In the past few weeks, many people have been trying to raise the alarm about Lynne Stewart, the 73 year old Human Rights attorney, dying of cancer in a federal prison in Texas. These include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who has called for Lynne’s immediate release and has urged people in the United States to also raise their voices. Dick Gregory, the entertainer and activist has begun a total solid food fast until Lynne Stewart is released. These noble calls and actions have to reach much further though, all the way to the White House.
Lynne Stewart has spent her life fighting for justice, peace and Human Rights, especially for the poor, people of color, activists and even revolutionaries. Lynne has been in prison since 2009 for too vigorously defending a Court assigned defendant, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman.
Right now Lynne Stewart has stage four cancer that has spread to several areas of her body. She is dying. Federal law allows for medical and compassionate release. But the release process has to be initiated by the warden of the prison the person is held in. The warden of the Federal Prison in Carswell, Texas, has refused to begin the compassionate release process for Lynne Stewart.
Rhis is not just wrong, it is an outrage and you can do something about it. Go to www.lynnestewart.org and sign the petition asking for Lynne Stewart’s release on medical and compassionate grounds. This is a simple, quick task. Over 8,000 people have already signed. Please, if you haven’t yet signed it, do it now; and equally important, tell all your friends to also sign the petition and help save the life of a courageous wonderful woman.
This is Jaan Laaman, your political prisoner voice, coming to you from the federal prison in Tucson, Arizona. Until next time, remember, “Freedom is a Constant Struggle!”
![Prison Radio is sharing an abbreviated version of a press release covering recent racist incidents at SCI Rockview in PA and the organizing to demand accountability. We are reaching out to people incarcerated at Rockview as well as recently transferred folks, inviting them to call, in hopes of hearing commentaries from them.
Benner Township, PA.-
On November 24th, 2023, imprisoned people at SCI Rockview found two nooses hanging in the CO’s office, displayed visibly for many prisoners to see. When the prisoners asked the staff why the nooses were hung, they were told it was a joke.
By December 4th, prisoners filed a grievance to document what they saw, noting that the hanging of the nooses was “unethical, racially motivated, hateful, [a] deliberate debasement of black inmates" and “unsafe for inmates, staff, [and] the whole prison in general.” In the grievance, they demanded that Sgt. Mosser and CO Richard be fired and investigated for a hate crime, and for CO Kirchner to get therapy. Captain Andrews, the head of security, denied the grievance.
The sergeant and COs are still working in the prison to this day, with no repercussions...
As of March 10th, prisoners have reached out to Pennsylvania officials at the Dept. of Corrections in a letter campaign, sending 100 copies of the grievance. Copies of the letter also were mailed to Governor Shapiro, Senator Fetterman, Senator Street, and various advocacy groups. The demands for relief in the original grievance have now become the platform of demands for this campaign. About 20 of the 100 letters were withheld by the prison.
Activists on the outside are joining forces with prisoners to elevate their demands, flooding the phone lines of DOC offices, assisting with outreach to media, and circulating the stories of prisoners who have found unity in opposition to the facility's virulent institutional racism.
In any other workplace, hanging a noose would be grounds for immediate termination. However, Nicki Paul, the superintendent's assistant and "grievance coordinator" informed the public that they self-investigated their staff and found they did nothing wrong.
Read the full article at i
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