This morning Andy Stepanian and I were on Democracy Now talking about secretive political prisons called Communications Management Units. Stepanian is believed to be the first inmate ever released from one of the secretive facilities; he is one of the SHAC 7, a group of animal rights activists convicted of “animal enterprise terrorism” for running [...]
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Posted in Legal Issues, Prisoner Support on Jun 9th, 2009
The Huffington Post has published a letter from Daniel McGowan about his transfer to a Communication Management Unit without notice, without explanation, and without due process for appeal. [Here is some background on Communication Management Units, if you are unfamiliar.]
Here’s an excerpt from Daniel McGowan’s essay on the Huffington Post:
Many of the men here (both [...]
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I was on Democracy Now this morning talking about my investigation of Communication Management Units, secretive prison facilities housing inmates of being tied to “terrorism” groups. They overwhelmingly include Muslim inmates, along with at least two animal rights and environmental activists. Here’s the video from the segment.
It was really an honor to be on the [...]
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Two federal Green Scare prisoners, Jonathan Paul and Daniel McGowan.I have sat through so many sentencing hearings for environmentalists and animal rights activists when the judges and prosecutors have noted, and even applauded, how activists are not like “typical” defendants. By this, they mean that the defendants have solid education backgrounds (some even pursuing law [...]
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Marie MasonI’ve written a lot of articles like this, when prison sentences are handed down to activists who have been labeled “terrorists” for property crimes, and instead of getting easier it just keeps getting harder. It’s getting harder to write about this rationally, calmly. These cases are getting worse, folks. The government is growing increasingly [...]
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Jeff Free LuersOver at Mostly Water, Marlena Gangi has an interesting interview with Jeff Luers. Jeff “Free” Luers was sentenced to 22 years and eight months for burning three SUVs at the Romania Chevrolet in Eugene, Ore. His case rose to international attention because of the aggressive attempts by the government to label him an [...]
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Posted in Legal Issues, Prisoner Support on Jan 9th, 2009
This is Tom Gabel of Against Me! playing at the Nimbus Dam, the site Eric McDavid was allegedly plotting to blow up with Zachary Jenson and Lauren Weiner. An FBI informant named “Anna” provided the group with bomb-making recipes; at times financed their transportation, food and housing; strung along McDavid, who had the hopes of [...]
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Thanks to Matt for posting this video clip of me speaking at a benefit for Green Scare prisoners in New York City. (Sorry for the audio quality but it was just really loud in there.)
In this clip I touch very briefly on Communications Management Units, which are high-security facilities that severely restrict inmate communications [...]
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Posted in Events, Prisoner Support on Jan 1st, 2009
[ January 2, 2009; ] Sorry for the short notice on this one, but I hope ya’ll can pass the word on to folks in NYC about this event. It’s a benefit for Green Scare political prisoners Daniel McGowan, Jeff Free Luers, and Eric McDavid. I’ll be speaking (I’m not sure what time) and tabling (with “eco-terrorist” booty shorts, of [...]
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Eight years ago, the Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility for sabotaging the U.S. Forest Service Facility in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, because the facility was performing genetic engineering research on trees. Underground activists “girdled” about 500 trees, removing a strip of bark, a few inches wide, around the circumference of the trees that caused them to die. [...]
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