It's a story that has caused deep pain among those of us who have been political activists. That's the saga of lawyers-activists Pryor Cashman and Colinford Mattis.
On an experience level too many of us know how "naturally" it could seem for peaceful legal activities to cross the line to the violent illegal.
I bore witness to that frequently during the late 1960s and early 1970s counterculture. Friends lost jobs, careers, and relationships. Some got entangled with the legal system. Others got caught up in other forms of destructive excess. They lost their minds.
To cool off the fires of my own rage against a lot of things, I exited the US and took a job in Barcelona, Spain. After working 14-hour days in the hospitality industry on Calle de San Francisco I conceded that maybe America wasn't so oppressive after all. I circled back to the US to finish my doctorate degree. The lesson I had learned about economic systems had been penalty-free.
Not so fortunate have been lawyer-activist pair Cashman and Mattis. In the heat of the national outrage about the death of George Floyd, they crossed the wrong lines. Those involved a Molotov Cocktail. That was in 2020. More recently the two took a guilty plea for one count of possessing or making a destructive device. That could bring a sentence of 10 years.
But, as the New York Law Journal reports, the government has recommeded to US District Judge Brian Cogan a sentence of 18 to 24 months. The defense is requesting that be done through time already served. The two have been under house arrest.
Not everyone is sympathetic. The Police Benevolent Association oppose that reduced sentence. After all, a police station was what had been targeted.
But, this proposal by government showcases the humanity in the legal system. What human being hasn't become overwrought and entered a perilous emotional force field? Fortunately, for them and for society rarely does that explode into action.
This blog hopes for tender mercies for Cashman and Mattis. They will probably still have to pay the steep price of being disbarred. But perhaps that could be reversed in time. Former Willkie Farr Co-Chairman Gordon Caplan was able to have his license reinstated.
Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.