Biography
Ellen Thomas is an anti-nuclear activist associated with the White House Peace Vigil and Proposition One. She challenged restrictions on the vigil in Lafayette Park and served a jail sentence in the camping case she appealed with William Thomas.
Two separate camping prosecutions
The March 1987 camping case received a thirty-day sentence on March 2, 1988; the existing year-only sentencing date is now replaced by that exact day. A separate case arising from the December 22, 1986 citation is added: the defense appellate filing records conviction on December 15, 1987 and a fifty-day sentence with a $25 assessment on January 28, 1988. The dates and sentence lengths are not interchangeable. Citation, sentencing and transfer dates do not automatically establish arrest, prison admission or release. No fifty-day served counter or guessed discharge is added. A contemporary letter places Ellen at Lexington before her return to court for the later sentence, but does not establish her original admission day.
Sources: Defense appellate brief, Cr. No. 87-0062, statement of proceedings; Government appellate brief, Cr. No. 87-0231, distinct March 1987 activity; Winifred Gallant, contemporary Washington Post letter, March 27, 1988, distinguishing January 28 and March 2 sentences. Copies retained by the participants' Proposition One archive.
The defense appellate brief states that both defendants pleaded not guilty at their June 8, 1987 arraignment in the March 1987 Lafayette Park camping case.
Brief of appellants, September 1, 1988, statement of the case.
