LAUREN RELEASED FROM PRISON!!!

[Tom Sawyer]

First story in the Freedom News Daily.

1)  CT: Lauren Canario is free!
The Day

"Eminent domain protestor Lauren Canario, imprisoned since Sept. 23, broke
her silence today in New London Superior Court and was granted an
unconditional discharge. ... Canario had refused to speak to the prosecutor
and judge and was being held indefinitely at the Janet S. York Correctional
Institute. ... Canario finally spoke when Prosecutor Michael Kennedy
offered her the opportunity of release if she would plead guilty under the
Alford Doctrine. The Alford plea means that she does not agree with the
charges but does not want to take the case to trial. ... Canario went to a
friend's house on Evergreen Street after being freed. ... Canario said the
protest and imprisonment were worth it." [editor's note: THANK YOU to a
brave woman for standing up for the rights of all of us, at great cost to
herself! - TLK]

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=8f3f3b76-f0c2-45eb-90e1-85c4c498505a

[Dave Ridley]

Just got around to digging it...I am in just-barely-on-internet-mode right now because of Christmas. 

[Michael Fisher]

It's great that this judge had a change of heart and released Lauren. He is only an agent of the state, and as capable of evil as any of us. Maybe we should forgive him as an individual for his part in jailing Lauren.

Civil disobedience is not about men anyway, it is about systems and methods. Lauren won against the Connecticut system by refusing to compromise. Her victory is all that matters. So I say: Why not forgive the judge?

[Caleb]

Well, as I see it, it isn't so much about "forgiveness" as it is about repentance.  The two go hand in hand.  The judge needs to renounce his violence and cease his aggression against others.  He may no longer be harming Lauren, but every day he harms new people; he will harm people Wednesday, without remorse, because he believes that his position (as judge) gives him license to act in a way that he would find repugnant (not to mention criminal) if done by a private citizen.

[Dave Ridley]

lauren's digg entry apparently topped out at around 360 diggs

[Michael Fisher]

Kevin McMahon is not a system or method, he is just a man. My habeas-corpus strategy failed miserably because it failed to recognize this fact. Sure, he is responsible for his actions, but pleading to him with love is infinitely more powerful, meaningful, and influential than approaching him with anger, demands, or hatred. Forgiving him for harming Lauren is admitting that what he did was wrong, but forgiving it anyway in order to avoid being angry at him, which only destroys ourselves.

Love was the best solution from the very beginning. If we focus our activism on methods based on love, I think they will be far more effective in changing what really matters in our activism: individuals.

I'm going to thank him for letting Lauren go.