[Sam wrote me a letter and asked that I transcribe it and share it with everyone who wrote him a letter in jail. The words in square-brackets below are my input, not Sam’s. – Mike Barskey]
Mike,
I can’t thank you enough for running Mail-to-Jail. The letters and postcards mean so much. You should have seen the look on the guards’ face the second day I got the bulk of the letters. I’m letting the other prisoners read some of them. They are amazed that letters are coming from everywhere. Around New Hampshire, Florida, California, Israel, the UK, and even Tasmania, Australia. The post cards that come in with the inspirational saying give me hope. (more…)
Just got off the phone with Sam. He’ll call tonight’s Free Talk Live with details, but yesterday Ivy filed a writ of Habeas Corpus with the superior court and now today all-of-a-sudden Sam is brought down to the Keene Police Department and fingerprinted and photographed as John Doe. Prior to this the judge had said nothing would happen until Sam gave his “legal” name. Did an order come down from the higher court?
Ivy has been a huge help in all of this. She has dedicated a tremendous amount of time and effort toward helping Sam, (and by proxy, all of us) and has done it for peanuts. Please consider showing your appreciation for her efforts by paypaling her at Ivy at ivysspiceoflife.com
Also, Mike Barskey has done amazing work with Mail-to-Jail.com, the website that allows you to easily send mail to imprisoned activists like Sam. Sam told me that nearly every piece of mail he has received has come through Mail-to-Jail! Please visit the site and consider sending Mike a contribution to help him pay for stamps and envelopes. (Look for the links in the right column.) (more…)
It’s the first Wednesday after my arrest. I’m writing this thanks to the kindness of the other prisoners here. I haven’t cooperated with the state up to this point. I was completely isolated and cut off from the world until yesterday. I’m sure there are questions, so I’ll do my best to explain.
I was at the court to get a copy of the sign on the wall restricting cameras in the lobby. Lance the court security person had previously claimed it’s an order. Only problem, orders are signed by the issuing judge. This order and the one obtained from the court clerk had no signature. This is clearly an attempt by Judge Burke (or whoever wrote it) to usurp power, in direct opposition to District Court Rule 1.3, which allows judges control over proceedings, and place very stringent guidelines explaining when freedom of the press and the public’s right to open courts may be restricted. What did you expect from a man appointed to a lifetime dictatorship by His Excellency the Governor – a nice little holdover from the days of King George, that remain in the New Hampshire constitution. Talk about isolated from market signals…this must change. Okay, the screaming. (more…)
Political prisoner Sam recorded a special message for last night’s candlelight vigil. Nearly fifty people came out at 9pm on a Sunday night in Keene to participate. In case you couldn’t be there in person, here it is in .mp3 form.
Also, here is Lauren Canario’s video of yesterday’s protest at the jail (with a turnout of at least 19 people!) and last night’s candlelight vigil:
Our friend, co-blogger, and documentarian Sam from the Obscured Truth Network called me from jail today to tell me they did hold a bail hearing for him by video and the presiding judge Howard Lane (Burke is on vacation this week.) told him he will be held indefinitely until he decides to give them his “legal name”. Sam is currently held as “John Sam Doe”. Even if he were to give them that name, how it is they will be certain that the name he gives them is legal, I don’t know, as they don’t have ID for him and he hasn’t registered to vote in NH. Sam has not indicated that he will be giving in, meaning he’s stuck in the Cheshire County jail, which despite being one of the better jails in the state, still has its share of problems. Sam said that there was sewage floating in his area of the jail when he arrived, for instance. Plus, they are denying him access to the jail law library, making it even more difficult for him to participate in their tyrannical system.
Sam is expected to call in to Free Talk Live tonight. He has asked that you call the Keene Police Department’s prosecutor, Eli Rivera, as it is he who is pressing these charges. Continue calling the Keene District Court, as their judges are responsible for his indefinite imprisoning. Those phone numbers are at Sam.JailedActivist.info. He doubts it will do much, but he suggested calling state representatives and senators and perhaps the governor’s office to let them know what their system is doing to a peaceful man. He also requests you contact local media across NH as well as national media and alert them to the story.
He thanks everyone for coming out to protest yesterday even though they locked his section down during our entire visit as well as everyone who attended the candlelight vigil.
The first video is a bit of footage from a protest at the Cheshire County Correctional Facility where Sam of the Obscured Truth Network is being held as a political prisoner. He declined to obey an order to stop video recording in a public lobby of the Keene courthouse and went limp and refused to cooperate with his kidnappers. The protests seem to be a moral boost for the prisoners there, many of whom are there for victimless crimes. The second video is footage from a candle light vigil held in Sam’s honor. Sam, may you soon be free so you can continue to speak the truth.
Just got off the phone with Sam. He’ll call tonight’s Free Talk Live with details, but yesterday Ivy filed a writ of Habeas Corpus with the superior court and now today all-of-a-sudden Sam is brought down to the Keene Police Department and fingerprinted and photographed as John Doe. Prior to this the judge had said nothing would happen until Sam gave his “legal” name. Did an order come down from the higher court?
