, Liteky, who is not in custody, will be notified by mail within six weeks about which federal prison he should report to. He said yesterday that he suspects he will be sent to Lompoc in Southern California.

Liteky's years of protesting and his occasional appearances before federal judges -- he did six months in prison 10 years ago for the same offense -- might well be overlooked had he not received the nation's highest award for bravery in combat. He then became one of only two of the 3,410 recipients of the Medal of Honor to give it back, again as an act of protest.

Liteky was awarded the medal (under the name of Angelo J. Liteky) for saving the lives of 23 soldiers during a fierce firefight in Vietnam in December 1967. At the time, he was a Catholic priest and was serving in the Army as a chaplain. He has since resigned from his religious order.

During the one-hour court session in Columbus, Lawson told Liteky that he did not understand ``the connection between what is going on at the School of the Americas and this court.''

Liteky said after sentencing that he intends to write Lawson from prison ``because I want him to understand that connection.''

``We're doing acts of civil disobedience in the tradition of our democracy,'' he said. ``This has been going on for a long time. And in going to prison, I'm drawing attention to the issue. I'm happy with his ruling.''

Liteky's wife, Judy, a former nun, joined him in court yesterday. ``My main reason for being here,'' she said later, ``was to be with Charlie. The sentence is longer than I thought it would be, so I'm going to have to take some time to get used to a whole year.''

Correspondent Jason Miczek in Georgia contributed to this report.

03/13/2000 - A Matter of Honor.

02/12/2000 - School of Americas class dwells on human rights .

11/20/1999 - U.S. to Seek New Image for Much-Criticized School of the Americas .

01/31/1999 - A priest's war against School of Assassins'.

>>more related articles...

©2000 San Francisco Chronicle

• Subject: SOA 10 sentenced
  Date:     Thu, 08 Jun 2000 16:44:46 -0700
  From:     SOAW
  June 8, 2000
  
  Press Release:
  
  School of the Americas Protesters Sentenced to Prison
  
  COLUMBUS, GA—Ten protesters received sentences of up to 12 months in prison today for their part in a November 1999 funeral procession onto Fort Benning property calling for the closure of the School of the Americas. Judge Hugh Lawson imposed the sentences today in the US District Court in Columbus, GA.
  
  Congressional medal of winner Charles Liteky received the maximum sentence of 6 months in prison and a $5000 fine on each of two counts of trespassing for a total of 12 months in prison and a $10,000 fine. Liteky stated, "I dedicate my time in prison to the victims of the SOA, living and dead. When I enter prison it will be as a prisoner of war, the war against the poor."
  
  Sr. Megan Rice, who served a 6 month sentence for her part in a 1997 SOA protest, was sentenced to 6 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. She was taken immediately into custody. Seven others were sentenced to three months in prison and a $2,500 fine after stating that they would return to Fort Benning again and again until the SOA is closed. One defendant, who did agree that she would not return to the post was sentenced to 12 months of probation and $1,000 fine.
  
  The School of the Americas, training ground for more than 60,000 Latin American military troops, has been under intense pressure to close its doors. Documented human rights abuses by its graduates have included the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the massacre of 900 civilians in the village of El Mozote. In response to criticism, the Pentagon has circulated a reform proposal that would re-name the school The Defense Institute for Hemispheric Security Cooperation but offer no substantive changes. By a narrow margin, the House voted to accept this proposal last month.
  
  SOA critics call the changes cosmetic and contend that it is business as usual for the SOA. School of the Americas Watch staff have vowed to work harder than ever to close this School of Assassins.
  
  The protesters were not deterred by the sentences and will return home to continue their anti-SOA organizing until ordered to report to federal prison. "These harsh sentences will only energize this movement and call forth in ever greater numbers," said Fr. Roy Bourgeois, co-director of SOA Watch.
  
