Hey All,

As many of you know Marie has been having problems receiving Vegan meals since entering in the Federal system almost a year ago.

We recently received a phone call from Marie during which she asked that friends and supporters write the new warden at Waseca and politely request she be given consistent and nutritionally adequate vegan meals. The hope is that with the help of outside support the new Warden will be more understanding of her situation then his previous counterpart.

A sample letter is included below.

In the Struggle,

Got Your Back Collective

——————–

Warden English
FCI Waseca
Federal Correctional Institution
PO Box 1731
Waseca, MN 66093

Dear Warden English,

I am writing this letter concerning Marie Mason, #04672-061, who has requested the prison provide her with vegan meals to meet her health and dietary needs. I strongly encourage you to grant this request.

Marie has been committed to a vegan diet in accordance with her personal, moral and spiritual beliefs for many years. Like many vegans, she considers her diet to be an essential part of her life and spirituality. While incarcerated at Waseca, Marie has remained committed to a vegan diet, but has been unable to receive proper nutrition. She has been experiencing bouts of dizziness, nose bleeds, fatigue, and severe pain in her hands. All symptoms associated with an inadequate vegan diet.

I fear that unless the prison provides her with an adequate vegan diet, she will remain malnourished and her health may continue to suffer.

Please grant Marie’s request for a vegan diet. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,

Marie recently sent us this call to support the EF! Journal. You can find
more info on the EF! here http://www.earthfirstjournal.org/.

- Got Your Back Collective

Greetings from Waseca!

I’ve been incarcerated here a bit more than 6 months now and have appreciated your cards and letters of support so much. Thank you especially to those who’ve sent books and ‘zines, as these have been shared around and donated to our library here for all to use. It always makes me happy and proud to hear from all the folks at animal rights gatherings abroad, at anarchist and eco-groupings in the US and to know that there are so many in the struggle to confront this twisted, death driven, capitalist system and demand an end to fortune, exploitation and destruction. I’m proud to know you and share this struggle with you.

But without ideas and information to guide our actions, we can be lost and overwhelmed by the powers we confront. That’s why it’s so important to support the organizations that educate us and connect us to one another, celebrate our victories and rally us to solidarity. That’s why I’m asking that you consider making a donation or ordering a subscription to the Earth First! Journal this year.

These have been tough times financially for so many, but to lose this important voice for the wilderness would be a tragic loss and diminish our power as a movement. Please help if you can, with whatever you can and if you’d write me and say you gave to the Journal––it’d be the best holiday gift this prisoner could get. Thank you for all you do to defend the Earth.

Marie Mason
FCI Waseca

Oct 18: Benefit

We have a couple of new music CDS for sale. When either CD is purchased directly from Got Your Back 100% of sales go to support Green Scare prisoner Marie Mason.

Special thanks to D of Liberation Projects and Kevin Tucker of Peregrine for for making these CD’s available to us.

Vegan Edge Hip Hop Vol. 2

Featuring critically acclaimed vegan hip hop artists from around the world– Promoe, Edge With the Dreads, Jared Paul, xChrisx, Wolf Cell Solid, Ernest XVX, Solillaquists of Sound, xDedx, MC Albino, Kurohata, Goodfellas, and more.
..

..
More Info at www.veganhiphop.org
.

Peregrine/Auryn
Green Scare Benefit Split

A split of two Pittsburgh, PA anarchist bands with a purpose. Peregrine offer up blackened death metal with hardcore influences, while Auryn bring in the apocalyptic crust infused with the heart of 90s hardcore. 3 tracks from Peregrine, 4 tracks from Auryn.

More Info at www.myspace.com/peregrinemetal & www.blackandgreenpress.org

Both CD’s available directly through Got Your Back Collective for $10 +2 shipping. Send well concealed cash, checks or money orders (made out to books for prisoners) with the details of your order to the address below.

Its all about the Struggle,
Got Your Back Collective
P.O.B. 10371
Columbus, OH 43201

Civil Liberties Defense Center presents

Sincerely Wild

a benefit show for environmental political prisoner Marie Mason
with music from:
The Whiskey Spots

Le Petit Morte

Tansy and Tarweed (guitar and trumpet duo from pdx)

and Mark Gunnery from Riot Folk collective
with poetry reading by chilean poet Jesús Sepúlveda

and Lauren Regan from Civil Liberties Defense Center will be speaking

about Marie’s case.

friday, May 22nd, 7:30-11:00pm
@ Cozmic Pizza (199 W 8th Ave.)
$5-10 sliding scale
!Abajo los muros de las prisiones!
for more information please visit:www.freemarie.org,cldc.org

We just received word that Marie has been transferred via plane by federal Marshals from Newaygo County Jail to FCI Waseca. This is a federal low security all women’s prison about 75 miles south of Minneapolis, MN.

