From the newswire: "Puerto Rican political prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres, who was imprisoned three decades ago for his work in support of Puerto Rican independence, was paroled from federal prison in Pekin, Illinois on Monday, July 26, and returned briefly to Chicago to a hero's welcome before his planned move to permanently relocate to Puerto Rico. Spending 30 years behind bars for supporting Puerto Rican independence, he is the longest serving political prisoner in the history of Puerto Rico.

"Chicago’s Puerto Rican residents held a community celebration with Carlos to mark his return on Monday from 4-6PM at La Casita de Don Pedro Community Garden, 2625 W. Division St., Chicago. Hundreds of community residents and supporters attended the event. 'We are thrilled that he’s finally free,' said his sister Norma Torres. 'So many people of conscience have fought for years to win Carlos’ freedom – and that of all the Puerto Rican political prisoners. Now we need to bring Oscar home.'" Read more

Since 2007, local Boston journalist Michael Richardson has been writing a series of articles about Ed Poindexter and Mondo we Langa, who are two Black Panther political prisoners known as the Omaha Two. Richardson argues that they were framed for the 1970 murder of a policeman as part of the FBI’s notorious counterintelligence program, dubbed “COINTELPRO.”

Illustrating this program’s intent, a March 3, 1968 COINTELPRO memo discussed the need to stop "the beginning of a true black revolution," and to "prevent the rise of a 'messiah' who could unify, and electrify, the militant black nationalist movement… Through counterintelligence it should be possible to pinpoint potential troublemakers and neutralize them." Another stated goal was "to prevent the long-range growth of militant black nationalist organizations, especially among youth. Specific tactics to prevent these groups from converting young people must be developed." Read More by Angola 3 News

Related: Carl Hampton Lives! Commemoration of 40th anniversary of Carl's assassination

by Thorne Dreyer, from The Rag Blog: Poet and political prisoner Marilyn Buck has been released from a prison hospital in Texas after serving 25 years of an 80-year sentence for crimes related to her actions in support of the black liberation movement. Buck was diagnosed with uterine cancer last December, and that cancer is no longer considered treatable. Buck, who grew up in Austin, became a widely acclaimed and award-winning poet while incarcerated. She has been paroled to New York City.

Marilyn Buck was born in Temple, Texas, but grew up in Austin where her father, the late Louis Buck, was an Episcopal priest and a civil rights activist who was removed from his ministry after he desegregated his congregation. As a student at the University of Texas she became involved in civil rights organizing and in the movement against the war in Vietnam. She was active with the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and worked with Austin’s underground newspaper, The Rag... Read full article | Friends of Marilyn Buck

Lynne's shocking resentencing

With a current state budget deficit in Illinois of some $13 billion, among the largest in the country, state legislators are making tough decisions about where to save money. Recently, Governor Pat Quinn proposed an “early release” program for prison inmates who have committed nonviolent crimes, but it was quickly met by a political backlash. The state has also seen severe cuts in public education. With the current economic crisis, Illinois residents will soon have to decide which they value more―education or incarceration.

WTUL News & Views interviews Wesley Ware of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana about the release a new report, “Locked Up & Out.” According to the report, youth continue to report physical and sexual abuse, psychological abuse, excessive use of lockdown and isolation, confidentiality breaches and privacy violations, as well as insufficient post-disposition representation which results in limited access to the court system and therefore a lower probability of obtaining early release when warranted.

On July 22nd, San Francisco's Submission Gallery will host a benefit for Marie Mason, a long-time activist in the environmental and labor movements from Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2008, Marie was arrested on federal charges of property destruction and later sentenced to almost 22 years in prison, the longest term of any "Green Scare" prisoner. Activists and former prisoners Linda Evans, Jeff Luers, and Karen Pickett will share their experiences and perspectives on Marie's case.

On Thursday, July 1 Green Scare prisoner Marie Mason was placed in solitary confinement. All supporters are encouraged to write her and keep her spirits up. [...]