  List of Defendants follows. To schedule interviews contact SOA Watch at (706) 682-5369
  
            1. Brooks Anderson, 66, Retired Lutheran Pastor, participated in Selma to Montgomery civil rights march, married, 4 children, 9 grandchildren, Duluth, MN. 3 months in prison, $2500 fine.
            2. Judy Bierbaum, 43, Children’s Sexual Abuse therapist, Catholic, Children’s Champion Award in 1997, Governor’s outstanding Woman of New Mexico Award in 1998, Albuquerque, NM. 3 months in prison, $2500 fine
            3. Thomas Bottolene, 50, Full-time, multi-issue Nonviolent Activist for Peace and Justice, father of 4, grandfather, graphic artist, organizer, St. Paul, MN. 3 months in prison, $2500 fine.
            4. Charles Butler, 73, Retired United Methodist Pastor, Missionary in Panama for 25 years, Army Veteran stationed at Ft. Benning, married, 3 children, Rochester, MN. 3 months in prison, $2500 fine.
            5. Kathleen Fisher, Environmental Chemist, Quaker, worked 4 years in Zimbabwe and Swaziland for Mennonite Central Committee, on staff of U.S. Grail, a nonprofit women’s social justice and environmental organization, Portland, OR. 1 year probation, $1000 fine.
            6. Gerhard Fischer, 71, Retired Pharmacist/Business Person, U.S. Navy veteran of Korea conflict, Lutheran, married, 5 daughters, 9 grandchildren, Brookfield, WI. 3 months in prison, $2500 fine.
            7. John Honeck, 39, Residence Counselor for mentally retarded adults, Tutor, married, 3 children – 6, 8 and 12 years old, Hamlin, NY. 3 months in prison, $2500 fine.
            8. Margaret Knapke, 47, Natural Therapeutics Practitioner, worked with war-traumatized people from El Salvador, Master of Philosophy, Dayton, OH. 3 months in prison, $2500 fine.
            9. Charles Liteky, 69, Awarded Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam, served 6 months in federal prison for previous SOA protest, married, San Francisco, CA. 12 months in prison, $10,000 fine.
            10. Sr. Megan Rice, SHCJ, 70 Catholic Sister of the Holy Child Jesus, worked as a missionary in Nigeria and Ghana for 34 years, served 6 months for previous SOA protest, Baltimore, MD. 6 months in prison, $5000 fine.
  
  ----------------
  
  Contact: Roy Bourgeois or Jeff Winder (706) 682-5369
  
  

• Subject: Letters from Charlie: August 2000
  Date:     Sun, 27 Aug 2000 13:28:32 +0100
  From:     Richard Olive
  Dear SOAWatch West Members:
  
  Following are excerpts of two recent letters from Charlie Liteky written from Lompoc Federal Prison where he is serving a one-year sentence for his efforts to close the SOA.
  
  *****************************
  
  "Charlie's Challenges of Nonviolence – Letters from Lompoc"
  
  August 2
  (Second full day of sentence)
  
  Thanks to the kindness of residents, my critical sundry needs were met immediately upon arrival at my double decker bunk Š Amenities like tooth brush and paste, soap, paper, pen, stamps and envelopes came to me from inmates in my dormitory neighborhood just because I am a new kid on the block with no commissary privileges until next week! One could not help but he impressed by the concern of some residents. My bunkmate, Terry, a young Afro-American, had asked if I had eaten supper. It was around 5 p.m. I missed mess hall call due to intake. Terry shared a commissary chicken cutlet and a pear with me. Very touching!
  
  Life in camp is easy as long as you can handle being disregarded as a person.
  
  There is a spiritual force at work here: sweat lodges for Native Americans and friends, all sorts of denominational services, AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), Buddhist, etc. Will definitely sweat! Love it.
  
  I've been assigned to the carpentry shop run by a federal employee whose main goal is successful retirement and pension.
  
  Plenty of time for reading, writing and the basic arithmetic of subtracting days here from 365 and adding some to day No. 1.
  
  As expected, this is a great opportunity to grow in patience and nonviolent response to verbally violent language. Don't expect much physical violence anywhere but on the basketball court, which I won't be using until I lose some weight and shape up the muscles!
  