We do not know at this time if Marie is just being held there for processing or if she will be held there long term.

As many of you know Marie is a committed Vegan and obtaining Vegan food during her incarceration has been spotty at best. She relies heavily on her commissary to purchase items she needs to survive. You can find detailed information on how to put funds in her federal commissary by checking out the following link .

She was able to take very little with her on the transfer likely no longer has many friends and supporters contact information. Even if you have done so recently, please write Marie a letter of support at the new address below.

Marie Mason #04672-061
FCI WASECA
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 1731
WASECA, MN 56093

*3/19/08 – This update is out of date Marie has been transferred by federal marshals to FCI Waseca *

We just received word that Marie was transferred from The Clinton County Jail yesterday (3/11/08). Marie was able to make a brief call to her mother and she is currently in the Newaygo County jail. We do not expect her to be there very long and expect her to be transferred again very soon. We will keep everyone updated.

Best,
Got Your Back Collective

*3/12/08 – This update is out of date Marie has been transferred to the Newaygo County Jail *

Marie is being held at Clinton County Jail. According to her attorney she will likely be held there until the BOP asigns her an institution. We have no way of knowing how long this process will take.

In the mean time we are encouraging folks to write Marie and support her through one of the below listed ways. Please hold off getting Marie any magazine subscriptions until further notice.

How To Help

We are asking folks to support Marie in one (or more) of the below
following ways.

At this time please DO NOT send Marie any radical/revolutionary literature
or discuss her case or the Green Scare in general. Letters are read by
authorities and can be used against her at sentencing. Again DO NOT
attempt to discuss or bring up her case, co defendants, the Green Scare or
any illegal acts with her. To do so will be putting her at risk.

Donate to Marie’s Commissary Fund

Marie is a long time dedicated Vegan and is unlikely to be able to sustain
herself on a standard jail house meal.

If you would like to donate to Marie’s jail commissary account so that she
can purchase the necessities she needs while at Clinton County Jail you
can find info to do so below. If you prefer you can donate directly to
Marie’s support Crew and we will ensure funds are spent where Marie needs
them most. For more info on how to donate directly to Marie’s support Crew
check out here and here.

Money in the form of cash or a money order can be brought directly into
the jail and deposited into the inmates account the or or mailed in for an
inmate, and will be put into that inmate’s account.

All mailed  money must be in the form of  a money order, (Personal checks
and credit or debit cards are not accepted.) Please write Marie to let her
know if you sent her any funds (funds can be sent with a letter to Marie).

The mailing address is:

Inmate’s Name
1347 E Townsend Rd.
Saint Johns, MI 48879

Send letters of support to Marie!

We are encouraging folks to write Marie while she is incarcerated. Letters
from the outside will serve as a lifeline and help keep her spirits up.

Letters of support must have a complete return address and must be
addressed exactly as below for them to be accepted. Further mail rules and
restrictions for Clinton County Jail are listed below.

If you send Marie a letter and it gets returned to you, please let us know
about it so we can add any other restrictions to the guideline list.

All letters must have a return address on the envelope. Also put a return
address on the letter itself, as prisoners are almost never given the
envelopes. Avoid using white-out, stickers, tape, colored ink/paper or
glitter. Written correspondence and drawings may be in pencil, standard
ink pen, typewritten, or computer generated. No felt pens, markers,
crayon, or colored pencil, etc. All personal artwork must be in black &
white, copied pages can be in color. Most facilities do not allow torn
pages from books, magazine or newspaper clippings. Photocopies, however,
are accepted. Keep in mind that all mail is read by authorities. Again, DO
NOT bring up or attempt to discuss Marie’s case, her co defendants,
illegal acts, or the Green Scare when writing her. Please remember that,
even if unsolicited, mail can still result in sanctions against a
prisoner.

Send letters of support to -

Marie Jeanette Mason
Clinton County Jail
1347 E Townsend Rd.
Saint Johns, MI 48879

Visiting Marie

Marie can only receive one 30 minute visit per week of up to 4 visitors
total with 2 visitors able to see Marie at a time.  All visitors must show
a government issued photo ID before being allowed to visit Marie. Priority
for visits will go to her family.

