The government's legislation backfired spectacularly as people around the country took the opportunity to have a good time and make a political statement.......
3.11.94 Preparing for defiance as the CJB gained Royal Assent to become the new-born Criminal Justice Act. WHAAAAAAA!
4.11.94 Up a crane in Manchester - within 24 hours of the Act becoming law, four people - Ollie, Pete, Chris and Paul - were the first people in the country to be arrested for 'aggravated trespass' on the No M65 campaign. On the roofs of Parliament, later that day, five activists climbed on to the roofs of Westminster Hall at the Houses of Parliament and sat silhoutted against Big Ben with a 'DEFY THE CJA' banner for all the world to see. Could've kissed 'em!
11.11.94 On the roof of the squatted Courthouse, a community centre in Brighton, to resist the eviction. Birthplace of a million dreams...
20.11.94 In Michael Howard's backgarden, Folkestone, when 400 people put the Home Secretary and the Government on trial and found them Very Guilty Indeed. While in Essex, police made a mass arrest of 31 hunt sabs in an operation costing �40,000 and marred by allegations of serious assault, including one woman who was beaten semi-conscious with a truncheon while she had her hands cuffed behind her back.
27.11.94 On the top of the 'Dolly', a 100ft tower on a doomed squat in Claremont Rd, East London, at the start of the Britain's longest post war eviction. Lasting five days it cost the Department of Transport �2M and involved over 700 police, 200 bailiffs and 400 security guards to evict protestors from houses due to be demolished for the M11 Link Rd.
17.12.94 At a Crookesmoor Middle School in Sheffield where 300 activists held a manic DiY conference to plan the New Year of protest after squatting the empty building - and then tatted a Port-a-loo to stink out the visting namesake and then Employment Secretary, Michael.
2.1.95 On top of a lorry in Shoreham, Sussex, stopping live animal exports in the first action of a six month campaign. Local residents and activists blocked the road forcing the lorries to turn back. The widely-reported window-smashing incident led to 1,500 police turning up the following night, outnumbering protestors six to one.
27.1.95 On top of a lorry in Brightlingsea, Essex, as the live animal trade moved into the tiny community of 8,000 and the police waded into protestors....
28.1.95 On a CJA Defiance Demo in Maidstone, Kent, where police arrested 33 'ringleaders' (most of the demonstrators) they said had organised the march. All charges were later dropped.
2.2.95 JILL PHIPPS, 31, is crushed to death by a lorry carrying calves for veal transport at Coventry Airport. Anger beyond belief. RIP. The third animal rights protestor killed under the wheels of animal abusers' vehicles. No-one has been prosecuted for any of their deaths.
13.2.95 In a doomed car to Pollok, Glasgow, on the Kamikazie car convoy from Brighton and Oxford via a host of road campaigns, to be burnt out and buried for 'CarHenge' in the path of the proposed M77. At dawn the following day - St Valentine's - tree-cutters, bailiffs and police moved in to evict tree-dwelling activists protecting the largest urban green space in Europe.
14.3.95 Invading the site at Solsbury Hill with 250 rampant road protesters on the anniverary of the first action
25.3.95 On a Cardiff City supporters' coach, halted by a roadblock outside Plymouth, where police stopped and searched all 36 and put them the cells for seven hours before releasing them without charge. And that was sixteen days before the new 'sus' sections of the CJA became law.
28.4.95 Performing naked at a golf-course on St George's Hill in a 'St George and the Dragon' play done Donga-stylee, marking the launch of 'The Land Is Ours' campaign, at the site where the Diggers began their land actions in 1649. For a week people camped half a mile away on land by disused Wisley Airfield and transformed it into a little eco-paradise.
1.5.95 Up a tree in the 'cosmic village in the sky' at beautiful Stanworth Valley, nr Preston, for the Mayday start of a dangerous five day eviction of over forty tree-houses - linked by ariel walkways - in the path of the M65 extension. Two teams of mountain rescue climbers, hundreds of police, bailiffs and private security, two cherry-pickers, two caterpillas, miles of fencing, a press blackout, 63 Public Order arrests and several hundreds of thousand pounds of tax-payers money to plough through ancient woodland and continue the govt's insane �16 billion roads programme. Will they ever get the plot?
8.5.95 Holding hands in a ring round Stonehenge with 300 people at dawn. A VE Day celebration with a message. Happy, happy day.
12.5.95 Dancing on the cars in Camden High Street kicking off a sumer season of anti-car protests with Reclaim The Streets. A thousand people enjoyed a car-free day with bands, jugglers, a pedal-powered SoundSystem and free food.
1.6.95 At an open-cast mine in Garforth, Leeds, where police arrested 19 people for 'aggravated trespass'- including the press!
20.6.95 On a tower on the roof of an East London squat dubbed Munstonia, the last house on the route of the M11, which was taken over when security popped out for a cup of tea....
22.6.95 Putting two fingers up at the Northern Cruiser, as the live animals are exported for the last time through Shoreham Harbour. In six months over 300 people had been arrested under the catch-all Public Order Act and police costs put at (a conservative) �4M. Ever seen 400 grannies giving the Nazi salute to coppers?
