I am here for Shed Abdur Rahman, a 44-year old Pakistani man who was sold into US custody in a case of mistaken identity. He has been tortured at Guantanamo. As long as he remains in Guantanamo I will be here to speak out. I have been so appalled by what I have observed during this trial.

I echo what Mr. Trotta has just said, and I will also say that many of us are taking risks to be here. You said earlier, Judge Gardner, that what you might feel personally had no bearing on your decisions in this courtroom, that you were merely doing your job. But it is past time for you and the rest of this country to be courageous and take a stand. Let me tell you, we are all employed and we all need our jobs. We have families who depend on us.

Some of us are in danger of losing our jobs because of the choice we have made to speak out. But we are in a crisis in this country and if we don't all make the choice to oppose what is going on, then we are lost. Those of us here have made a choice – a decision to act on our conscience.

I act because I can do nothing else but act. I have to get up each and every morning and look at myself in the mirror. If I am not doing what I am doing, I can not live with myself. If I am not opposing this government's use of torture and indefinite illegal detention as instruments of its foreign policy, I can not live with myself. We are all human beings, and as long as the government treats people in this way, as long as these secret prisons continue, I will engage in these actions.

You said earlier that we should be petitioning Congress, but we all know that Congress has been useless in reigning in the administration. Yes, the Supreme Court has ruled favorably in two previous cases, but Congress has rendered those decisions moot by passing the Military Commissions Act of 2006. The courts are supposed to act as the arm of the government that maintains the laws, but so far the government is doing little to stop the abuses. Habeas corpus, which has been upheld for 800 years in our society, is being denied to people by our government.

It’s time for every American to get up and take any risks necessary to stop what’s going on. Judge Gardner, you can impose any sentence you like. You can not and will not censor peoples' consciences. I will do what my conscience tells me to do to stop these heinous acts by my government. You cannot and will not prevent me from continuing to speak out and acting to stop what this government is doing in my name.

After being sentenced, Ms. Allwine added, “I will be appealing this case before I leave the courthouse today and I am greatly looking forward to appealing your verdict.”