18/11/09

Dear friends

Two American based eco-activists who are active in prisoner support work were yesterday ordered to testify before a Grand Jury. Both refused so both have been jailed for contempt of court.

Please send urgent letters of support to:

Carolyn Feldman
Washington County Jail.
2185 Lexington Blvd. PO Box 6
Washington, IA 52353
USA

Muscatine County Jail Inmate
c/o “Scott DeMuth”
400 Walnut Street
Muscatine, Iowa 52761
USA

Below is an e-mail from their support group..... We’ve heard from Scott and Carrie! They are in good spirits and send thanks and love to everyone. We’ve also got new information as to how to support them. Please help them out as much as you can, and encourage your loved ones and communities to do the same!

Mailing Addresses and Information

You can write e-letters and send them to us at davenportgrandjury@wordpress.com. We’ll print them out and send them along! You can also send physical mail to them at the addresses below.

Carrie:
Carolyn Feldman
Washington County Jail.
2185 Lexington Blvd. PO Box 6
Washington, IA 52353

Mail rules: nothing graphic, no perfumes, nothing but the address on the envelope. She can have 10 small pictures total in her cell. No Polaroids. You cannot send stamps; she has to buy them with commissary money.

Books can be sent from anywhere, but they have to be approved by the administrator. No hardbacks. However, she can only have 2 books at a time, so we’re asking people to hold off on sending books to her for now. We’re setting up a system to get books to her and will update about this in the next day or two.

Scott:
Muscatine County Jail Inmate
c/o “Scott DeMuth”
400 Walnut Street
Muscatine, Iowa 52761

Mailing Regulations:
Please make sure that the return address includes a full name and address,
or it won’t get to him. Scott can have photos (no limit), but no Polaroids. You can’t send stamps; he has to pay for them with commissary money.

Books can come from a publisher or book store. No hardbacks. Limit:
“something reasonable, not 20 or 30.”

Donations and Fundraising

Carrie and Scott are going to need money for legal fees and commissary funds; they will particularly need the latter for essentials such as phone calls and mailing supplies. Neither of them have limits on commissary money, and any extra they have when they get out will be returned to them.

You can donate through Paypal at http://davenportgrandjury.wordpress.com

If you don’t want to use Paypal (we understand!) you can make checks out to Coldsnap Legal Collective with EWOK! in the memo line, and send them to EWOK! c/o Coldsnap, PO Box 50514, Minneapolis, MN 55405.

Call In to Support Carrie and Scott 11/23!

Since our last call-in day was so successful, we’re doing it again! Call U.S. Attorney Cliff Cronk at (563)449-5432 and politely but firmly demand that he dismiss the subpoenas. Let them know this harassment is unacceptable and will be met by popular outrage and opposition at every turn.

Be warned: we hear that Cronk took advantage of this opportunity last time around to attempt to interrogate supporters and/or rant about God, Jesus and the devil. We recommend not answering his questions lest he use them to build his case, but otherwise, feel free to take up as much of his time as you can—he clearly feels entitled to waste ours.

Letters to the Editor

You can also support Carrie and Scott by writing an editorial on their behalf and by critiquing grand juries in general. We encourage you to send these letters to the editor off to Midwest newspapers. Below are some contacts you can use:

Quad City Times:
http://www.qctimes.com/app/pages/contact/new/?contact=letters
Iowa City Press Citizen: opinion@press-citizen.com.
Sioux City Journal: http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/app/contact_us/
Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chiettertotheeditor,0,3578487.customform
Star Tribune: http://mpls.startribune.com/dynamic/feedback/form.php?opinion=1
City Pages: http://www.citypages.com/feedback/EmailAnEmployee?department=letters
Minnesota Daily: http://www.mndaily.com/opinion/letters-editor/submit
Twin Cities Daily Planet: editor@tcdailyplanet.net

Visiting

Carrie will get three visiting days a week, although we won’t know which days these are until she gets moved to general population. Each visit is through a video screen, 20 minutes total, with a maximum of 2 adult visitors (kids don’t count toward this total). Each adult has to have a photo ID with a birth date. No cell phones, purses, etc. are allowed in the jail.

Scott can have a maximum of 5 visitors from a pre-approved list; this list cannot include convicted felons or anyone under 18. If you would like to be added to this list, include the following information in a letter addressed to Scott for him to request approval:

Your full legal name
Your social security number
Your date of birth
Your address and phone number

It takes 5 business days for them to do a background check and decide whether or not to approve people. Approved visitors can get “at least 15 minutes” per person, face-to-face through a phone; if there are more people, each gets their allotted time, one at a time, with more time possible “if they aren’t busy.”

Thank you all for your support!
--
Earth Warriors are OK!
Info at: http://www.midwestgreenscare.org

+++++++

ELP Support Network
BM Box 2407
London
WC1N 3XX
England
www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk