July 13, 2015

Ms. Marian Ryan

Office of the Middlesex District Attorney
16 Commonwealth Avenue
Woburn, MA 01801
Dear District Attorney Ryan,
We, the undersigned 91 clergy and religious professionals, are writing to you out of great
concern for the group of people now known as the Somerville 18. These 18 individuals took part in an
action of conscience on January 15, temporarily blocking the I-93 highway to bring attention to the
Black Lives Matters movement. As Black churches are burning across the country, as Black people are
being killed by police, and as we honor the lives taken in Charleston, we are asking you to drop the
charges against these people of conscience.
As faith leaders, we see the actions of these individuals to be rooted in a long prophetic
tradition. The prophets remind us that those who are willing to take action, speaking truth to those in
power, must do so loudly if they wish to be heard. The prophet Amos tells his people that God is
unimpressed with their festivals, sacrifices, and singing. He says to them that God wants something
different, not songs, but let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing
stream. It can be difficult to hear the voices or songs of justice over the rumblings of every day life.
These eighteen people took an action to inspire us all to look at the injustices of racism affecting Black
people in the United States today. Though blocking a roadway they were also striving to open a flood
gate for justice. We wish to honor them rather than punish them.
District Attorney Ryan, we believe the current deal of 90 days jail time, 18 months probation,
and nearly $15,000 in restitution is far too excessive. We ask that you drop the charges against the
Somerville 18.
In faith and thanks,

Rev. John Gibbons, First Parish in Bedford, MA

Rev. Sarah Gibb Millspaugh, Unitarian
Universalist Association of Congregations
Rev. Jason M. Lydon, First Church Jamaica Plain
Unitarian Universalist
Rev. Heather Concannon, UU Area Church at
First Parish in Sherborn
Rev. Will Green, Pastor of Ballard Vale United
Church, Andover
Katie Omberg, Ministerial Intern First Church
Cambridge
Rev. M. Lara Hoke, Unitarian Universalist
Congregation in Andover
Rev. Art McDonald, PhD, Minister, First
Universalist Church of Essex
Rev. Tom Bozeman, minister
Rev. Ashlee Wiest-Laird, First Baptist Church in
Jamaica Plain
Rev. James T. McPhee, Tristate District
Superintendent United Methodist Church
Rev. Larry J. Peacock, United Methodist Pastor in
North Andover

Rev. Stacey G Lanier First United Methodist

Church in Melrose
P. Stewart Lanier, United Methodist Ordained
Clergy, Elder
Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen, Community Minister,
First Parish Cambridge
Rev. Michelle Walsh, Community Minister
Rev. Frieda Gillespie, Interim Minister
Framingham
Rev. Clyde Grubbs, Community Minister
Rev. Kathleen McTigue, Unitarian Universalist
Service Committee, Cambridge
Bethany Lowe, Candidate for Unitarian
Universalist ministry
Rev. Linda Simmons, Second Congregational
Society, Unitarian Universalist, Nantucket
Rev. Dorothy Emerson, Medford
Taj M. Smith, First Church in Cambridge United
Church of Christ
Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari, Boston-Area Jewish
Education Program
Rev. Susan Chorley, American Baptist/USA

Rev. Mark Seifried, member of First Church

Somerville, UCC
Julie Rogers, M. Div, Pastoral Associate at
Church of the Covenant
Rabbi Ora Weiss, Newton Centre
Gini Courter, Lay Leader
Rev. Wendy von Courter, Unitarian Universalist
Church of Marblehead
Rev. Eric Dupee, Crawford Memorial United
Methodist Church, Winchester, MA
Rev. Colin Bossen, Cambridge
Rev. Laura Randall
Rev. Beverly Waring, Marlborough
Rev. Terry Burke
Rev. Bob McKetchnie, UU Society of Fairhaven
Iris Hardin, MDiv., Hospice & Palliative Care
Chaplain
Rev. Kelly Weisman Asprooth-Jackson, First
Parish Church, Unitarian Universalist - Beverly
Rev. Rebecca Hinds
Rev. Maria Cristina Vlassidis Burgoa, First Parish
in Brookline
Rev. Annie Gonzalez Milliken
Julie Lombard, Candidate for Unitarian
Universalist Ministry
Rev. Rene A. Perez, Superintendent, Central
Massachusetts District, United Methodist Church
Rev. Steve Garnaas-Holmes, St. Matthew's United
Methodist Church, Acton
Rev. Catherine Senghas
Rev. Rebecca Froom, United First Parish Church
(Unitarian) in Quincy
Rev. Margaret Weis
Joanna Lubkin, Candidate for Unitarian
Universalist Ministry
Rev. Megan Lynes, The First Parish in Bedford
Rev. Mark Harris, First Parish of Watertown
Rev. Anne Bancroft, Theodore Parker Unitarian
Universalist Church in West Roxbury
Rev. Allison Palm
Rev. Nathan Detering, First Parish in Sherborn
Rev. Marie R. Tulin, Lexington
Rev. Tyler Schwaller, doctoral candidate, Harvard
Divinity School
Rev. Laura Cavicchio, Chaplain, Sawtelle Family
Hospice House, Reading
Rabbi Margot Meitner, Boston
The Rev. Frank Clarkson, Universalist Unitarian
Church of Haverhill
Rev. Erin Splaine, First Unitarian Society in
Newton
Rev. Jenny Rankin, Interim Minister, Gloucester

Unitarian Universalist Church

Rev. Karin Peterson
Reverend Judy Deutsch, UU Minister emerita
Rev. Stephen Kendrick
Xochitl Alvizo, Cambridge
Katherine Blaisdell, Seminarian, Harvard Divinity
School
Marlo Pedroso, Roslindale
Rev. Holly Lyman Antolin, Rector, St. James's
Episcopal Church, Cambridge
Rev. Sarah Napoline
Rev. Tiffany Curtis
Sean Neil-Barron, Candidate for Unitarian
Universalist Ministry
Rev. John Allen, United Church of Christ,
Medford
Nathan DeGroot, Rabbinical Student, Hebrew
College, Newton
Anna Robertson, Boston College School of
Theology and Ministry
Rev. Aaron M. Stockwell, Interim Director of
Lifespan Religious Education, First Parish in
Lexington
Rev. Janet Parsons, Gloucester UU Church
Rev. Dr. Marjorie J. Matty, First Parish of
Sudbury
Rev. David L. Helfer, Unitarian Universalists of
Wellesley
Rev. MaryHelen Gunn, First Parish in Brookline
Rev. Dr. Anita Farber-Robertson, First Parish
Church UU in Bridgewater
Rev. Barbara Threet, Melrose Unitarian
Universalist Church
Rev. Kathleen Hepler, First Parish Framingham
Paul Drake, Executive Director, Massachusetts
Interfaith Worker Justice
The Rev. Dr. Norman Faramelli, Episcopal
Church
Sister Marie-Therese "Tess" Browne, Sister of
Charity of Nazareth
Fr. Phil Jacobs, rector, Trinity Episcopal Church
Jeb Mays, Treasurer, Massachusetts Interfaith
Worker Justice
Rev. Laura Shatzer, Associate Pastor and
Chaplain, common cathedral
Rabbi Becky Silverstein
Aisha Ansano, MDiv candidate
Rebecca Behizadeh, Director of Hiring and
Development, Life Together, Episcopal Diocese
of Massachusetts
Rabbi Katy Allen