Attend Court in Solidarity with #J20 Defendants

By Defend J20 Resistance

May 29, 2018

A great way to show support for defendants on trial is to attend court to sit in on the proceedings. A courtroom full of friendly faces is a tremendous boost to defendants' morale and energy. Whether you can come down for a whole day or just a few hours, attending court is an important display of solidarity.

Court takes place at:
DC Superior Court, 500 Indiana Ave, NW Courtroom 203 (2nd floor)
(Judiciary Square, Red line metro OR Archives - Navy Memorial - Penn Quarter, Green line metro)

Some Tips:

  • Please arrive by 8am so that you have lots of time to get though security; don’t bring anything that they won’t let through; wear snazzy court support clothes if you have them (black if possible, but we’ll have black blazers to borrow for folks who want/need that to be able to ).
  • The jury will sit at 10am and we need everyone seated and situated long before then, because the judge will take the bench at 9:30am to handle preliminary matters. Ideally, we’d like to have the courtroom packed by then.
  • Expect a full day in court! Be prepared to listen attentively to the proceedings, to show love to our friends on trial (as they hear the government try to vilify them), and to show respect to the jurors.

Some Things Not To Do:

  • Please don’t do anything that could reflect poorly on our friends on trial, that could cause jurors to have an unfavorable view of them or of us, or say/do anything that could put you (or others) at risk.
  • Whenever you are inside the courthouse (or in the immediate area out front), please assume that you are under surveillance, that the purpose of that surveillance is to gather evidence against our friends, and conduct yourself accordingly.
  • Obviously, you should avoid saying anything incriminating, but sharing any personal details at all about anyone has the potential to create/trigger unintended consequences.
  • Similarly, please don’t post anything on social media that could be damaging to any of the defendants. Boost @defendj20’s posts instead. And please direct all media inquiries to the media spokespeople who will be in court each day instead of doing interviews yourself.
  • Please be aware that the judge has issued very specific guidelines for decorum on this case. It is important that we follow these guidelines in order to avoid adverse outcomes, for those on trial and/or for the rest of us. The judge has ordered that there be no communication whatsoever to jurors.
  • Additionally, the judge has ordered that cameras/phones should not even be out anywhere on the second floor. Any violation of the judge’s orders (even courteous small talk to jurors) can result in criminal charges, such as contempt of court or jury tampering.

How To Support Folks If You Can't Be In Court

Thank you for all the Love and Support for the May 14 Defendants! Solidarity Forever.

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