< Previous page

The defendants also brought a bit of academia and church to court, including two expert witnesses: Daniel Pollitt, a UNC-Chapel Hill law professor emeritus, and the Rev. W.W. Finlator, a longtime advocate of civil rights.

Pollitt, who taught labor law and was a president of North Carolina's ACLU during the turbulent 1960s, argued that their actions had been protected by the First Amendment, citing some sit-in cases and Jehovah's Witnesses who have been allowed to trespass as a matter of free speech.

"People write letters but they don't get answers, so they go sit at the Woolworth counter," Pollitt said.

It was a strange case in court, and an unusual protest in Johnston County, where roadside signs advertising collards, pecans and new subdivisions had rarely before been joined by picket signs. Still, both the trial and the arrests were characterized by amicable brushes with the law.

When protesters struck up with protest songs in November, sheriff's deputies joined in.

"We shall not be moved, like a tree," the protesters sang.

"Like a tree ..." Deputy Rodney Langdon echoed, trailing behind the protesters as they moved to get a better view on the other side of a fence as their friends were handcuffed.

Judge Ethridge said he understood the reasons they had felt compelled to act, but he had no choice under state law except to find the defendants guilty. He sentenced them to 10 to 20 days in jail, unless they paid $50 in fines and $110 in court costs and underwent a year of unsupervised probation.

The 14 defendants all appealed the decision. Their case will likely go to Superior Court in early summer, Reece said. But first, many will go today to protest at Aero Contractors' hangar at the Global TransPark in Kinston.

< Previous page