The Trial of the Catonsville Nine

Daniel Berrigan

• Publisher: Fordham University Press
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9780823223312, 9780823223305
• eBook ISBN: 9780823223329
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: North American Literary Collections
• Index: Literature

On May 17, 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, nine men and women entered a Selective Service office outside Baltimore. They removed military draft records, took them outside, and set them afire with napalm. The Catholic activists involved in this protest against the war included Daniel and Philip Berrigan; all were found guilty of destroying government property and sentenced to three years in jail. Dan Berrigan fled but later turned himself in.The Trial of the Catonsville Nine became a powerful expression of the conflicts between conscience and conduct, power and justice, law and morality. Drawing on court transcripts, Berrigan wrote a dramatic account
of the trial and the issues it so vividly embodied. The result is a landmark work of art that has been performed frequently over the past thirty-five years, both as a piece of theater and a motion picture.

1

The Day of a Jury of Peers

DEFENSE

With regard to jury selection, we wish to make one brief statement, your honor. The defendants will not participate in any way in the selection of the jury. That will be a matter between the court and the U.S. attorney.

JUDGE

You do not wish to have the benefit of striking out names you object to?

DEFENSE

We do not wish any strikes whatever. We are abstaining completely from the jury selection.

JUDGE

Very well. All I am going to do is to be sure I get the names. I am now going to do a little housekeeping. Bring in the prospective jurors. Swear them in.

(The prospective jurors are brought in.)

Members of this panel, in this case the United States government, by indictment, has commenced a prosecution against nine defendants. The indictment charges in three counts the following offenses:

That the defendants did willfully injure and commit depradation against property of the United States; did willfully and unlawfully obliterate records of the Selective Service System, Local Board No. 33 located in Catonsville, Maryland; and did willfully and knowingly interfere with the administration of the Military Selective Service Act of 1967, by removing and burning the records of Local Board No. 33 located in Catonsville, Maryland, and by disrupting the official activities at the location of the Local Board No. 33.

The indictment further charges that the defendants aided and abetted one another in committing these alleged offenses.

Each of the defendants has pleaded innocent to these charges. Accordingly, the burden of proof is upon the government to prove the guilt of any of the defendants beyond a reasonable doubt. Now I want to ask each of the prospective jurors some questions.

Mr. Starlings, what is your position?

JUROR

I work for the National Security Agency.

JUDGE

Do you feel that your position in the government would make it difficult or impossible for you to do equal justice between the government and the defendants in this case?

JUROR

No, sir.

JUDGE

You may step down.

Mr. Jones. You served in World War I?

JUROR

Yes, sir. I was in the Army, American Expeditionary Force, World War I.

JUDGE

Have you been active in the American Legion or other activities since? Have you taken any position with respect to protests against the Vietnam war? Have you taken any public position on that war?

JUROR

No, sir.

JUDGE

You may step down. . . .

Mrs. Kilmurray, you say that at one time you worked for the Department of Defense?

JUROR

That is right. I was the Chief of Position Classification at the U.S. Army at Edgewood Arsenal.

JUDGE

Do you feel that your experience in that job would make it impossible, or would make it difficult, for you to do equal justice between the government and the defendants in this case?

JUROR

No, I do not. . . .

JUDGE

You may step down.

Mr. Seidel. I believe that you answered “yes” to the question that you had served in the Armed Forces.

JUROR

Yes, sir. It was in the Second World War.

JUDGE

Have you taken any position, any public position, with respect to the war in Vietnam?

JUROR

No, sir.

JUDGE

You may step down. . . .

Mrs. Smith, you answered, I believe, that you are now working for the Federal government?

JUROR

Yes, as a management analyst with the Army.

JUDGE

Is there anything about your job, or anything about your experience, or any other reason at all, which you feel would make it difficult for you to do impartial justice between the government on the one side, and the defendants on the other?

JUROR

No, sir. . . .

JUDGE

You may step down.

Mr. Buchanan, you were, I believe you said, in the military service at some time?

JUROR

Yes, sir.

JUDGE

During what conflict was that?

JUROR

The Korean War and the Cuban crisis.

JUDGE

Do you feel that your experience in the service would make it difficult for you to do equal justice?

JUROR

No, sir.

JUDGE

You may step down.

State your name, sir.

JUROR

My name is Eric Smith, Jr.

JUDGE

Mr. Smith, you say that you are the branch chief of the Department of Defense at Fort Meade?

JUROR

Yes, sir.

JUDGE

Are your duties classified, or can you tell me what the branch chief does, what you do?

JUROR

I am an industrial engineer in charge of construction and space allocation for the National Security Agency and the Department of Defense.

JUDGE

And you served in the Armed Forces heretofore in one of the conflicts?

JUROR

I have served in the Armed Forces, yes, sir, during Korea.

JUDGE

Would your experience as a former Military Policeman make it difficult for you to decide this case fairly?

JUROR

No, sir, I don’t think it would influence or bias my opinion. . . .

JUDGE

You may step down.

Mr. Austin, you have served in the military?

JUROR

World War II for three years, 1942 to 1945, in the U.S. Navy.

JUDGE

Do you know of any reason why you would not be able to decide the case solely on the evidence?

JUROR

No, sir. I am a very conscientious person.

JUDGE

I hope all the jurors will be. You may step down. . . .

Mr. Raymond Steer. You have served, I believe, in the Armed Forces?

JUROR

I started with the 29th Division here at Fort Meade, and I switched to the Air Force.

JUDGE

Does anything...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface to the Fordham University Press Edition
• Introduction
• 1 The Day of the Jury of Peers
• 2 The Day of the Facts of the Case
• 3 The Day of the Nine Defendants
• 4 The Day of Summation
• 5 The Day of Verdict
• First Afterword
• Second Afterword