ALERT JUSTICE NEEDS YOUR HELP! YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR JUSTICE! Aloha Friends and Comrades working for Peace and Justice. Three of our DeOccupy Honolulu Activists have been jailed for standing up for the Civil Rights of the Houseless. These arrests and jail sentences are a violation of all of our Rights, so are fighting back and appealing these travesties of justice. This effort is going to cost in the thousands of dollars, so we need funds for this legal battle. Donating to this campaign is an easy way for you fight back against the police state tactics that the system is using against people using their basic Civil Rights to stand up for Justice. Any amount of a donation will be welcome. So give up a latte for Justice and donate to our legal defense fund. We will be setting our own account soon, but in the meantime you can make your donation through our Friends and Allies at the World Can’t Wait Hawai‘i. See details at the end of the World Can’t Wait Appeal below. Mahalo for your support for Justice. In Solidarity, Malama Pono. AN ESCALATION IN ATTACKS ON PROTEST; A NEW PRECEDENT As you probably know, the (de)Occupy protesters have been sentenced to jail terms for obstructing government operations- the routine charge against protesters who engage in civil disobedience such as sit-ins. This charge has been used (or threatened to be used) against anti-war protesters at K-Bay, at Pearl Harbor, at recruitment stations, and during eviction struggles. The result is normally a few hours or overnight in the police cell block while the person is processed and then released until trial. In the end the charges are usually waived or there is a relatively small fine. The sentences of Madori Rumpungworm, Blade Walsh and Sugar Russell represent a leap in the governments attacks on protest. A new precedent is being set and its up to anyone who believes it is right to stand up against injustice to fight this new precedent. This is an attack that impacts everyone who believes it is right to protest. (de)Occupy protesters have not only endured 90+ police raids, but have consistently challenged new and increasingly repressive laws effecting the homeless (among other issues). While many Hawai`i citizens are appalled by these laws, few have lobbied and testified at City Council as consistently as the activists at (de)Occupy, and their court challenges are continuing. For example, (de)Occupy supporters have been at every City Council testifying against Bill 59, which further criminalizes the homeless. CURRENT CHARGES In October Madori Rumpungworn was sentenced to 30 days in jail by Circuit Judge Patrick Border for refusing to leave a section of Thomas Square which the police had marked off with yellow tape. (de)Occupy was in the process of challenging the City Councils new ordinance allowing the confiscation of property in court. When the City came to take her property Madori was not unruly but simply stood inside the tape. After similar trials with the same judge for similar charges, Blade Walsh was sentenced to 45 days and Catherine Sugar Russell was sentenced to 60 days in jail. Their jail terms were to begin on December 15 if they posted $11,000 bail each. They were not immediately able to post bail and went to jail prior to serving their sentences. Since then $2200 has been posted with a bail bondsman and they have been released. But its not over! Both Blade and Sugar are facing jail time beginning December 16th - whether they do depends on all of us who believe in Free Speech and the right to stand up against injustice by way of Non-violent Civil Disobedience roll back the extremely dangerous precedent these charges have set. WHAT YOU CAN DO The lawyers for Madori, Blade and Sugar believe that there is a good basis to appeal the sentences and have committed to taking it as far as possible. However, even if the cases are pro bono (i.e. without charges for the lawyers time), there are actual expenses like filing fees and copying. The current estimate is about $2,500. The close supporters of (de)Occupy have already raised the $2,200 to post bail for Sugar and Blade so they can assist the lawyers in the appeal and continue their court challenges against city ordinances against the homeless. However, donations are urgently needed to raise funds to cover the cost of the appeal. A reversal on appeal would represent a real victory against the governments crackdown against non-violent protest. For example, when the city arrested Not In Our Name activists for chalking the sidewalk, the challenge to that charge resulted in a new and written precedent allowing sidewalk chalk. If wed rolled over and let the charges stand a new precedent against sidewalk chalking would have been set. We urge you to contribute to making this appeal possible.(de)Occupy is in the process of setting up a mechanism to accept contributions but we also invite you to send a check to World Cant Wait-Hawai`i and well see that it is spent for this purpose only. Any amount will help! Make your check out to World Cant Wait-Hawai`i and send it to: World Cant Wait-Hawai`i, P. O. Box 11225, Honolulu, HI 96828. Be sure to write appeal on the memo line. If for any reason the appeal is not filed well return your contribution. If you would like your contribution to revert to World Cant Wait-Hawai`i if it is not filed write appeal/WCW on the memo line.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 21:10:47 +0000
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