Please sign on to this public letter to support Sherman Austin, a young LA-area activist whose home was raided by the FBI when he was 18, now he is 20 (photos at http://www.la.indymedia.org/news/2003/08/76286.php ) and has just been taken into the prison system -- he is being held incommunicado right now, his mother is frantic, there have been death threats from Aryan supremacist prisoners -- note that signatories (current list at end of this message) include Howard Zinn, and that Noam Chomsky is endorsing this. Please "sign" and send to Adrienne Carey Hurley, ahurley@stanford.edu

INSTRUCTIONS: "Group endorsements are also welcome. Please include your title and/or how you would like to be listed. You should also include your address and contact information in the event that signatures need to be verified. A work address is also acceptable. None of this information will be shared or made public. This is simply to prevent any false signatures from appearing."

PLEASE FORWARD: "The events reported in the statement below are deeply troubling. Sherman Austin appears to be the victim of a serious miscarriage of justice, and I hope that this matter is pursued quickly, fairly, and justly." Noam Chomsky

We, the undersigned, are united in our opposition to the selective prosecution and imprisonment of Sherman Austin, a twenty year-old African American webmaster and activist. Sherman's sentencing sets a dangerous precedent for the future of our right to express dissent and marks a troubling escalation in the criminalization of critical thinking and the erosion of the very civil liberties and rights our society purports to value.

On September 3, 2003 Sherman Austin surrendered himself to begin a one-year term in federal prison for the contents of a website that was authored by another boy and linked to Sherman's site, www.raisethefist.com, on a free-hosting area Sherman provided there. The other boy's site included a direct link to the "Reclaim Guide," a manual that provides crude instructions on how to build explosives. While this boy has not been charged with any crime, Sherman, who had no part in writing or posting any of the offending material, was prosecuted under a 1997 law sponsored by Dianne Feinstein that makes it illegal to distribute information related to explosives with the intent to use that information in a "federal crime of violence."

Numerous websites feature bomb-making instructions, and while such information is easily accessed via the internet and online bookstores such as amazon.com, Sherman, who has no history of violence and who did not write the "Reclaim Guide," is the first person to be charged under this law. The key element in the case against Sherman hinged on the question of "intent." Because Sherman's site is critical of U.S. government policy, police brutality, globalization, and racism, the prosecution and judge maintained that his politics provided grounds for proving intent.

Senator Feinstein, in a press release issued the day Sherman entered prison, expressed "dismay" that prosecutors had not pursued the "bombmaking" law "aggressively" enough as a "tool in fighting terrorism." We ask, why is it that a nonviolent twenty year-old, someone whom the California Department of Corrections Senior Staff Psychologist determined "does not represent a risk to society whatsoever" and described as "a very, very peaceful, mild-mannered" person, has been sentenced under this law while others who present clear and identifiable threats, such as certain white supremacist and anti-choice organizations, have been permitted to distribute bombmaking information and make direct threats on individuals, clinics, and groups? We contend that the selective prosecution of Sherman Austin had everything to do with his race, his politics, his effectiveness as an internet activist, and his mother's lack of financial resources to mount an aggressive legal defense. We find it sign ificant and telling that the actual author of the site directly linked to the "Reclaim Guide" is the son of affluent and conservative white parents.

We also question the validity of Sherman's plea itself. Sherman, who was eighteen years-old when this case began, was told a "terrorism enhancement" would be applied to his case if he went to trial. This meant that he could have been subjected to an additional 20 years in prison if found guilty. We challenge the notion that a plea made under such circumstances could be truly voluntary. Sherman accepted two plea bargain agreements, one of which >the judge rejected, sentencing Sherman to a term longer than what the prosecution suggested.

As is evident in the court transcripts, the decisions of U.S. District Court Judge Stephen V. Wilson were neither fair nor impartial. He stated that he hoped Sherman's case would serve as a deterrent to other activists and "revolutionaries" and that he wanted to "send a message" by subjecting Sherman to a harsher sentence. As activists, educators, artists, and concerned individuals, we stand together to send a message back to Judge Wilson. We will not be silenced or deterred.

Many of us have published, recorded, performed, or presented work that is critical of U.S. foreign policy, domestic examples of social injustice, and the effects of globalization. Some of us have made statements that could provide even more compelling grounds for applying the standard of "intent" invoked in Sherman's case had we offered free-hosting website space that the author of the "Reclaim Guide" could have used. Because Sherman is now serving time in federal prison for having expressed opinions not unlike our own, we feel compelled to speak out lest we be next.

Two days after entering prison, Sherman was moved into isolation because of death threats made by white supremacist groups. Thanks to numerous calls, faxes, and letters sent to prison officials, Sherman has now been transferred, but his safety in prison remains a concern. In the words of the Department of Corrections Psychologist, Sherman "is likely to become a victim by virtue of his youth, slight build and naiveté. He is totally unprepared to defend himself in such a setting. He is more likely to become brutalized by the experience than to learn from it."

We support the efforts underway to challenge the terms of Sherman's plea and probation, and we demand that prison and government officials ensure the safety of Sherman Austin while he remains in custody.

Zack de la Rocha

Howard Zinn

Steve Argue Revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg Club of the Peace and Freedom Party

Thomas Leavitt Santa Cruz, CA

Tarnel Abbott Richmond, CA

Michael Albert Z Magazine and Znet

Anarchist Action, Australia Australian RTF Chapter

Blake Anthony Irvine, CA

Antonio Austin artist and writer

Melanie Austin

Rachel Austin graphic artist

Shermane Austin, Ph.D Associate Professor, Computer Science Medgar Evers College The City University of New York

Elena Banales Retired LaborWorker, Cake Designer

Guadalupe Banales Environmentalist and Artist

Monica Banales College Student

Sandra Barbosa Bloomington, CA

Gay Block Photographer Santa Fe, New Mexico

Linda Boigon Teacher Valley Village, CA

Blase Bonpane, Ph.D. Director, Office of the Americas

Mat Callahan Musician, author

Margaret B. Carey Attorney at Law Denver, CO

Alison Chubb, Ph.D. Biologist and videographer Redwood City, CA

Schaun Clark Customer Service Rep. Compton,CA

Kimberly Claytor Teacher Costa Mesa, CA

Paul t Cobbin aka Captain Wardrobe artist UK

Wendy Cohen Writer/Editor Los Angeles, CA

Kathleen Crume School Administrator

Roy Culver writer Athens, Greece

Soula Culver Richmond, CA

Vika Culver sculptor Athens, Greece

Karin Dalesky Grad student, Interdisciplinary Studies University of Washington, Tacoma

Nicholas De Genova Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Latina/o Studies Columbia University

Jesus Diaz Vancouver, WA

Frank Dorrell Publisher of Addicted to War

Jim Douglas Davis, CA

Folk This!

Cameron Frost Victoria, Australia

James Fujii Associate Professor of Japanese Literature University of California, Irvine

Paul George Director, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center Palo Alto, CA

Professor Ann Fagan Ginger Berkeley, California

Luis Fernando Gomez Human Rights Activist Alexandria, Va

Jamie Hagen-Holt San Diego, CA

Paul Hagen-Holt San Diego, CA

Tomoyuki Hoshino Novelist Japan

Theodore Harris artist Philadelphia, PA

Patricia Hartz, Ph.D. Humanities University of California, Irvine

Carl Henriksson Solidarity Organization Twiga Sweden

Julie Hoigaard, Ph.D. Social Science University of California, Irvine

Adrienne Carey Hurley, Ph.D. Stanford Institute for International Studies

Dave Ijams Richmond, CA

Ramsey Kanaan AK Press

Janet Kobren Berkeley, CA

Roger Linn Roger Linn Designs

Josh Lofthouse Red Deer, Alberta, Canada

Erich Keefe legal worker Berkeley, CA

Sarah Kotzamani artist Berkeley, CA

Christine Lynch Lawrence, MA

Adam Marx Hopkins, Minnesota

Robert T McQuaid Ontario, Canada

Peggy Miller activist, craftsperson, and reporter

Richard Moreno President, Not In Our Name (Mt. SAC) Student Alliance

Liv Murphy Santa Fe, NM

Chizuco Naito Tokyo University Japan

Futoshi Nakagawa Tokyo, Japan

Nicholas Napolitano Granada Hills, CA

Anahita New (U.K. National) Bangkok, Thailand

Guy Oosterhoff Sydney, Australia

Monika Penner BC, Canada

Csaba Polony Editor, Left Curve

James Pratt Richmond, CA

Edessa Ramos poet, writer, theater artist Zurich, Switzerland

David Remer Frankfurt, Germany

Jennifer Martin Ruggiero Artist and teacher

Stephen Ruoss, M.D. Associate Professor Stanford Medical School

Fiona Searson Assistant in Nursing Australia

Michael Slate writer, Revolutionary Worker newspaper host, Beneath the Surface, KPFK Radio, Los Angeles

Ashley Smith Flushing, MI

Carolyn Spidle Santa Fe, NM

Brian Squadrilli Huntington Beach, CA

Sue Supriano Berkeley, CA

Colin M. Sword CEO & Chairman Delta Engineering Corporation

David Torres Labor Worker

Susana Torres Human Resource Support

Linda Tran Stanford, CA

Serena Turley Co-editor, The G-Spot Arizona State University

Alissa Van Nort Civil Servant Berkeley, CA

Deirdre Visser Artist and teacher San Francisco, CA

Megan Wallis Los Angeles, CA

Susan Whitmyre Long Beach, CA

Carla Williams writer and artist Oakland, CA

Cynthia (Cindy) Williams Political Activist, Stained Glass/Mosaic Artist

Deborah Willis-Kennedy Professor of Photography & Imaging Tisch School of the Arts New York University

Gordon Wright Berkeley, Calif.

Armando Yañez San Jose, CA

Melissa Yang Dayton, Ohio

A website at http://www.freesherman.org will be functioning soon with updates, etc.

Liberation News: For the liberation of humanity and our ravaged planet from the scourge of capitalism.

Register to vote with the Peace and Freedom Party! Resist the war in the streets, workplaces, schools, and in the barracks! Organize to end all imperial bloodshed through socialist revolution!