We are compiling a list of non family friends and supporters that are able
and would like to visit her in Clinton County Jail in the case a family
member cannot make it that week.  If you would like to be put on this list
please email freemarie@riseup.net with a your complete name, phone number
and general idea of your availability to visit Marie. (example  - I could
go see Marie at a moments notice or I would need at least a weeks advance
notice in order to see Marie.)

Though we appreciate people wanting to visit Marie please do not show up
to visit her without contacting us first. We have already had an incident
where someone visited Marie without contacting us and her daughter made a
trip only to be denied seeing her mother because Marie had already had a
visit that week.

Your Honor,

I understand the serious nature of the offenses to which I have plead guilty. I accept responsibility for my actions. At the time, I feared there were dire and immediate threats to both human and non-human lives and that the health and safety of human communities, as well as the ecological integrity of the Earth, were in jeopardy.

I care deeply about my fellow human being and the other living creatures with whom we share this planet. I felt responsible to take extreme action in the hope that it would save lives and halt deadly practices that directly threatened living beings and contributed to the degradation of the environment. I thought that what I was doing would shine a light on these dangerous policies so that an informed public dialogue would ensue and policies would be changed.

In all of my actions, I was present at the moment that property damage was done or a fire was set. I believed that this way I could ensure that no living creature would inadvertently wander into the site and be endangered. At the time, I felt that it was possible to anticipate and avoid any potential threat to life by taking precautions and by being vigilant at each event. This was not possible, despite my efforts.

In particular, the arson at MSU ended up greatly exceeding the scope of my intent, so much so that I almost became the first casualty in these types of offenses.

Even so, other than this one instance of danger to myself, I remained blinded to the risks that others were exposed to during that action. Much later, even years later, I became aware of how other people who came to the scene after I left were frightened and confused. I also found out that students and employees were greatly inconvenienced and lost personal property, that they felt that there might be a continued threat to them. As I understand it now, firefighters entered the building and were also in danger from the fire and the subsequent water damage to the building. I never anticipated or intended that anyone would have been endangered and am truly sorry that anyone’s life was put in danger.

For more than twenty years, I participated in every legal avenue open to me as a private citizen to educate and persuade government officials and corporate representatives to reconsider policies. I have also participated in civil disobedience in the style taught by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatman Gandhi, whose non-violent teachings I embraced. Given my commitment to non-violence, it was only under an extreme set of circumstances that I rationalized my actions and put people in danger. I believed that I was taking risks to prevent a greater harm to living beings. I never intended to cause danger of harm to any living thing, and by that standard I failed.

I want to explain that the more I learned of the consequences of deforestation and genetic engineering, the more desperate I felt. I am not opposed to conducting research in the interests of expanding knowledge and bringing improvements to health and well being when it is conducted in a responsible and humane way. But genetic engineering research is often conducted in open-air situations that release contaminated pollen into the environment with devastating effects, as in the case of the terminator seed plants. Communities should have the right to choose or refuse the risks that come with GMO’s. What I was more and more aware of in my research and in my dealings with indigenous activists’ work around the globe is that the use of GMO’s forced on communities by collusion between banks, companies and governments was causing starvation, debt and environmental damage through contact with these GMO’s. I felt so much grief for this needless suffering, these needless deaths.

The threat posed to all of us by global warming – for which all of the world’s forests act as a buffer against – is direct and dramatic. The increase in catastrophic storms that caused so much death and destruction in New Orleans and in many parts of Asia are attributable to the erratic warming of the planet. Forests sequester carbon and cool the planet. As we lose them, we lose the time we need to find new and more sustainable ways of fulfilling our energy needs before global climate crisis is unavoidable.

But despite my despair, I have never felt entitled to cause physical harm in order to protect life. I have always taken to heart the Buddhist spiritual principle to take no action that would bring physical harm to any living being. Although there were some risks associated with my actions that were unintentional and unanticipated, I had convinced myself they could be eliminated. In retrospect, I see that this was not possible, and I regret it. I acknowledge that greater harm could have happened and that it is very fortunate that no one was physically hurt, and that there was psychological damage done. I acknowledge those risks and knowing what I know now, I would not have taken the same actions.

My actions were individual acts of conscience and I take sole responsibility for them. The property damage was intended to be symbolic and theatrical in nature, not dangerous or threatening to any individual.

I hope to protect my community and the Earth, to respond in defense of the living systems of animals, land and water. I tried to preserve the natural world from destruction because it is all of our home, because its health is necessary for all of use to live well.

