Judith Alice Clark

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Judy Clark was a 1960s American radical activist against the Vietnam War and racism. She is currently in prison for her participation in 1981 in a failed robbery of a Brinks truck in which a guard and 2 police officers were killed.

Clark joined the Students for a Democratic Society in New York City in 1965. Shortly thereafter, she joined the staff of the SDS official organ, the New Left Notes. In late 1960s, the SDS divided into several factions and the Weathermen (later called the Weather Underground) was born. Clark was a member of the Weathermen and took part in the 1969 Days of Rage in Chicago and the preceding organizational actions, for which she was arrested in December, 1970 and convicted. She served seven months in prison. After her release she continued to work as an above ground ally of the movement.

Subsequently, Clark, together with David Gilbert and Kathy Boudin, formed the May 19 Communist Organization (M-19CO), which joined forces with the remnants of the Black Liberation Army (BLA), an extremely radical and violent group that was an offshoot of the Black Panthers. A group alternately identified as the BLA, Revolutionary Task Force, or the M-19 CO robbed a Brinks armored truck in Nyack, New York on October 20, 1981. During the robbery a Brink's guard was killed. The group escaped from the scene with $1.6 million, but a witness saw the group change cars and notified police. In an ensuing stop and gun battle two police officers were killed. Clark, Gilbert and Boudin were among those arrested at the scene.

Judy Clark (from "What I Want My Words To Do To You"), 2003

At their trial, Clark and Gilbert took the position that they were anti-imperialists, fighting in solidarity with the Black Liberation struggle. They claimed that U.S. imperialism is a criminal and anti-human system, and would not accept the legitimacy of its courts. Both were convicted and sentenced to 3 consecutive 25 year sentences.

Clark is currently serving her sentence at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in northern Westchester County, New York. While in prison, Clark and Boudin (who was released in 2003) formed AIDS Counseling and Education (ACE), a program to counsel inmates trying to cope with AIDS. Clark and Boudin were among the inmates at Bedford Hills featured in a 2003 documentary What I Want My Words To Do To You about a writing workshop in the prison led by playwright and activist Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues.

Because her actions were motivated by her political views, some people consider Clark to be a political prisoner, but she does not believe this to be so. She has publicly expressed remorse for her actions.

In September, 2006, Clark's petition for a writ of habeas corpus was granted by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Judge Shira Scheindlin vacated Clark's conviction on the basis of the latter's claim that her Sixth Amendment right to counsel was violated when she was allowed to proceed pro se (i.e., to represent herself) despite the fact that she was clearly unwilling to abide by the basic rules of courtroom protocol. As a result, Clark had absolutely no form of representation during the course of her trial. Although she was successful in obtaining habeas corpus relief, Clark will not immediately be released from prison. Instead, she will remain incarcerated while the government appeals the district court's decision.