Kafka and the Wizard of Oz
Kafka and the Wizard of Oz
City of Bellingham prosecutor was forced to dismiss the October 20, 2006 trespassing charge against Ellen Murphy in Municipal Court today. Ellen will still stand trial on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 9 am bef
City of Bellingham prosecutor was forced to dismiss the October 20, 2006 trespassing charge against Ellen Murphy in Municipal Court today. Ellen will still stand trial on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 9 am before a jury for an Oct 13 charge of trespassing - of sitting in Rick Larsen's office during normal office hours.
Today's dismissal resulted from the city attorney, Ryan Anderson, admitting that Ellen had not violated the no-trespassing order she was issued on Oct 13, which stated she was not to enter Rick Larsen's office till 2007. Ellen sat in the hallway on Oct 20 - which was not a violation of the order. However, city police arrested her at the request of Rick Larsen and the city charged her with a gross misdemeanor and intended to bring her to trial with a conviction that could result in jail time.
What happened? It seems the city never looked at their own copy of Ellen's no-trespass order but rather only looked at what a clerk had copied into another record - a copy that had a clerical error. As such, the city spent several months preparing to prosecute Ellen - until her attorney, Joe Pemberton, brought the actual no-trespass order to their attention.
When asked after the hearing today how this had happened, Anderson said they had not looked at their copy of the no-trespass order until Joe brought it to their attention. When asked why this had gone unchecked for so long, he replied it was "a mistake".
Judge Debra Lev chose to not preside and sent a court commissioner to accept the dismissal. The hearing was scheduled by Lev for a time when no other cases were being heard - and so the courtroom was virtually empty. The process took all of 5 minutes. I saw no other reporters present. The court clerks let us wait in one courtroom for 15 minutes and then had us go upstairs to another empty room for the dismissal. The city appears to be a bad loser. Ellen was accompanied by several supportive friends.
Want to know what is really Kafka-like about this? For supposedly violating the Oct 13 order, Ellen was issued a lifetime ban from even entering the Federal Building. Now, even though the city has admitted Ellen did not violate the Oct 13 order, the lifetime ban remains. Seventy-year-old Ellen cannot go into the Social Security office, the IRS office or the Post Office for the rest of her life. All because she did not commit a crime.
Rick Larsen is the quiet Wizard of Oz behind the curtain as he works to strip Ellen Murphy of some of her civil rights for embarrassing him. Did you know he now has his office door locked to prevent any anti-war citizens from entering? Yep - you knock and a staffer pokes their head out of a door down the hallway. If they know you then you are allowed through the other door. He may be only locking the door on Fridays now - the day the anti-war vigil is held outside the Federal Building.
This website will fully cover the proceedings of Ellen's trial on the other charge. The city attorney might want to actually check the documents before bringing her to trial.
Today's dismissal resulted from the city attorney, Ryan Anderson, admitting that Ellen had not violated the no-trespassing order she was issued on Oct 13, which stated she was not to enter Rick Larsen's office till 2007. Ellen sat in the hallway on Oct 20 - which was not a violation of the order. However, city police arrested her at the request of Rick Larsen and the city charged her with a gross misdemeanor and intended to bring her to trial with a conviction that could result in jail time.
What happened? It seems the city never looked at their own copy of Ellen's no-trespass order but rather only looked at what a clerk had copied into another record - a copy that had a clerical error. As such, the city spent several months preparing to prosecute Ellen - until her attorney, Joe Pemberton, brought the actual no-trespass order to their attention.
When asked after the hearing today how this had happened, Anderson said they had not looked at their copy of the no-trespass order until Joe brought it to their attention. When asked why this had gone unchecked for so long, he replied it was "a mistake".
Judge Debra Lev chose to not preside and sent a court commissioner to accept the dismissal. The hearing was scheduled by Lev for a time when no other cases were being heard - and so the courtroom was virtually empty. The process took all of 5 minutes. I saw no other reporters present. The court clerks let us wait in one courtroom for 15 minutes and then had us go upstairs to another empty room for the dismissal. The city appears to be a bad loser. Ellen was accompanied by several supportive friends.
Want to know what is really Kafka-like about this? For supposedly violating the Oct 13 order, Ellen was issued a lifetime ban from even entering the Federal Building. Now, even though the city has admitted Ellen did not violate the Oct 13 order, the lifetime ban remains. Seventy-year-old Ellen cannot go into the Social Security office, the IRS office or the Post Office for the rest of her life. All because she did not commit a crime.
Rick Larsen is the quiet Wizard of Oz behind the curtain as he works to strip Ellen Murphy of some of her civil rights for embarrassing him. Did you know he now has his office door locked to prevent any anti-war citizens from entering? Yep - you knock and a staffer pokes their head out of a door down the hallway. If they know you then you are allowed through the other door. He may be only locking the door on Fridays now - the day the anti-war vigil is held outside the Federal Building.
This website will fully cover the proceedings of Ellen's trial on the other charge. The city attorney might want to actually check the documents before bringing her to trial.
