Nov 20 '08 update:

POLITICAL PRISONER UPDATES:

Jeff "Free" Luers was transferred on April 12, 2008 to a minimum security prison in Portland - the Columbia River Correctional Institution. His 22+ year sentence has been reduced to 10 years and he expects to be released in December 2009. Donations are needed to help Jeff now as well as to start an education fund for him. freefreenow.org. Write him at: Jeffrey Luers # 13797671, CRCI, 9111 NE Sunderland Ave,Portland, OR 97211-1708.

Josh Harper has been incarcerated since Dec 2006 in Sheridan federal prison for his part, along with 6 others in the SHAC 7 campaign to shut down Huntington Life Sciences animal testing and vivisection activities. Write Josh at: JOSHUA HARPER, #29429-086, FCI SHERIDAN,P.O. BOX 5000, SHERIDAN, OR 97378. Latest update from Josh

Jeff Luers has had his sentence reduced to 10 years and is expected to be released in December 2009. Donations are needed to help Jeff now as well as to start an education fund for him. freefreenow.org. Write him at: Jeffrey Luers # 13797671, CRCI, 9111 NE Sunderland Ave,Portland, OR 97211-1708.

Tre Arrow pled guilty in June 2008 to 2 counts of arson, and 12 other counts were dropped. He was sentenced in August 2008 to serve to serve 78 months in U.S. prison, & can be written at: Tre Arrow #70936065, FCI HERLONG, P.O. BOX 800, HERLONG, CA 96113. For updates, visit: www.trearrow.org

Rod Coronado is awaiting release to a halfway house, November 2008, although his release date is still unclear because he is being told he is "a special case". Updates at supportrod.org

Mumia's case will be tried again! Dec 7, 2005: "In a startling new development, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia has agreed to hear arguments on three claims by Pennsylvania death-row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal that his 1982 trial and state appeal were tainted by constitutional violations." [Full Story] Updated Weblinks | Dec 9th 2008 Teach in at the PSU Multicultural Center - Smith Hall - in Portland, OR, in solidarity with the Dec 6th. [KBOO Nov 10 '08 coverage & updates]

ONGOING SUPPORT CAMPAIGNS:

• In October 2008Harold Thompson, a 66-year-old Anarchist Prisoner has passed away.
• Free the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners! This campaign has been going on for over a decade; For more info, visit: [Prolibertad Support Campaign]
• October 27th, 2005Dr. Dafur, a highly respected oncologist of muslim faith and Iraqi descent, was sentenced to 22 years in Syracuse, New York. He will be appealing this case, which is the first conviction breaking the sanctions against Iraq. [Full Story]
• October 21st, 2005 was the day the 5th Black Panther Veteran was jailed in San Francisco for refusing to cooperate with a grand jury investigating 30 year old cases. This "investigation" represents a stepped-up campaign to sweep up former Black Panthers, alleging that people have knowledge of events in the early 70s. As of October 21st, those currently being held in the San Francisco County Jail for contempt were: John Bowman, Ray Boudreaux, Richard Brown, Hank Jones and Harold Taylor. [Full Story]. Three of these former Black Panther Veterans toured the country to enlighten the public about the covert activities being used by agents authorized by the Patriot Act, and to bring awareness to fact that people associated with the BP organization 34+ years ago, are now being considered to be terrorists under the "U.S. Patriot Act".
• October 14th, 2005 a statement was read for former political prisoner Antonio Camacho Negron, whom the FBI has issued an arrest warrant for. Negron was arrested for being a part of the MACHETEROS in the late 1980s. His statement begins as follows: "The allegation... is a total fabrication. The FBI is interested in sequestering me for information that I have gathered surrounding Filiberto's death... [Full Story ]
• Sept 30, 2005 the Jericho Movement denounced the U.S. murder of freedom-fighter Filiberto Rios in Puerto Rico. The Peltier Defense Committee describes this act as being a repeat of the Incident at Oglala
• Sept 21st, 2005 was a call-in day to support political prisoner Russell Shoats who was given 2 life sentences, is being held in SCI-Greene where Mumia Abu Jamal is at, and who was being denied medical care, after his recent mistaken diagnosis of prostate cancer. For updates and to read some of Russell's writing, especially on the use of Torture in U.S. Prisons
• Eco-Peace Activist Helen Woodson was sentenced after her court file went "missing" for probation violations dating back to her original sentence for her 1984 Silo Pruning Hooks disarmament of a Missouri nuclear missile silo. The recent sentencing was for actions she took in March of 2005 following her release from Federal Prison, involving letters and statements declaring that the judges who legitimize nuclear war by protecting the weapons while punishing the resisters have become part of the weapons themselves.

Support has been withdrawn from Chris McIntosh, convicted of setting fire to a McDonalds in Seattle, who has since joined the ranks of white supremacist groups inside prison.

Portland-based Prisoner Support Groups

• Books To Oregon Prisoners has successfully gotten the restrictive regulations requiring only new books sent from approved publishers dropped in the state of Oregon. As a result this group is disbanding. For more info, email pdxbookstoprisoners@riseup.net.
  Portland Books To Prisoners continues to provide educational and radical literature mondays and tuesdays 5:30-8pm to people behind bars who request books. Email pdxbookstoprisoners@riseup.net for more info.
• Prison Pipeline is a very informative radio show in Portland that happens on KBOO Community Radio at 90.7 FM, on alternating Mondays starting at 6pm. Tune in to listen to the live stream!
• The Partnership for Safety and Justice (Formerly known as Western Prison Project) works on legislation to help prisoners in Oregon and 4 neighboring states, along with providing resource guides to prisoners who request them. They also help co-ordinate efforts of grassroots groups in the pacific northwest who work on prison issues.

Internationally there are support campaigns to call for the freeing of Leonard Peltier, an AIM activist who was framed and convicted after a firefight on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975. The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee sent out a press release Dec 6 2004 calling for the public to put pressure on authorities who claim to be "investigating" the 1976 murder of Anna MaeAquash on the Pine Ridge Reservation, who was one of many AIM leaders who were who were at that time resisting unwanted uranium development on sacred lands.

2005: Oct 1-12 Leonard Peltier supporters engaged in a fast for justice for Leonard. Since July 1 of 2005, Peltier has been moved from three different correctional facilities. It seems they are trying to break Peltier's spirit On May 3, Peltier called on the public to lobby congress on his behalf, after his April FOIA request for the release of 30 year-old secret documents wasn't granted.

There is also an international call for a fair trial for Mumia Abu Jamal. On May 18th, 2004 Mumia's latest appeal was denied. It is widely believed that Mumia was framed because of his earlier connections with the Black Panther Party and for his support of MOVE. On June 29, 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit lifted its stay in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, and ordered briefing. At issue is whether the death judgment should stand. Also pending is the prosecution's unconstitutional use of racism in jury selection. For more info, see the article, Death Penalty Again Looms Over Mumia's Head, and keep checking the weblinks on that article.

Freedom Archives helps prisoners by archiving music, art and videos about and by folks to make this work available to the public, and as a way to fundraise for prisoners. California Prison Focus is very active and has a good website to help folks understand issues facing prisoners, especially in California.

Other websites with info that give a meaningful perspective from and about our brothers and sisters behind bars, and some of the fallacies surrounding the perception of the U.S.prison industrial complex:
[ Anarchist Black Cross Federation | Anarchist Black Cross Network | Jericho Movement | Prison Activist Resource Center | Spirit Of Freedom | PrisonSucks.com | freedomarchives.org ]