United States America v. Roger Aarons and Robert Swann

The nuclear powered submarine, U.S.S. Ethan Allen, capable of firing Polaris missiles, was to be launched from the ways of the Electric Boat Company into the Thames River at New London on November 22, 1960. Between June and November, a group called the Committee for Non-Violent Action (CNVA), which had established headquarters in New London, conducted demonstrations against the Polaris program; these included entering the grounds of the Electric Boat Company and, on October 20, boarding two other nuclear powered submarines tied up at moorings there. On November 8, Captain Kenner, the Submarine Force Legal Officer at New London, warned the Committee by registered letter that the submarines had been "posted" pursuant to 50 U.S.C. ? 797, and that anyone boarding them would be subject to prosecution as provided by that statute. On November 21, the CNVA acknowledged the warning, and the attendant risk of punishment, and gave notice of its intention that "sometime during the morning [of November 22] several Polaris Action volunteers, willing to take the risk mentioned above, will attempt in some way to block the launching of the Ethan Allen."