Ellen Thomas
2817 11th St NW
Washington DC 20001
202-462-0757
November 25, 1991
US Court of Appeals
4th & Constitution NW
Washington, DC
Re: Opposition to Federal Appellees' Motion for Summary
Affirmance.
Dear Court:
The reason I'm not filing an opposition to Appellees' Motion
for Summary Affirmance is because although I requested the court
appoint an attorney to represent me on appeal, no attorney has
been assigned as yet.
I have experienced most of the events complained of in
this case, and I know that the defendants' acts were wrong in
the sense that government officials repeatedly acted as if they
were above the law. I suffered loss of property, imprisonment,
psychological torment, and interference with my work --- work
of the kind, I believe, which the founders of this country understood
to be important enough to merit the protection of the first Amendment.
It is very sad to me, but my experiences now make me believe
that the courts of this country have very, very little respect
for the principles on which this country was founded. Frankly,
after I was sent to jail by this District Court in 1988 for doing
nothing more threatening than wrapping in a blanket in 32 degree
weather while tending my peace signs in Lafayette Park, I lost
all faith in this system. At that time I personally decided that
trying to reason with the courts was a waste of time. I decided
to use my time more constructively, and just commit myself to
my work in the park.
But my husband, William Thomas' keeps arguing that the
courts are staffed by people, and that we can't give up hope that
people might change. I still think it would be fruitless for me
to answer the government's motion. But I also think the government
has been acting erroneously, and that the court is the entity
responsible for correcting that error.
So, in the interests of justice, I would ask that the Court
allow me to file an opposition to the motion for summary affirmance
after, or if, an attorney is assigned to my case.