[Freethe SF8] SF 8 - Court Update - Monday, June 18

[SF-8 case]

A large crowd gathered in front of the SF 
Courthouse at 850 Bryant Street at 8 am Monday 
morning calling for the release of the SF 8 and the dropping of all charges.



Despite the 9am court hearing being delayed two 
hours, with many supporters having to leave for 
work or other obligations, the courtroom was 
packed. The hearing was held in a high-security 
courtroom in which supporters are separated from 
the courtroom by a ceiling high plastic barrier 
and screen - making it difficult to hear the 
proceedings and creating the sensation of a 
caged, dangerous and criminalized process.  In a 
dramatic moment, Michael Burt, the attorney for 
Ray Boudreaux whose bail reduction motion was to 
be argued first, asked that the judge acknowledge 
that people had made a concerted effort to appear 
in support of a motion to reduce bail for Ray. At 
that point Burt asked that all those who 
supported Ray’s motion rise – the entire 
courtroom rose and stood in support of the motion 
and the SF 8, and remained standing for several 
minutes. This show of unity strengthened everyone 
and gave a great sense of community commitment to 
the court and the 8 themselves.



Further hearings were scheduled for 10 am 
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday which will 
include legal arguments about discovery, 
challenging the shackling of the 8 in court, 
demurs which challenge the jurisdiction of the 
court to proceed given that some of the 8 would 
be tried again for some of the charges in the 
complaint, and motions to reduce the $3 million 
bail set for 6 of the 8 that will begin on 
Wednesday with testimony from Professor Craig 
Haney of UC Santa Cruz about the absence of 
danger to the community from these men who are 
now in their late 50s to early 70s.
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