Sign the Petition

Excerpt from http://russellmaroonshoats.wordpress.com/petition/

“Petition to End the Solitary Confinement Torture of Russell Maroon Shoatz

Russell Maroon Shoats (#AF-3855), a 68-year-old prisoner held at the State Correctional Institution (SCI) Greene in southwestern Pennsylvania, has been kept in solitary confinement for more than 21 years. He has been unable to hold his children or grandchildren or interact with others in a humane setting during this time, despite not having violated prison rules in two decades. He has suffered severe psychological anguish and his physical health has been worsened by the stress of prolonged isolation.

Maroon has spent nearly 40 years within the Pennsylvania prison system, 30 of those in solitary confinement. During this time he has earned a reputation amongst prison staff and prisoners as a leader because of his consistent support for human rights inside and outside the walls”.

Training will be held on January 17, 2013, at 7:00 pm at the Arch Street United Methodist Church.

Learn more!

Please sign this petition and call ICE in support of Sergio, a member of ROC-LA. He has been detained since May in the Santa Ana City Jail. He is living with AIDS, was recently diagnosed with cancer, and has a tumor in his head that needs to be removed ASAP. Doctors have told him that he needs chemotherapy, but ICE is refusing to give him the medical treatment he needs to live. PLEASE SIGN and SHARE!!

http://action.dreamactivist.org/california/sergio/

Last week Joshua Scott Albert turned himself in to the Philadelphia police, and is currently being held at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility.  Regardless of any one’s personal opinion of him, or his past alleged actions, he is someone who deserves our solidarity as he traverses a brutal and terrifying system.

Up Against the Law urges all of us to support him.

Supporting him does not mean agreeing with him, or even liking him.  It means recognizing that he is like millions of people in the United States, a lone individual facing a vast apparatus of state repression.

Up Against the Law’s mission is to provide solidarity so that we can face this inhuman system as a community, not as individuals. Fortunately he has pro bono legal representation.

Joshua is able to receive mail at the address below. All mail sent to him will be read by jail staff, and packages are not allowed.  He would like reading material.

Please contact Books Through Bars if you have reading material you would like to send: Books Through Bars | 4722 Baltimore Ave. | Philadelphia, PA 19143 215-727-8170 |info@booksthroughbars.org

To send Joshua mail you must use the EXACT address below:  Again he cannot receive packages.  Reading material should be coordinated with Books Through Bars.  Joshua can also see visitors, but you must be on his list.

PP# 1128125
Joshua S.S. Albert 1128125
CFCF
PO Box 6230
7901 State Road
19136

Philadelphia Legal Collective Files Assault Complaint Against Philadelphia Police Department

The Philadelphia-based Up Against the Law Legal Collective is filing a complaint with the Philadelphia Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division on behalf of one of our legal observers, Amanda Geraci.  The complaint charges that Civil Affairs Officer Brown (Badge # 2454) assaulted Geraci while Geraci performed legal observing duties during a Shale Gas Outrage demonstration on Friday, September 21st, 2012.

Our complaint, which includes ample video and photographic evidence, contains a detailed description of the incident that occurred outside of the Philadelphia Convention Center, namely:

• Geraci, who at no time interfered with police action at the scene, was in the process of walking toward the glass doors to photograph a young man under arrest just inside the glass doors to the Convention Center. We stress that this documentation is a basic responsibility of any legal observer.
• As Geraci approached the doors, Officer Brown ran at Geraci, pinned Geraci up against a brick wall, and began yelling in Geraci’s face, pushing her forearm across Geraci’s throat and her leg between Geraci’s legs to restrict movement.
• Geraci calmly informed Officer Brown that she was legal observing and that she was not doing anything wrong. Despite this, Brown continued aggressively yelling in Geraci’s face while continuing to pin her on the wall with her knee pushed between Geraci’s legs and arm pressed against her throat.
• As Officer Brown needlessly escalated this situation with her impulsive and unprovoked actions, collective member Nathaniel Miller began to legal observe the situation, but was impeded by Officer Barrow (Badge #1147) when the officer stepped in front of Miller to block him from the observing Officer Brown’s unprofessional behavior.
• At this point, collective member Jody Dodd approached Captain Riddick, a commanding officer on scene, to politely ask him to de-escalate the situation. His response: “How about you take care of your people, and I’ll take care of my people.” Dodd made similiar requests to Captain Stephen Glenn (who arrived shortly after) as a professional courtesy “since we work together [in circumstances like this] from time to time.” Captain Glenn displayed similar indifference.

Up Against the Law Legal Collective strongly condemns the actions of Police Officer Brown and Civil Affairs leadership for allowing this kind of police misconduct to exist in the midst of peaceful demonstrations. We demand an investigation of this formal complaint and that appropriate discipline be taken by the Philadelphia Police Department.

At the time of this assault Amanda was engaging in legal observing of an activist’s arrest at the Shale Gas Outrage action.  When the collective saw what was going on with Amanda, they began to legal observe as well. Officer Barrow (badge number 1147) promptly jumped in front of another collective member, Nathaniel when he attempted to record the misconduct of Officer Brown (badge number 2454).

Both attempts to record the actions of the Philadelphia Police during arrests and misconduct were blocked and retaliated against.

This is no way to treat a legal observer, or any person supporting non-violent resistance.  Legal observing is a vital part of non violent actions to ensure the safety of protestors from police repression and misconduct.

We at Up Against the Law Legal Collective strongly condemn the actions of the Philadelphia Police’s Civil Affairs leadership for allowing this kind of brutality to exist in the midst of peaceful demonstrations.

Support General Assistance

About the September 19 action, Occupy Philly writes:

“Gov Corbett’s appearance in Philly tonight was disrupted by activists who held multiple banners aloft and called him out for expanding PA’s prison system while cutting funding for public education and cutting General Assistance. The governor was visibly shaken. Currently they are not letting in ticket holders even though the auditorium is only a quarter full.”

Read more at Philly.com

Oppose Fracking

On September 20, activists protested the Marcellus Shale Coalition, convening at the Convention Center.

Read more at TheTimesOnline.com