  Love and Peace.
  Charlie
  
  8/9/00
  9:15 p.m.
  Top Bunk In Alpha Unit
  
  Life in this level of security is not much worse than military boot camp. We have considerable freedom of movement, time to read and write, fair food, time to recreate - medical care for minor ills.
  
  Brushed shoulders with the first inmate who evoked negative feelings of violence in me. I don't think he had any idea of my disgust for his behavior. Big, muscular, mean-looking type who was verbally abusive in general. Hating behavior and loving the person is a real struggle. Have a good book on selective writing of Gandhi called All Men Are Brothers that is helping me and calling me onward into the practice of nonviolence.
  
  My daily life is rich in people experience. The majority of camp population is white and elderly. I happen to live in a small pocket of three men who are African American: Terry in the bunk below me; Nate, who's bunk adjoins mine at the north end (we sleep head to foot) and another black man in his 30s who loves revolutionaries!
  
  From my perspective, they are all fine men, exceptionally friendly toward me. In general there is a beautiful spirit of friendliness and concern for one another in the prison camp population. The staff is another story. I feel worse for them than I do (for) the inmates. David Hartsough's remarks about the guard who broke his arm at Concord keeps coming back to me: "How would you like to have his job?"
  
  Between last night and this morning I made a decision to ask for a transfer of work (from the carpentry shop) on the basis of conscience. (The decision was based on an assignment to build a storage place for riot control weapons.)
  
  Now the boss of carpentry and construction shop, according to other inmates who had tried to transfer, never let anyone go once assigned to him! If he refused my only redress would be an outright refusal to work, resulting in a quick trip to the hole and change of security level from camp to the next minimum level called FCI (Federal Correctional Institute). After 30 days or so in the FCI hole an inmate is given the opportunity to work within the FCI. No more camp.
  
  Just after noon I presented my boss with my request for transfer on what is called a cop-out form. He was not happy (as) he looked over my request:
  
  Subject: Transfer of Work Position
  
  I am currently working in construction of a building to be used for weapons storage for riot control. As a person committed to nonviolence this (is a matter of) conscience for me. Therefore, I respectfully request a change of work positions. I will happily clean latrines, etc. This request for transfer is in no way related to (unnamed individual). It involves a matter of conscience which I must answer to.
  
                  S/Charles J. Liteky After at least two readings the boss said, "So you don't believe in violence of any kind, huh?" I answered, "That's correct." He replied, "So what are you going to do when two men are trying to kill one another?"
  
  "It would be my obligation to interpose my body between the men."
  
  "And you would be dead," he said!
  
  "Yes, that could happen."
  
  "That's a violent world over there."
  
  I replied, "I know, but it's not my world; I'm trying to help create a nonviolent world and to do so a person must face violence, nonviolently, and die if necessary. This is a punitive system."
  
  Right here he decided to sign my request. I don't think he wanted to discuss nonviolence further.
  
  So now I'm free of this job and waiting for another assignment.
  
  8/21/00 Monday 5:30 a.m. The Chapel
  
  My first attempt to journal. I've been looking for the right time and a place I could count on every day. I prefer the first waking hours of the morning, which can begin here as early as 5 a.m. when we are first permitted to leave the dorm, where around 144 of us are warehoused for the night. Finally, I have found what could be the right spot, a closet with a light in the rear of the camp, a non-denominational chapel which I'm told is rarely locked! Looks like I'm not the only one of 300 inmates in search of silence and solitude. Two other inmates have arrived.
  
  8/22/00 Tues 6:50 a.m. Picnic Table
  
  Woke up around 3:30; couldn't fall back to sleep. So I laid around till 6 a.m. However, I do have a half hour before the utility van comes to pick about 10 of us up and deliver us to our assigned place of work, called V.T. Construction, which is supposed to (be) a combination of back- and hands-on work in the fields of construction, electricity and plumbing. This week we are scheduled to lay a concrete slab inside a silo. Having moments of silence here, waiting for the incarnation, so to speak, of thoughts and feelings, insights into self and the system I'm living in. I don't feel that I'm doing time. It's more like this is my life for awhile, living in the exclusive company of adult males each one on his own level of spirituality or the absence thereof. It's easy to be around those who have begun their journey; not so easy to share with those who have no idea of their spiritual potential – sex, sports, prison life, occasional political talk, subjects I can, at best, talk around. Listening is limited.
  
