In 1971 seven peace activists (who today might be labeled terrorists) were arrested in Washington, D.C., and later tried for allegedly plotting to kidnap Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and to blow up the steam tunnels under federal buildings. Attorney General John Mitchell’s Justice Department charged Father Philip Berrigan, Sister Elizabeth McAlister, and five others with these crimes and set the trial location as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the conservative center of the state with the very conservative Judge R. Dixon Herman presiding.
I was a second-year law student at Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, located 14 miles west of Harrisburg. When I learned that the Harrisburg 7 trial (as it was known) would be held nearby and the defense attorneys could use the help of interns, wild horses couldn’t have kept me away. The defense team was led by former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and noted civil rights attorney Leonard Boudin.
It was fascinating watching the defense attorneys tear apart the testimony of the prosecution witnesses. The star witness for the prosecution was Boyd Douglas, a twice-convicted felon who had been an inmate with Father Berrigan, who was imprisoned for burning draft records. Douglas was an FBI informant who was on work release at Bucknell College. Sister Elizabeth would meet him there and give him letters to take to Father Berrigan.
After weeks of testimony, the prosecution rested its case. The following day the defense could begin putting its witnesses on the stand. That night a long, intense discussion ensued between Clark and Boudin. Clark said that the prosecution had not proved its case, much less proved it beyond a reasonable doubt. He argued that no case had to be put forth by the defense. Boudin argued that was a very risky strategy. The Harrisburg 7 defendants were present and were consulted during the debate. I sat entranced—I hadn’t imagined that we wouldn’t put on a defense. Hundreds of hours had been spent preparing witnesses and documents. Finally the decision was reached: The defense would not call any witnesses.
Two memories were implanted in my brain while watching the trial. First, at one point Judge Herman (a local lawyer before being appointed a federal judge by Richard Nixon) said that something was “done this way.” Clark rose to his full height (well over 6 feet) and in his basso profundo voice replied, “Well, your honor, in my experience that is not the case.” Wow, the former U.S. attorney general putting this local judge in his place, but with panache.
Second, the day the defense was to present its case, Clark rose and said, “Your honor, these defendants shall always seek peace, and they proclaim their innocence of these charges. The defense rests.” You could have heard a pin drop; no one expected this.
An education
After a few days of deliberation, the jury reported it could not reach a verdict on the most serious charges, the kidnapping and the bombing. The defendants were not convicted. The U.S. attorneys then dismissed those charges. Clark had been correct.
Father Berrigan and Sister Elizabeth were convicted of smuggling letters. That charge was dismissed on appeal. The two later married.
All in all, being involved in that trial was a much better education than I could have received sitting in the back of classrooms listening to lectures on the law.
Jim Breslauer is a resident of Poor Farm Road.
The Press welcomes the recollections of other Harvard and Devens residents. Send your stories to editor@harvardpress.net. The ideal length is 350 to 500 words.