24.6.95 Standing victorious on the top of the Brent Spar, in the North Sea, as the world's biggest multi-national, Shell, is forced to back down over dumping the dustbin. "I watched as the tugs started turning slowly round and the biggest rainbow I'd ever seen arced across the sky. I stood on deck in a state of shock, holding a flare, my face agog, going 'Wow!'" - Al Baker.
26.6.95 Climbing over a fence at Glastonbury Festival which was declared Europe's biggest free fezzy after 300yrds of 10ft fencing was ripped down by those who couldn't afford the �68 racket...I mean ticket....
28.6.95 At the Old Bailey in court with McDonalds as the McLibel trial - Britain's longest running libel case - entered its second year. McDs have been regretting suing Dave & Helen ever since as more and more unsavoury McDetails emerge.
7.7.95 Driving around in car for 72 hours looking for The Mother ... the big free anti-CJA festy that never was. A massive police operation of phonetaps, roadblocks and surveillance splintered the party into lots of little babies. Black Moon soundsystem have their rig seized. Eight people were later charged with 'conspiracy to cause a public nuisance' for allegedly organising the non-event - a common law charge which carries a maximum life sentence! Cases are pending.
23.7.95 Raving Against The Machine, as Islington's Upper St - London's main Northern artery - is turned into a thumping great Sunday street party with 2,000 revellers and a soundsystem in a tank! On the evening remaining stragglers find themselves on the wrong side of a line of police riot shields.
1.8.95 Squatting a derelict Pier in Brighton, as homeless people launch 'Operation Crusty' to highlight their eviction as a community from beach chalets.
9.8.95 Dripping with blood and playing dead at Faslane at the main gates of the Clyde nuclear submarine base to mark Nagasaki Day - fifty years since the bomb was dropped killing 74,000 of the Japanese city. Police arrested 32 people for Public Order offences.
5.9.95 In an 8ftx8ft cell on Muroroa in the middle of a Nuclear Test, as one activist, Al Baker, was when the French caused a worldwide storm of protest with their first South Pacific explosion. Al, and cohort Matt, managed to stay at large on the island for 31 hours undetected by thousands of crack French troops.
9.9.95 Digging up the Michael Hesletine's backgarden searching for coal in protest at the environmental nightmare of open-cast sites.
..... or digging down in the catacombs and defending a Hillfort at the 'University of Road Protests' at Fairmile in Exeter (01404 815729)
...or come on the Earth First! national action on Dec 3/4 helping to shut down the proposed SuperQuarry in Whatley, Somerset (01935 825074)
....get on your bike for Critical Mass and reclaim the streets for the day on the last Friday of every month in London (meet Waterloo Bridge 5.45pm) and the first Saturday in Brighton (meet 12pm at St Peter's Church)
....defend the dole on the JobSeeker's Allowance Action in Oxford on Nov 24th (01273 671213)
...join anti-opencast mine protestors at Selar Farm Nature Reserve in South Wales when the eviction starts (01639 830553)
....or stay in bed and let it all happen. Your silence is your approval
.....get active & go for it!
* More details appear in Party and Protest every week in the SchNEWS
"The Act is, quite simply, a mess. Most police forces have been vary wary of using it, as it is so badly put together it's impossible to put it into practice. The blame for this shambles must be laid firmly at the door of the Home Secretary who introduced the act for the sake of a few cheap cheers at party conference. We anticipate there will be more acquittals, more charges dropped, and that those police forces who seek to use the act in an aggressive way such as Kent and Northamptonshire will be facing a hefty bill for damages with precious little to show in the way of convictions."
Hunt Sabs Association
* Since the riot at Hyde Park last year, when the media first woke up to the CJA, protestors have gone from fighting in the streets to fighting in the courts - and winning time after time:
31.8.95 Travellers in Crowborough, East Sussex successfully challenged an eviction order under Section 77 of the CJA when Judge Sedley announced the law was 'Draconian' and 'unlawful' on the grounds that Councils have a legal duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need under the Children's Act.
13.9.95 A Druid, King Arthur Pendragon, beat down Babylon in the first test-case of Section 71 of the CJA'trespassory assemblies' (where gatherings of more than 20 people are declared illegal by decree from Chief Constables). Back then his annual celebration at Stonehenge was stopped by the boys in blue - but now Excalibur has cut another swathe from the Government's field of Law Und Ordnung.
28.9.95 Already condemned by the United Nations, Part I of the CJA - the building of children's prisons for 12-14 year olds - was taken to the High Court by the Howard Leaugue for Penal Reform who extracted major concesions from the Home Office. Local Authories in three of five cases have refused planning permission and anything to do with them. Not a brick has yet been built.
2.11.95 Black Moon Soundsystem had their �9,000 rig confiscated in July but have had their rave test-case adjourned again - for the seventh time. Are the powers-that-be scared or do the police just wanna have a party? We should be told.
The Criminal Justice Act is a poorly-drafted hotch-potch of prejudicies created by a paranoid and psychotic government. It is about protecting vested interests, playing on the fear of the general population, aided and abetted by a tame and unquestioning mainstream media.
