Justice in Vermont (with your help)

"A citizen in United States should never expect to gain justice through the judicial system. The system is so corrupted that in the rare case when justice prevails, it is not because of, but it is in spite of, the system."
~Rosemarie Jackowski

We are posting this call to action today because a kind and decent woman needs your help. Rosemarie Jackowski is a 68-year-old grandmother/Air Force Veteran/writer/anti-war activist and an advocacy journalist living in Vermont.

"On March 20, 2003, I participated in a peaceful protest against the war. I was arrested, incarcerated, handcuffed, booked, fingerprinted, photographed, arraigned, tried, convicted and sentenced. My conviction is currently under Appeal in the Vermont State Supreme Court. Courtroom procedure allows the condemned the Right of Allocution. This was the first time that I was allowed to speak freely and openly to the court. Below are my words, as I spoke them, to Judge David Suntag, in Vermont District Court, in Bennington, Vt., on October 7, 2004."

A Courtroom Speech By Rosemarie Jackowski

To get an idea of where Rosemarie is coming from I would suggest you read the above article as well as:
"Silence is the greatest of all crimes"

An interview with Peace Grandma, Rosemarie Jackowski
by author Mickey Z

The details of her protest trial can be found at the Veterans for Peace website.

The idea of a jury steamrolling a grandmother for committing an act of civil disobedience is, unfortunately, not very surprising in America’s current political climate.

BUT…

That is not subject of today’s appeal to you.
The current injustice facing this amicable woman has to do with her actions as a plaintiff stemming from a traffic accident in Vermont in the year 2000.

While waiting in a line of traffic she was rear ended by a loaded logging truck.
Many eyewitnesses reported the truck driver was “distracted” by some young ladies on the roadside and clearly the negligent party in the accident.
It would seem like a straightforward case but for the fact that the truck was owned and operated by the state of Vermont.

It gets worse. It has taken FIVE YEARS for the government to even begin her deposition.

I urge you to read the horrific details of this matter in her recent article:

The Deposition By Rosemarie Jackowski

Being deposed by a government lawyer for a case where the State is the defendant is, no doubt, a rough ride. It would seem that the State of Vermont had an intimidation card up its sleeve when the lawyer’s questions began to stray far from the case at hand into the realm of Rosemarie’s political beliefs and very personal life.

An excerpt from The Deposition:

"The big day arrived. I was taken into a small, windowless room in the state’s attorney’s office complex. I looked around. There was a one-way mirror opposite to where I was seated. There were some metal bookshelves with black garbage bags on them. It reminded me of Abu Ghraib.


I was told to raise my right hand and was sworn in. Then the interrogation by an assistant to the state attorney general began. She asked questions about my political activities… questions about my political writings. She had copied all of them from the Internet and waved them about with great emotion. She seemed excited by the fact that some of my articles had appeared on a web site that has a four-letter word in its name. Obviously, she thought that this would embarrass me. It did not. I calmly explained to her that I do not have a web site and I have no control over what name other people give to their web sites. I don’t know if she believed me or not.


Then the interrogation got even more interesting. She asked questions about my sex life. She asked questions about my marriage that had ended 35 years prior. Then she started to ask detailed questions about the fact that I had been the victim of a brutal rape. The rape, which is irrelevant to this case, had occurred 40, yes 40, years ago during a time when I was working in Florida. By now, it had become very clear to me what was happening. There was no doubt in my mind that this was an attempt to intimidate me."

Whether or not you agree with Rosemarie’s political beliefs they should not hold any bearing in her case against a State-owned trucking company that had cause her much physical anguish and financial devastation. As for the exceptionally private matters of sexual assault or divorce- the representative of the State of Vermont has gone too far!

This is not the progressive State that I have read about over the years. This is brutal.

We are appealing to you, dear reader, to take a few moments to write to one or both of the people listed below and join us in demanding a fair and equitable conclusion to this rather straightforward case of negligence on the part of an employee of the State of Vermont.

The harassment and obfuscation by the assistant to the state attorney general and the dragging out of this otherwise uncomplicated matter are Justice delayed and Justice denied.

Dick Sears, Chairman of the State Judiciary Committee:
rsears@leg.state.vt.us

Speaker of the State House, Gaye Symington:
speaker@leg.state.vt.us

Governor of the State of Vermont, Jim Douglas:
http://www.vermont.gov/governor/contact.html

A susinct sentence or two is all we ask.

If you are a Blogger we would ask that you perhaps utilize your own space to help spread this appeal with your own article or a link back to this one.

Thank you very much.

Amelopsis and Youngfox.