Iron Jawed Angels Page #6

One of us on the line is enough.

- I'll flip you for it.

- No, it has to be me.

I photograph better than you.

I can't tell you...

what's right and what's wrong. Not now.

Not this time.

I thought about what I would say to you.

You've all worked so hard for so long...

and I am grateful to all of you.

No matter what you decide,

no one will judge you.

Certainly not me.

- Oh, my gosh!

- What is this?

- You ladies, what are you thinking?

- How dare you!

Our country's at war!

Shame on you! Shame on you all!

Never thought they'd picket

a wartime president.

- Public opinion may put a stop to it.

- And if it doesn't?

The President needs your support!

Maybe you should go to Germany!

- Maybe you would be happier there!

- Shame on all of you!

Shame on every one of you.

You should be home right now.

He made you District Commissioner.

He's Commander-in-Chief now.

Commander-in-Chief

doesn't get spanked by his mommy.

Not with the whole world watching.

- Ms. Alice Paul?

- I'm Lucy Burns.

I'm sorry, Miss, you're under arrest.

All of you.

What? We haven't done anything.

What's the charge? I'm talking to you!

What is it? What's the charge?

They've been arrested.

Contact their families.

Mabel, go to the station, then call me.

If we wanna hold them,

we gotta charge them with something.

- What?

- Obstructing traffic.

These arrests are purely political.

The charge of obstructing traffic

is political subterfuge.

We know, and I believe the court knows,

that President Wilson, his administration...

are responsible for our being here today.

We are not guilty of any offense.

I will continue to plead

for the political liberty of American women.

- Where 16 of us...

- Where 10 of us...

Where 12 of us, face your judgment today...

There will be 60 tomorrow.

I find these defendants guilty as charged

of obstructing traffic...

in violation of the police regulations

and the Act of Congress.

$10 each,

or 60 days in the Occoquan workhouse.

That's not enough!

To pay the fine would be admitting guilt.

We haven't broken the law.

Not $1.

60 days in Occoquan.

What?

You can't do that!

Should we ask for presidential pardon?

Nothing to be pardoned for.

They're false charges.

"American citizens were arrested

on a bogus charge...

"while exercising their constitutional right."

Get them out and appeal.

60 days for obstructing traffic?

It must be the District Commissioner.

The President appoints him.

- Are we picketing tomorrow?

- Yes, no mothers.

Hold on.

- Is that The Times?

- Yeah.

Don't bury this. What's your name?

Hold on.

Find a marshal and file a writ...

Just get them out.

What? No.

O-C-C-O-Q-U-A-N.

It's a workhouse in Virginia.

Matthew O'Brien. He'll take the case.

- All right, men.

- Let's go.

- Load up.

- Yes, sir.

Get on board.

We're political prisoners.

We wear our own clothes.

You'll wear what they all wear.

I want to see the warden.

You want to see him naked?

We haven't eaten,

we've been sitting here for hours.

- We need food.

- You'll eat when it's time to eat.

You'll bed down when it's time to bed down.

Now you bed down. Matron!

We are not guilty of any crime.

We're political prisoners.

I want these women fed...

and given pen and paper

to write to their families.

And we want our own clothes back now!

Now you bed down.

What are you doing? You're hurting me!

Easy does it.

Mrs. Lewis, Doris!

Stevens, is anybody hurt?

Ruza, are you there?

- No talking.

- Calm down.

Lock it down.

If she opens her mouth again,

put a buckle gag on her.

- Yes, sir.

- Any of them.

Where are the girls?

I had Mrs. Quinn take them to my mother's

to free you up.

I know how busy you are

with all your suffrage activities.

People saw you and Jenny

at the suffrage trial.

I don't know what kind of mother...

takes an 11-year-old

to a district courthouse.

Did you give her a look at the jail, too?

- I'll go and get them after breakfast.

- No, you won't. You leave them be.

I don't know a judge in this district

who would give you custody right now.

You won't take my children.

How will you stop me?

Can you afford an attorney?

An attorney?

To prove what, that I'm their mother?

And what will your judge say?

That this is your house?

Your house and your children?

What am I to you, Tom?

What am I then in your house? Chattel?

This is how you punish me?

I'm their mother!

They are not your children to take!

- I can't find my hat.

- Which hat?

- What do you mean, which hat? My hat.

- Where were you when you took it off?

Jesus Christ, Mabel.

If I'd remember, I'd know where it was.

Have we heard from O'Brien?

He filed the writ. He's meeting

with the judge. He'll call us back.

The Home Defense League revoked Maude

Younger's permit to speak in Nashville.

According to Senator Walsh,

we're called "the iron jawed angels."

Is that supposed to be an insult?

And Carrie Catt told The New York Times...

that we were no better

than anarchists and draft dodgers.

We drew straws

to see who'd bring you dinner.

I lost.

- I'm not hungry. You can have it.

- Thanks.

How can you eat with Doris in jail?

I can't find a photographer to show up

at the West Gate tomorrow.

Call The Post. Talk to the news editor.

He said 326 Americans died at a ridge.

He said I wasn't holding any cards

and I should know when to fold.

He doesn't know

about the ace up your sleeve.

You couldn't fold if your life depended on it.

You don't know how.

Don't take that as a compliment.

Doris is having the time of her life.

Don't worry. She'll write a book about it.

I changed my mind about the hat.

It suits you.

Mabel, how many volunteers do we have

for tomorrow's picket line?

I have to check my list.

- Okay, add my name.

- No, I won't.

They'll lock you up,

and it won't be for a lousy 60 days, either.

We need you out here.

Besides, I promised Lucy I wouldn't

until we were up a creek, dead in the water.

Mabel, add my name.

"I believe the might of America...

"is the sincere love of its people...

"for the freedom of mankind."

Woodrow Wilson...

March 6, 1915.

"We've forgotten the history

of our country...

"if we have forgotten

how to agitate when it is necessary."

Woodrow Wilson, September 8, 1916.

"Liberty is a fierce and intractable thing...

"to which no bounds ought to be set."

Woodrow Wilson, a message to Congress.

"There is nothing in liberty...

"unless it is translated into definite action."

July 4, 1914, Woodrow Wilson.

I don't wish to make any

plea before this court.

I have nothing to do with the making of

the laws which have put me in this position.

I am not here because I obstructed traffic...

but because I pointed out

to President Wilson...

that he is obstructing democracy.

Refused?

What do you mean?

Mrs. Leighton made it very clear

I wasn't her attorney.

She instructed the court

not to accept bail or fees on her behalf.

And she gave a statement to a reporter.

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