  8/23/00 Wed 6:55 a.m.
  
  Time is moving rapidly on. Three weeks down already. Still in search of the ideal journaling place. This morning I've chosen a chair in the aisle on southern end of my bunk. I have around 25 minutes to gather a few thoughts. Occasionally, I'm asked about why I do what I do by another inmate. Rather than go into an essay answer, I've decided to respond as the Jonah House-Nuclear Holistics do, It's a simple matter of what I feel is an obligation &##150; to resist evil.' What follows thereafter depends as much on the person asking the question as it does on my disposition at the time. I've reached the conclusion that I must refuse to work for this expression of our federal government on the grounds of its connection to the larger expression of institutional violence, namely, the federal government itself. All I have to do is refuse to work and I will be ushered to the hole in another compound, called F.C.I. I have to wait for the right moment to do this since such a move will again affect Judy. Must prepare her for the change. I do pray and meditate over decisions like this, more so now than ever. Prayers like, 'God, what do I do when doing what is right hurts someone else, especially one whom I love?'
  
  I've been struggling with this matter of following one's conscience when it dictates or involves an act (usually of self-sacrifice) that will cause pain to a loved one. Gandhi, in his autobiography, says: "I know, too, that performance of one's duty should be independent of public opinion. I have all along held that one is bound to act according to what to one appears to be right, though it may appear wrong to others. And experience has shown that that is the only correct course. That is why the poet has sung: 'The pathway of love is the ordeal of fire, the shrinkers turn away from it.' The pathway of Ahimsa, that is, of love, one has often to tread all alone."
  
  Related to direction along life's pathway, Gandhi says: "True guidance comes by constant waiting upon God, but utmost humility, self-abnegation, by being ever ready to sacrifice one's self. Its practice requires fearlessness and courage of the highest order. I am painfully aware of my failings." (so am I, but awareness can lead to improvement through prayer. I hope so). "But the light within me is steady and clear, there is no escape for any of us, save through truth and non-violence."
  
  The book from which I quote Gandhi is entitled 'All Men Are Brothers, Autobiographical Relfections', compiled and edited by Krishna Kripalani, Continuum, New York, 1982. No doubt out of print. I find it helpful. What I wonder about is how Gandhi achieved such a high level of non-violence. Was it prayer, fasting, meditation, vegetarianism, voluntary poverty and celibacy? I am a vegetarian as of today. This is an easy place to begin since the meat served here involves a health risk.
  
  8/24/00 Thurs. 7:06 a.m. The Chair in the aisle next to my bunk
  
  The proving ground for nonviolence continues to prove me a novice in the field. Some person I do pray for, and right now itís best for me to do so at a distance. Acts of kindness on the other hand far outweigh verbal violent behavior. Iím very fortunate to have the three Afro-Americans, with whom providence has gifted me, in my immediate neighborhood. Have a bus to catch to my work site. Will no doubt be planting flowers today. Reading a short account of the Tragedy of Colombia. Incredible suffering, torture and death. Adds fuel to my endurance of place of mitigated punishment.
  
  8/24/00 7:50 p.m. The Library A Table for two
  
  Relative Quiet [Charlie touches on a point of clarification of his response to a question in an interview the day of his incarceration, July 31.]
  
  Relative to the irony of surrendering to an institution associated with the government against which I protest: In addition to surrendering to what I perceive to be God's will for me, I am surrendering to a superior material force, that I do not choose to violently fight (for more than one reason). My hope in prison as well as out is to speak truth to power and resist injustice as I am led to do. Inspiration to act this way or that comes as a rule via meditation or one-on-one prayer or through the silence I try to maintain while working. (This is probably the most difficult silence to maintain amidst the plethora of body-bound bullshit of my fellow inmates, who canít wait to whore, eat and drink upon release. Not all, but too many of my working partners are so oriented. These poor fellows seem to have little to no awareness of the spiritual side of their nature. I donít judge them. I just feel sorry for them.)
  
