I’ve just started reading “Disarmed and Dangerous”, a book about the Berrigan brothers. On first glance, the Berrigans seem so 60’s, so idealistic, so far out removed from the realities of daily life today in America. But then I read about the guy who got arrested the other day in a mall near Albany, NY for wearing a T-shirt (which he bought right there in the mall) saying “Give Peace A Chance”. Supposedly he wasn’t causing a disturbance; he was in the food court having a meal with his son. Security came over and told him to remove the shirt or get off the property. Being a lawyer, he said no to both. So he got arrested for trespassing, just like Daniel and Phillip Berrigan used to do as part of their anti-war protests.

I want to thank that guy for making a stand. I myself am not much on brave gestures like that, and I generally disfavor unlawful or even uncooperative activity of any sort. But the pendulum here in America has swung too far towards gestapo mentality these days. The Berrigans clearly didn’t have a legal defense in most of their protests, they were in it purely for the moral gesture. But in the mall incident, hopefully a judge will rule that a place of business can no more discriminate against a non-obtrusive, non-threatening expression of political opinion on the part of one of its customers under our civil rights laws than it can on grounds of race or sex or religious affiliation (ah, yes, the First Amendment and the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution). But if it can, well, you can always boycott the place. It’s called the Crossgates Mall, in case you live near there.