Marie Mason is serving almost 22 years for two acts of environmentally-motivated property destruction in which no one was harmed. This is the longest current sentence of any of the Green Scare prisoners. (The Green Scare is the name given to the recent prosecution of eco-saboteurs and animal liberation activists, in which the government has labeled them as "terrorists" and sought huge sentences.) Mason was turned in by her then-husband, Frank Ambrose, who had secretly spied on activists for years and then filed for divorce the day she was arrested. Mason eventually plead guilty to 14 actions; 13 were claimed by the Earth Liberation Front and one by the Animal Liberation Front. At her sentencing, the judge said she had "violated the marketplace of ideas" and gave her an even longer sentence than the prosecution had asked for (15-20 years). Marie Mason Support Event Sat July 17th in Portland | www.supportmariemason.org

In December, readers and individual board members of several of the organizations in the US abolitionist movement had signed--without their full boards’ or their memberships’ knowledge--a “confidential” memorandum, which they then sent to the French organizers of the World Congress Against the Death Penalty, stating bluntly that, “As international representatives of the US abolition movement, we cannot agree to the involvement of Abu-Jamal or his lawyers in the World Congress beyond attendance.”

ThisCantBeHappening! this past week obtained a copy of that secret memorandum.

New Prison Action News issue out.

I'm back home in Minnesota after the conclusion of the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit, Michigan, last Saturday. Host to this historic gathering of 15-20,000 social justice strugglers from progressive business owners to anarchists, Detroit was and remains on the front lines of capitalism's crisis. It's a city of contradictions. Thriving community gardens dot otherwise overgrown lots and abandoned buildings; friendly smiles mask neighborhoods plagued by violence and one of the nation's highest rates of police killings.

In my last article about the Forum, I mentioned Threat Management, the paramilitary-style firm hired to provide security at the USSF's official tent village. From a friend connected with the bicycle caravan camping there, I learned more.

"One of my friends on the caravan showed up at the village, saw the paramilitary guys, said 'Uh-uh,' and left to find housing on her own," she told me. "But in that village, there were also three full busloads of youth from out east, all under 18. The paperwork they had to do to just to get to Detroit was incredible, and all their parents had to sign waivers. So I guess the Forum needed those security guys to prove to the parents that the camp would be safe."

To us, that raised the question: Could we create a sort of safety without fences and guns, or prisons and police--a safety from below?

Lynne's struggle for justice continues

June 8, 2010, mark[ed] the one-year anniversary of Tre Arrow's return to Portland. A year ago (June 8, 2009) Tre Arrow greeted a small group of well-wishers at PDX's Arrival terminal, climbed onto a tandem bicycle and merged into a sunny Portland afternoon. He wasn't home free, but--after two years as a fugitive and five and a half years of incarceration--he was home. If you had been at Arrivals that day, you may not have recognized the biblically long-haired man with the slightly stern blue eyes. After all, it's been eight years...You may not have recognized Tre, until you looked down. Tre was characteristically bare foot. It's this podiatrical peculiarity that is Tre's most attributable feature. Related: Recent Video of Tre Arrow

by Bob Libal for Grassroots Leadership: Grassroots Leadership today expressed sadness and outrage at the alleged sexual abuse suffered by several immigrant women detained at the T. Don Hutto detention center in Taylor, Texas. A prison guard employed by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), a private, for-profit corporation under federal contract to detain immigrant women at Hutto, allegedly assaulted the women. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) disclosed the abuse to advocates on Friday afternoon. The CCA guard allegedly groped several women and solicited sex from at least one woman while transporting them to the airport for deportation.

The T. Don Hutto detention center is a private prison formerly contracted to detain immigrant families, including small children. Last August, in a victory for Grassroots Leadership and our allies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that it would end family detention at Hutto as part of sweeping reforms to the detention system. The facility now detains women apprehended without children, many of whom are seeking asylum in the United States. ICE has held up Hutto as a model detention center. [read full article]

Article on end of Family Detention at Hutto | Houston IMC feature recaping struggle against family detention at Hutto

Despite the Gulf disaster, no one from BP has been arrested and sent to jail. Despite safety violations at coal mines, no one from Massey Energy has been handcuffed. But today I write to inform you that one of America’s best global warming activists is probably facing several months of jail. He’s been convicted by a D.C. jury, and now he awaits sentencing on July 6th. Why? Because he peacefully dropped two banners on Capitol Hill that said: “GREEN JOBS NOW” and “GET TO WORK.” Video || Chesapeake Climate Action