The Nation - News from June 8, 1988

The mother of Tawana Brawley plans to defy a contempt of court order and seek sanctuary in a black church today rather than appear before the judge who sentenced her Monday to 30 days in jail for refusing to testify before a special grand jury investigating the claim that her daughter was kidnaped and raped by six white men. Standing on the steps of a courthouse in New York City, Glenda Brawley’s lawyers pledged that she will not appear in court in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., but will take refuge in a church, daring authorities to arrest her there. Before finding Glenda Brawley guilty of criminal contempt of court for defying a subpoena, State Supreme Court Justice Angelo J. Ingrassia asked her to appear in his courtroom so she could be given a chance to offer an explanation for her conduct. But Brawley’s lawyers refused to produce her.