Campaigners urge Home Office to reverse visa refusal for former Weather Underground activist Judith Clark

Summary

Human rights activists and celebrities, including the lawyer Helena Kennedy, the actor Harriet Walter and the theatre director Phyllida Lloyd, have urged the Home Office to overturn its decision to refuse a visa to Judith Clark, 77, a former member of the radical US group the Weather Underground. Clark had been invited by the RSC to speak about restorative justice after her time in prison. The campaigners say her decades of rehabilitation should count in her favour. Clark was the inspiration for Walter's portrayal of prisoners in the Donmar Warehouse all-female Shakespeare trilogy, including Brutus in Julius Caesar and Prospero in The Tempest.

Timeline

1. The Guardian

   27 Oct 2026, 14:34 UTCSource ↗

   The Guardian reports that the Home Office refused entry to Judith Clark, 77, who was invited by the RSC to speak about restorative justice, and that Helena Kennedy, Harriet Walter and Phyllida Lloyd have urged it to overturn the decision, arguing her decades of rehabilitation should count in her favour.