Bye, Bye Miss American Pie: The rising cost of civil dissent

Pie-throwing protestor Ahlam Mohsen continues to sit in Mecosta County Jail on a $250,000 bond while her supporters rallied for her release Friday outside the offices of Sen. Carl Levin in Detroit.

It befuddles me why this 22-year-old Michigan State University student is being held on such a high bond, even though she is only charged with felony stalking and assault for throwing a pie Monday at Levin at a public gathering. I interviewed Mohsen in January as she and two other college students sat on the floor of Levin’s office in Boji Tower during a protest.

During that sit-in, Mohsen refused to budge until she talked by telephone with Levin, then in Washington, about his support for Israel in its conflict with Palestinians on the Gaza Strip. Through staff members, Levin said a phone interview couldn’t be arranged that day. Police arrived when the office closed at 5:30 p.m. and arrested the students for trespassing.

At the time, she struck me as a conscientious war protestor, a college student merely trying to make her voice heard in a time when most young people only seem concerned about making their next Facebook entry.

That impression hasn’t changed. While I don’t support throwing a pie at anyone -- whether it’s Sen. Levin or Sarah Palin -- the act itself falls very loosely within the definition of civil disobedience.  Yes, you can argue it doesn’t qualify as such because throwing a pie is an act of violence, but is it really? Sen. Levin had to wipe some pie off his face and suffer some embarrassment, but Mohsen clearly acted because she believes that Palestinians are suffering real violence -- death and mutilation -- as a result of Israeli policies supported by the U.S.

And as for the crime of inflicting humiliation, I remember Rep. Joe Wilson’s famous repudiation of President Barack Obama when he shouted “You Lie!” during Obama’s speech -- an embarrassment no other president has endured in Congress in the past century. Wilson, a Republican, was not admonished by his own party. He was hailed as a hero.

I’m not saying Mohsen shouldn’t be punished. Anyone committing an act of civil disobedience must be willing to pay the price, much like Henry David Thoreau did in 1846 when he spent a night in jail for refusing to pay what he thought were unjust taxes.

But still, a $250,000 bond seems like an expensive price for freedom as she goes through the court system for several months awaiting trial -- something that takes away a slice of our freedom to dissent. And that's a pie in the face to Lady Liberty.