Biography
Dean Hammer was a member of the Covenant Peace Community in New Haven, Connecticut, and one of the original Plowshares Eight. On September 9, 1980, the group entered General Electric’s nuclear-warhead plant in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, hammered on two Mark 12A nose cones, and poured blood on documents. Hammer remained jailed for three months before accepting reduced bail so the defendants could prepare together for trial. He was convicted in 1981 and initially sentenced to one and a half to five years, but the sentence was overturned during a decade of appeals. On April 10, 1990, the court resentenced the group to time already served.
Separate Griffiss prosecution and documented bail release
A distinct Griffiss Plowshares prosecution was missing from Hammer's record. The federal appeals opinion confirms his November 24, 1983 arrest. The contemporary Nuclear Resister reports the seven detained that day, held in Syracuse City Jail and actually released on their own recognizance at the December 12 arraignment. The initial interval is therefore November 24-December 12, 1983. The August 1984 issue confirms July 16 sentencing: three years for Hammer, with defendants then in jail awaiting federal assignment. A later issue reports his transfer to a Hartford halfway house by October 1985, not final freedom. The final release field remains unknown; the 18-day counter is only the documented initial detention subtotal, not his entire imprisonment. Later readmission and final discharge dates remain unresolved. This case is separate from the 1980 Plowshares Eight prosecution; its later time-served resentencing is not a Griffiss release.
Sources: United States v. Allen, 760 F.2d 447; Nuclear Resister, December 16, 1983, page 3; August 2, 1984 issue; October 24, 1985, printed page 3. Complete relevant newsletter pages visually checked; original identified photograph retained.
Original July 28, 1981 sentence and immediate remand
The September 19, 1981 newsletter, original page 3, reports Dean Hammer and Elmer Maas each sentenced July 28 to one and a half to five years plus five years probation, with all eight Plowshares defendants immediately jailed. Hammer was released later, but no exact discharge is given; Maas remained jailed at Graterford when reported. The 1990 time-served resentencing must not be mistaken for the original admission or physical release. This source does not establish either man’s complete actual custody duration.
National No-Nukes Prison Support Collective newsletter No. 7, September 19, 1981, original pages 1–4
Earlier November 1981 Groton proceeding and intervening bail
Original page 3 names Dean Hammer, Ann Montgomery, Art Laffin, Chris Grannis, Elin Schade and Judy Beaumont as out on bail after the November 9, 1981 Electric Boat administration-building blood-and-ashes action in Groton. It reports denial of pretrial motions and the judge’s recusal on December 2, with trial delayed. This is a distinct earlier proceeding, not the July 5, 1982 Trident Nein detention or the original Plowshares Eight case. Being out on bail is not continuous imprisonment; the article supplies no exact initial physical-jail receipt, release day or actual custody total. No additional imprisonment counter or speculative discrete jail interval is created.
National No-Nukes Prison Support Collective newsletter No. 9, December 12, 1981, original page 3.
Contemporary anti-nuclear custody report
The Groton update concerns the November 1981 blood-and-ashes protest at Electric Boat, not the later July 1982 Trident Nein action. It says charges against Judy Beaumont, Christopher Grannis, Dean Hammer, Ann Montgomery and Elin Schade were dropped at the January 28, 1982 appearance, while Art Laffin still awaited trial. It does not supply an actual jail-admission or release day; dismissed charges are not a custody endpoint.
National No-Nukes Prison Support Collective newsletter No. 11, April 15, 1982, original pages 3.
The September 19, 1981 original reports actual release for Dean Hammer after the three defendants released July 31. This establishes an actual 1981 release, bounded after July 31 and by September 19, without an exact month or day. The January 1 database value is solely the year-precision storage anchor. This was the July 28 remand following an earlier bail release; it does not establish uninterrupted custody since September 1980. The existing three-month amount describes his earlier pretrial confinement, not the complete case total. No additional exact days or duplicate remand case are counted. The original also reads five years probation; the earlier six-year transcription has been corrected.
The study identifies James Buckingham as the April 1990 resentencing judge and records time served plus twenty-three months’ probation.
The December 1980 report confirms initial bail release November 25, distinct from later remand and resentencing.