  8/25/00 Fri. 7:04 a.m. Bedside
  
  Big day today – a little anxious since this is the hour I'll be presenting the enclosed statement on paying fines to the federal government. Pray to be calm and joyful and non-confrontational and sympathetic to all who feel bound to work in this system (that is) suffering from the absence of human caring.
  
  Statement enclosed (entry of August 25 refers)
  
  To Bureau of Prisons, Lompoc, California
  
  In anticipation of an inquiry into my intentions to begin payment on a $10,000 fine ordered by the Eleventh District Federal Court, Columbus, Ga., June 8, 2000, I have prepared the following statement:
  
  First, I need to say that I hold a fine of $10,000 for the commission of two simple misdemeanors (nonviolent acts of civil disobedience – Type B) to be blatantly unreasonable and grossly unjust. To be sentenced to (a) year in a federal prison and given a $10,000 fine by an employee of the institution offended rather than a jury of my peers is a prostitution of the Constitution. In 1991 I was charged with a felony for damaging government property at the School of Americas, Ft. Benning, Ga. Convicted by a jury of my peers I was sentenced to six months in a federal prison and ordered to pay $633 restitution. No fine was imposed. Now, approximately 10 years later I am given a sentence twice as long and a fine 11 times greater for misdemeanors that cannot be compared in gravity to the felony of 1991.
  
  When I was asked to arrange for payment of restitution in 1991 I refused as a matter of conscience to give any money to a government complicit in crimes against humanity committed by men trained at the School of Americas. I have given considerable thought and prayer to the morality of paying fines to the U. S. Government, a government not only complicit in crimes like torture, rape and assassination, but a government arrogant enough to disregard World Court decisions when the ruling is not in its favor. My position on the payment of fines to the U. S. Government remains the same as it was in 1991, with the following exception: if the U. S. Government will pay indemnity compensation to the victims of graduates of the School of Americas I will make arrangements to pay fines directed toward me as a result of my civil disobedience. In the meantime, the government can take whatever it wants from me just as it takes whatever it wants from the Third World poor via the training of third world militaries at schools like the School of Americas.
  
  Thank you. Nothing personal here.
  
  Charles J. Liteky #83276-020 Lompoc Federal Prison
  
  8/27/Sunday – 9:43 My bedside office, standing on a chair using my top bunk as a desk. Works well.
  
  [In this letter Charlie opens by reflecting further on an exchange about non-violence with his 'boss' after requesting a change of work assignment]
  
  When the boss in the carpenter shop said, 'It's a violent world over there,' I did not interpret this as a threat. I think he was giving his apologia for the use of force in violent or dangerous situations. I do know that I was calm and ready to accept whatever consequences would follow from what I conceived to be an act of conscience. The nonviolent person will suffer with joy for an act of conscience. I felt good when I was reassigned without hassle. Seems I had a chance to witness to a man with a little power. My own experience with metamorphosis tells me that most of the time change, especially spiritual change, is a bit-by-bit process. I've become content with planting seeds. Life with the bully – lately I've seen him only from a distance. I don't think he knows that I exist; has no idea he is a problem to me. I pray for him. One day I may set down to eat at his table, try to engage in some light conversation like, 'Where did you get your attitude?' I agree with the spiritual axiom that disturbance caused by others is an indication that something is not right with us if we react negatively. Steep is the road that leads to the kind of spiritual maturity that looks or sees immediately the sick soul of violent people or institutions. What I feel and think when faced with violence tells me who I am at that particular moment – like Gandhi says, 'I accept my limitations' and keep on truckin'. There is too little time to be sad over what I am or am not.
  
  Love and Peace,
  
  Charlie
  
  

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