Update: Supreme Court Protest on Monday

Peter Dolack recounts some of his experiences at the protest:

All was not fun and games, however. Ten of the 12 women among the Supreme Court 24 were strip-searched under pretext that they would not get to see the judge if they did not comply. Several people had their jackets torn or otherwise damaged. We were given no food for the entire 10-hour ordeal and nothing to drink until several hours had passed. We were kept in air-tight areas in the wagon for long periods and not allowed to use a bathroom. We were processed three different times and gave fingerprints five times. And, the tedium of sitting for long periods. And the Marshals who sadistically barked their commands at us at the last stop, which turned out to be D.C.

Superior Court, were another lowlight. Yes, friends, "don't even think with f***ing with the Marshals," as we were repeatedly told. Think about it -- using the U.S. Marshal's service on people who unfolded a banner. Pretty amazing. But spirits were high throughout, even when we hoped for an end.

Actually, the very beginning when we were held by the Supreme Court police (special treatment for us!) and the first holding area were not so bad. At least there, the officers realized we were just making a political point and had no animosity toward us, although some had to play-act over what awful people we are to maintain their standing with their fellow officers. Throughout this period, I was wearing a judge's robe loaned to me. The blockade in the streets began with us filling the streets, and then me, as the "hanging judge," "sentencing" everybody to death as I pointed at people. They then "died" on to the pavement. So during the early arrest period, I was known as "the judge" to the officers. Unfortunately, officials at our subsequent stops did not have a sense of humor.

Officially, the 24 of us arrested on the Supreme Court steps were charged with "unlawful entry" -- kind of amusing since we never came close to the building (there's lots of steps), nor made any attempt to reach the building. The others were charged with something like "obstructing government property" -- apparently some streets count as government property" in D.C.