I have failed to bring about the changes that I sought and caused harm where I intended none. I am saddened and sorry for that. My hope is that the next generation that inherits this Earth and the responsibility for stewardship will succeed in finding better methods of bringing about the evolution of our society, a transformation that will benefit all those who share this beautiful Earth.

Though I have been wrong and misguided in my actions to defend my community and this Earth from harm, I hope to be able to dedicate what’s left of my life to service in better ways. I hope to volunteer at a burn center in my community, as some of my past actions risked injuries of that nature. I have some first aid training from my work experience, as well as training for home health care that might be helpful.

I also hope to be able to contribute to community garden programs, both working with at-risk youth and providing food to distribution programs. These gardens have also been pressed into service to provide herbs to free herbal palliative health care. I have had experience as a volunteer before with these kinds of groups and would be happy to contribute again.

I want to state that I am genuinely sorry to those who have felt personally frightened by my actions. I was unable to see this as a consequence of my actions before, probably as I was so overwhelmed with my own grief and fear that I couldn’t empathize with other’s perceptions. I meant to inspire thought and compassion, not fear.

I also acknowledge that my actions endangered lives and I am deeply regretful for that. It was never my intention to cause physical harm and certainly not serious injury. I was wrong to believe it could always be avoided. I am and will always be grateful that my actions did not result in death or injury. But I do understand now that the risk was there.

Lastly, I feel that I need to apologize for the expense and suffering that my actions have caused my family, especially my children. I love my family very much and this has been so hard on them. They have been loving and generous in their support for me.

I hope that you will take all of this into consideration as you make your decision, your Honor.

Dear Friends and Supporters ~

It is with a heavy heart that we send you this update. As many of you have heard by now, Marie was sentenced on Thursday. The government was asking for a sentence of 20 years – an outlandish amount of time for actions that amounted to property destruction. This is longer than the average sentence imposed for people convicted of the most heinous of crimes such as rape and murder. Had Marie received a sentence of 20 years, it would have been insulting and outrageous. The judge, in a typical display of the kind of farcical reality this system is capable of, went beyond what the government was recommending and gave Marie 21 years and 10 months.

This is now the longest sentence for any environmental prisoner we know of in the US. It seems the government is constantly trying to up the ante – to strike fear into the hearts of those who would struggle for the earth and her creatures. Their tactics include caging the most caring, compassionate people – the very people who have put themselves on the line so that all of us can have clean rivers to play in, wild forests to explore, and other creatures to commune with.

Marie’s respect for life and her struggle to always act in the most compassionate way possible are exemplified by all of the choices she has made throughout this ordeal. Marie has always been one to stand up for what she knows is right – even before her arrest – and even when it was obvious that the consequences of staying on her feet could be painful and devastating to her personally and those she cared the most for.

The government tried to bring her to her knees – but she’s still standing, feet firmly planted.

We need to recognize that this is an incredibly difficult time for Marie and her loved ones. As a movement it is our responsibility to lessen the brunt of this burden to Marie and her Family. Some of that burden will be and is currently, monetary – there are still massive legal fees to be paid, and it is imperative that we help Marie maintain contact with her family and friends by helping with travel costs and collect phone calls. Marie is a committed Vegan and it is crucial to her health and well being that her commissary maintains a financial amount that she will need to purchase the food items she requires to survive. These are every prisoner’s life-line while inside the walls.

Because of this, we are appealing to you – the extended community of all of those who support Marie and the struggle she is waging. Donations in any amount are so greatly appreciated and will go a long way to help us in dealing with the above mentioned legal fees and support costs we are now facing.

Raising funds is only one aspect of Marie’s support. We understand that not everyone is capable to contribute financially. Marie has told us numerous times she appreciates and cherishes letters from friends and supporters. If you haven’t already please consider writing Marie or one of the numerous Political Prisoners held within the states confines.

For more details on how to write Marie, donate, or learn more on other ways to help please vist www.freemarie.org.

There are other ways to support Marie as well. You show respect for Marie and all of our prisoners when you carry on and continue the work they believed so strongly in. Marie has dedicated much of her life to working for the earth and the creatures we share this planet with. We must not lose sight of this struggle. We must not lose sight of ourselves, our integrity, and the bonds that we share.

Detailed court reports are forthcoming. We simply need time to process all that has happened to a most beloved friend. Be safe, never give up hope and stand strong in the face of fear. We are in this together, We are in this to win.

Its all about the Struggle,
Got Your Back Collective
www.freemarie.org