Below is a copy of Judith's statement before the Judge at sentencing:
"If I do not act to hold my Representative accountable then I have no claim to Democracy. Democracy exists only when We the People stand up; speak out; and take action. I am proud to have done my part to build and sustain our Democracy by trying to hold Representative Loebsack accountable for his campaign promise to end the war in Iraq. And I encourage others to follow in my footsteps. This IS what Democracy looks like."
This was the statement that a fellow Iowan read to the court while she was being sentenced for her guilty plea of trespassing. I would personally like to see many more people being a pain in the ass to the system, forcing our representatives to see what our wishes are. While everything I've heard about Loebsack has been good, I don't have any problem with one of his constituents keeping the pressure on him.
What really strikes me about this case is that both the Magistrate who sentenced her, and the district attorney both gave the lightest sentence possible under law. They knew that the activist (Judith Pdedersen-Been) was just trying to assert her natural rights to petition her representative.
One thing that comes up with this issue, is that if I petition my government with a letter or phone call, it is just labelled as pro or against a certain issue and a form letter is sent in reply. The representative was not able to just file this person's opinion away and mark her down in a list. The disturbance to his office I'm sure caused him to notice the opinion being expressed.
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