This Monday: Defend Carrie and Scott!


Two dear comrades, Carrie Feldman and Scott DeMuth, are subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury in Davenport, Iowa this coming Tuesday, November 17. The prosecutor has not disclosed the pretext for the subpoena, though it appears that it may be connected to the FBI investigation of an Animal Liberation Front action that occurred at the University of Iowa in 2004—when Carrie and Scott were barely in high school.

Grand juries exist to coerce civilians into providing information about themselves and others to law enforcement and intelligence agencies. They operate in secret; no judges or defense attorneys are present, and neither Constitutional rights nor conventional evidence-gathering protocol apply. Grand juries are frequently used to harass activists and dissidents; for example, a grand jury forced independent journalist Josh Wolf to serve 226 days in a federal prison simply for refusing to turn over a videotape he had shot at a demonstration.

Carrie was already called to appear before this grand jury on October 15, and refused to answer questions, reading a statement declaring that she had “no intention of testifying before this grand” on account of her personal convictions. It is possible that if she and Scott refuse to answer questions this Tuesday, they will be thrown in jail for up to a year.

Both Carrie and Scott have contributed immensely to their communities and to the struggle for a freer world. Among other projects, Carrie has worked with EWOK!, a Twin Cities group supporting environmentalist defendants and prisoners, and the Coldsnap Legal Collective, which has been instrumental in supporting arrestees from the 2008 RNC protests. In addition to his own involvement with EWOK! and the Anarchist Black Cross, Scott participates in Oyate Nipi Kte, a group dedicated to the liberation of the Dakota people and the rediscovery of their traditional ways of life, and the editorial board of the Dakota community journal Anpao Duta. If these two are kidnapped by the state, it will be a tremendous loss.

Supporters are calling for a phone-in day to pressure the prosecutor to leave them alone. This Monday, call US Attorney Cliff Cronk and 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. Feel free to take up as much of their time as you can—they clearly feel entitled to waste ours.

Monday, November 16, 9 am to 4 pm Central Standard Time

US Attorney’s Office
Cliff Cronk: (563)449-5432

Support Webpage for Carrie and Scott

General Purpose Poster against cooperating with police investigations [PDF, 576k]

Defend Carrie and Scott! Call-In Day 11/16! « Support Carrie and Scott! said,

November 12, 2009 @ 8:34 am

[...] Defend Carrie and Scott! Call-In Day 11/16! From our friends at CrimethInc.: [...]

Call-in day on Monday for Carrie and Scott « ludditerobot said,

November 13, 2009 @ 11:40 am

[...] Cities activists subpoenaed by a federal grand jury in Davenport, Iowa, and their supporters are asking for calls to the Attorney’s Office on Monday demanding that the baseless harassment cease. Monday, [...]

Grand Juries in Iowa: Defend Carrie and Scott! « Grand Jury Information NYC said,

November 17, 2009 @ 12:11 pm

[...] From crimethinc.com [...]

New Support Info! « Support Carrie and Scott! said,

November 18, 2009 @ 11:19 am

[...] our last call-in day was so successful, we’re doing it again! Call U.S. Attorney Cliff Cronk at (563)449-5432 and [...]

b. traven said,

November 19, 2009 @ 11:44 am

Here’s the latest news on their case:

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@riseup.net. 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. She can only have 2 books at a time, but extra books will be put into the prison library and she will have access to them, so she wants people to send them. She is specifically excited about good sci-fi and math books.

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.” We’re working on getting a reading list from him.

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 here:
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/chi-lettertotheeditor,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!

b. traven said,

November 19, 2009 @ 2:09 pm

Scott Demuth is now being charged under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act:
http://www.qctimes.com/news/local/article_f77ee8a0-d527-11de-81f3-001cc4c002e0.html

His indictment is available here:
http://davenportgrandjury.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/scottindictmentredacted.pdf

More information about the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act:
http://abolishtheaeta.org/web/

ret marut said,

November 30, 2009 @ 8:40 pm

THIS MONDAY, November 30, CALL IN to Cronk’s boss, US Attorney Nicholas Klinefeldt, from 9am to 4pm to demand that they dismiss Carrie’s subpoena and release her immediately.

Monday November 30, 9am-4pm CST, (515) 473-9300

In the hearings so far, Cronk has attempted to use our statements of support against Carrie and Scott by twisting our words and arguing that using our right to free speech and to petition the government for a redress of grievances is a reflection of their bad moral character. Ridiculous, we know. While his arguments haven’t met with much success yet, we don’t need to give him anything with which to hurt our friends.

When you call in to demand Carrie’s release, please follow the sample script below and don’t allow them to trick you into saying something that they can twist around to hurt her:

*sample script*

Mr. Klinefeldt, I am calling to express my concern about the continued detention of Carrie Feldman for her refusal to testify to a grand jury in Davenport initiated by your Assistant US Attorney, Cliff Cronk. This grand jury is being used to investigate political activity, and by extension her refusal to cooperate makes her a political prisoner. She will continue to refuse to answer questions regardless of her detention, so her incarceration for civil contempt becomes a punitive action. I urge you to release Carrie Feldman from jail immediately.

Don’t forget to call Klinefeldt between 9am and 4pm on Monday! And get your friends to call too!

more at: http://davenportgrandjury.wordpress.com

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