It is about freedom - freedom to make profit, freedom to build roads without people interfering, freedom to siphon people into pubs and clubs instead of churches and fields. That's why it is heavily sponsored by the Tory Party.
Its 172 sections consitute an extremely wide-ranging set of police and judiciary powers to deal with everything from combatting terrorist actions to raising the fines for dreging shellfish, from the recognition of the offence of male rape to reducing the number of travellers' vehicles allowed to park up on a piece of land.
That's why, because of the inclusive breadth of the Act, Labour got away with abstaining on it. And in a final great Catch-22, protest against the Criminal Justice Act is prohibited by the Criminal Justice Act.
"Everything is inverted. The Criminal Justice Act makes dancing a crime. But beating people over the head in order to break up a festival is called 'public order'. Travelling is a crime. But trashing someone's home, taking their vehicle and then destroying it, forcing children into care and parents into prison, this is called justice. Wanting a roof over your head is a crime. But vigilantes with pickaxe handles smashing their way through your front door and laying waste to all your possessions is called 'property rights'. Something is fundamentally wrong here."
C J Stone, United You're Nicked
"The Criminal Justice Act 'is not working'. The cornerstone of the government's law and order policy is 'unworkable' after a first year marred by court defeats, confusion and allegations of misuse."
Front Page headline, The Independent 28.9.95
"Right now you may be living through the failure of your government to impose social control on the lifestyle of your generation. Since the Criminal Justice Act became law it has consistently proved to be one of the most unpopular pieces of legislation in recent history; misunderstood by the police, denounced by High Court judges .. it is now descending to the level of farce. The CJA is sick. Happy First birthday - you might not be around for a second one."
Jonny Davies, The Face
"If footy fans are repeatedly stopped and searched then eventually they're going to react. It's ludicrous to use this provision on them. The Act says that if you'shout and gesture within sight or hearing of a person that's likely to be distressed' then it's a criminal offence. But that's what football fans do. So you might as well arrest the whole ground."
Mike Slocombe, Football Fans Against the CJA
"When the government passed the CJA I am not entirely sure they were aware of what an enormous favour they were doing the underground free party scene. Put simply, the CJA has sorted out free parties in this country - BIG TIME! Every single weekend without fail since the enstatement of the Act, a huge party has gone on without interruption from the law - sometimes one, sometimes two, sometimes seven soundsystems .... It seems as though the CJA was just the kick up the arse that the scene needed."
DJ Weasel, United SoundSystems
"We've been doing parties all year, both here and elsewhere, and the CJA hasn't been used to stop us at all. On one occasion when we were moving gear into a disused shop two passing police women came in to investigate what was going on. They simply couldn't believe that we were going to all this trouble to put on a party for free .. that we wanted to get together with our friends and acquintances, play music, dance and have fun! But the sinister part of the legislation is that it can be down to the whim of an individual police inspector and the wordings of the CJA leave room for very loose interpretation."
Markus, InnerField SoundSystem
"As a young faggot I'm supposed to be proud of the age of consent reduction from 21 to 18 for us men loving men. I'm meant to rejoice at the kindness and tolerance of the State [who are] hoping to divide up anger by rewarding some and scapegoating others. But I'm not going to be a gay sell-out."
Anon, Passion Brigade (formerly Lesbian and Gay Freedom Movement)
"Where the CJA has really bitten hard is the free festival movement and the travellers. There's been a mass exodus to Spain and Ireland, where there is less harrassment. Without a strong travelling community, it's impossible to have a viable free festival network."
Michelle Poole, Advance Party
"These laws effectively make our way of life illegal because there is nowhere in the country we can legally camp...even if we are given permission to camp, the landowners can be prosecuted for breach of planning permission. This applies even if we buy our own land. We have no alternative but to camp wherever we can find disused land. I would advise anyone charged under the CJA to fight all the way. Win or lose you can make a point and keep it in the public eye."
Paul, Dengin Travellers
"The Criminal Law should alienate criminals, not deprave members of the society....I have to say that travellers, ravers and squatters do not appear in the top ten of law and order priorities for the people or police officers in London."
Mike Bennett, Chair of Metropolitan Police Association
"Imprisoning individuals whose lifestyle simply does not conform to the norm of society is rarely of a serious criminal nature, is expensive, futile and an abuse of human rights. On release squatters will not magically be provided with housing, travellers will not suddenly change their lifestyle, and young people will certainly not stop partying."
David Roddam, Penal Affairs Consortium
"There is a danger of police officers becoming pawns in what is an essentially political game."
Det Inps John Woods, Police Review
"The historical fact is that bad laws have been repeatedly overturned by illegal action. In a hundred years time, those involved in protest today may well be regarded as heroes."
PAJ Waddington, Liberty and Order
"Everyone was waiting for the police to use it in a big way and they didn't. The huge amount of media attention given to the public order powers undoubtedly had an effect. But it's important to remember that the CJA is now on the books. The legislation is there and it can be used."
Attiya Lockwood, Liberty
"Carry on breaking the law - it's only the only way to beat it."
Phil Pritchard, Road Alert!
