An Act of Conscience is a 1997 documentary film by Robbie Leppzer about the war tax resistance

Tax resistance

Tax resistance is the refusal to pay tax because of opposition to the government that is imposing the tax or to government policy.Tax resistance is a form of civil disobedience and direct action...

 of Randy Kehler

Randy Kehler

Randy Kehler is an American pacifist activist and advocate for social justice. Kehler objected to America's involvement in the Vietnam war and refused to cooperate with the draft...

 and Betsy Corner and years-long struggle that ensues after the IRS seizes their home in Colrain, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 in 1989, to recover $27,000 in unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest. The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...

 and was shown on Cinemax

Cinemax

Cinemax, sometimes abbreviated as simply "Max", is a collection of premium television networks that broadcasts primarily feature films, along with softcore erotica, original action series, documentaries and special behind-the-scenes features. Cinemax is operated by Home Box Office, Inc., a...

 and the Sundance Channel. It is narrated by Martin Sheen

Martin Sheen

Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...

 and features cameo appearances by activist-priest Daniel Berrigan

Daniel Berrigan

Daniel Berrigan, SJ is an American Catholic priest, peace activist, and poet. Daniel and his brother Philip were for a time on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for their involvement in antiwar protests during the Vietnam war....

 and political folksinger Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger

Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...

.

Plot

After the house is seized, the couple and their daughter refuse to move out and Kehler is arrested on December 3, 1991, by US Marshals and IRS agents. Community supporters move in, helping them to occupy the house. On February 12, 1992, the still-occupied house—but not the land, which belongs to the Valley Community Land Trust—is sold at auction to Danny Franklin and Terry Charnesky for $5400; the IRS had failed to receive any monetary bids at an earlier auction. The sale results in suits and countersuits between the Franklin-Charnesky family and the Land Trust. Despite the sale of the house, the Kehler-Corner occupiers refuse to leave. However, on April 15, 1992, while Kehler, Corner, and their supporters are away, Franklin, Charnesky, and their supporters move-in and occupy the house. Kehler, Corner, and their supporters begin a lively protest and round-the-clock vigil just outside the house, eventually even building a small wooden structure to shelter the protesters. On May 28, 1993, the Franklin County Superior court issues an injunction against the Kehler-Corner protests and, subsequently, several protesters are arrested and jailed after violating the injunction. Still, the protest continues until September, when they are finally discontinued. The battle over the house is ended on December 31, 1993, when an out-of-court settlement is reached between the Land Trust and the Franklin-Charnesky family, who agree to leave the house and deed it and the land-lease to the land trust in exchange for an undisclosed sum of money.

External links

• "The Great Anti-War Films: An Act of Conscience." A review by Rick Gee at lewrockwell.com.
• Film description and director profile at the Human Rights Watch
  Human Rights Watch
  Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
  
   film festival site.
• Description of personal, legal, and media papers about the "Colrain Action," archived in the Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
• "Conscience, Community, and Compromise" by Randy Kehler in Sojourners, April, 1994, (free registration required).