Animal Rights Activist on Hunger Strike After IL Jail Bans All Books

Via Support Kevin & Tyler:

Kevin Olliff is on hunger strike until the Woodford County Jail book ban is reversed.

It has been over 6 weeks since Michael Waterworth banned all books from entering the Woodford County Jail. The psychological toll of life in a cell without any way to pass the time has been nearly insufferable, as they are forced to waste away without even the most basic form of mental stimulation.

Today Kevin announced that he is prepared to go without food until the book ban is lifted. The hunger strike is effective as of midnight, Wednesday night.

What you can do

Continue to call Michael Waterworth and the jail repeatedly, this time with the added word of caution that they will soon have a sick and dying prisoner if they do not undo the ban. Kevin is prepared to go the distance and not eat until the jail allows prisoners access to books.

• Jail: 309-467-2116
• Sheriff Pierceall: 309-467-2375

If you prefer to write, a sample letter to IL Governor Pat Quinn and Eureka Mayor Scott Punke is available here.

An Open Letter From Sean Swain

The following is a letter Rachel Allshiny recently received from Sean Swain, an anarchist prisoner who is behind bars indefinitely, after she sent him a copy of her Suicide Girls blog post on prisoner support work.

11 SEP 13
You-can’t-kill-500,000-children-under-
the-age-of-6-in-10-years-of-sanctions-
without-suffering-the-blowback-day

Allshiny + Everyone –

I got your 28 AUG letter.

As you’ll note from my address, I’m now at Ohio’s super-duper-über-mega-ultra-max. It’s a program for scientifically disassembling human personalities.

I seem to be getting my mail. It seems to be timely too. Here, I’m getting zines and other reading materials. I’ve been here 2 weeks, however, and still do not have a large box of my legal documents + addresses + writings, etc.

Having read your article again just now, I see a pattern. The fascists fear ideas. Ideas on paper. Mark’s. Mine. That speaks to the poverty of their own dysfunctional ideology and the unsustainable system it creates.

Rehabilitation: They kick us in the head until we get dumber. 🙂

An Open Letter from Mark “Migs” Neiweem of the NATO 5

NOTE: For the past 2 months, we have been promoting call-in campaigns in support of Mark Neiweem, aka Migs, who was put in solitary confinement for his anarchist affiliations. Yesterday we posted the good news that he will be released from prison in December, only one month past his original parole date.

Another young man at the prison was put into solitary confinement under the same “disciplinary violation” of being an anarchist. He is serving time for DUI-related offenses, not political charges, so we did not include him directly in our campaign, although he did receive legal support from the same attorney.

Now that Migs has resolved his own situation and has a release date in sight, he requested that we publish the following letter in support of his comrade. Although not a political prisoner per se, he is still being held wrongfully in solitary confinement for expressing his political beliefs and could use your letters and good wishes.

Photo of Migs courtesy of the Illinois Department of Corrections

 

Greetings of solidarity, comrades. I sincerely hope this find all of you in the very best of health and highest of spirits.

I have had much difficulty getting this message to individuals because much of my outgoing mail seems to vanish between my cell and their mail boxes – seemingly always the letters which those doing the censoring don’t like, including all attempts to express the message in this open letter. I am now reaching out publicly and hoping not to get retaliated against this time for making a public statement while in prison. We shall see.

CALL-IN SUCCEEDS: Mark “Migs” Neiweem (NATO 5) to be Released in December

After two months of call-in and letter-writing campaigns to his office, Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) Director Godinez has reduced Mark Neiweem’s punishment for possessing anarchist symbols and literature to ONE MONTH revoked good time. Mark will now be released on December 12, 2013.

As a reminder, Mark was moved to solitary confinement in July and later charged with two serious disciplinary violations:

• Gang or Unauthorized Organization Activity, for his possession of “unauthorized” Anarchist symbols and friendship with another Anarchist in the prison

• Dangerous Written Material, for his possession of “unauthorized” Anarchist literature

After a hearing with an internal adjustment committee, the disciplinary action taken against Mark for these offenses included 6 months in solitary confinement and 3 months good time revoked, pushing his release date into 2014. Although this was significantly better than initially expected, we continued to pressure IDOC to release Mark on time.