June 8th Biotech protest arrestees need your help!!

Greetings, Bay Area Direct Action Activists and Supporters!

As most of you know, we have a new District Attorney in San Francisco: Kamala Harris. Previous SF DA Terence Hallinan--an activist in the 60s--supported First Amendment rights and therefore discharged or dismissed most protest-related charges, such as the ~3000 anti-war-related arrests last year. The mass arrests during the Reclaim the Commons mobilization (RTC) will be a major test of the protest climate since Harris was elected into office, and since, to her credit, she refused to seek the death penalty in the recent slaying of an SF policeman--unleashing the ire of the SFPD. Although Harris said that her office would prosecute only vandalism and assault charges with respect to protest-related arrests, she has already reneged on that. Whatever her motives, her office appears to be determined to prosecute the RTC protestors, which can result in high fines (up to ~$350), jail time, or community service, putting a very effective damper on public protest in SF!!!

How the RTC arrests are resolved will have repercussions on future protest-related arrests and public protest in general. So, it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT at this point---in the height of the fascist Patriot Acts frenzy in this country (the GOP just beat back another challenge to this act yesterday--see front page of this morning's Chron)--for Bay Area residents to DEFEND OUR RIGHT TO PROTEST in San Francisco. So, PLEASE...

--COME TO THE NEXT HEARING! If you covet your First Amendment rights and oppose a Police State, please PACK the COURTROOMS on the following dates, to let the judge, D-A, and Public know where you stand!:

---->2pm, Friday July 30th, Dept 22, 3rd Floor, 850 Bryant (btw 6th & 7th Sts.), SF

---->9am, Tues, Aug 3, Dept A, 2nd Floor, 850 Bryant.
Please RSVP if you intend to come, and we will get a bigger courtroom if necessary. A strong presence in the courtroom will show the judge and the public that Bay Area residents dearly covet our First Amendment rights, and clearly object to corporate control of the commons!!!

--APPLY POLITICAL PRESSURE! Write, fax, or phone elected officials-- SF DA Kamala Harris, SF Mayor Gavin Newsom, and the SF Supervisors! (see sample letters/talking points and contact info below).

--RESUSCITATE THE CITY LIAISON WORKING GROUP! A small delegation of us should follow up on the SF Proclamation and Resolution supporting RTC, and enlist more champions among the Board of Supes. Members of the RTC City Liaison Working Group or people who would like to join this group and/or help with this effort, please contact me to discuss strategy for the SF Board of Supes exerting pressure on the DA and the SFPD with respect to First Amendment rights in San Francisco! PLEASE HELP!

Sample Letters/Talking Points & Officials' Contact Info Follows
________________________________________________

To D-A Kamala Harris:

Kamala Harris, District Attorney
Hall of Justice, 880 Bryant Street, Room 325
San Francisco, CA 94103

cc: Debbie Mesloh, Public Information Officer (415) 553-1752 Debbie.Mesloh [at] sfgov.org


Re: Protecting and Defending First Amendment Rights in San Francisco!

Dear Kamala Harris,

I commend you for not seeking the death penalty in the slaying of Officer Espinoza. By taking this principled and courageous stand in the face of an SFPD rabid for blood, you reflect my own adamant stand against the death penalty and that of the majority of Bay Area residents. This same SFPD never seeks the death penalty in their trigger-happy "accidental slayings" of unarmed--and in the case of Cammerin Boyd, also legless--San Franciscans of color. These outrageous crimes and other excesses of the SFPD--such as illegal arrests, over-charging, and over-staffing that is needlessly bleeding the SF budget--must end.

I now ask you to take another principled stand to protect the First Amendment rights of all Bay Area residents and to rein in the excesses of the SFPD. To this end, I am strongly urging you to drop all charges pertaining to the mass protest-related arrests at the Moscone Center on the morning of June 8. To your credit, your office already dropped charges in the illegal mass arrests of protestors on Market Street the evening of June 8; the charges are equally indefensible in the case of the arrests made the morning of June 8.

Upholding the people's right to protest, that is, our First Amendment rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, is absolutely critical at the local level, all the more so, given the current oppressive political climate at the federal level as characterized by the Patriot Act, which tramples the Bill of Rights, cavalierly stripping away our civil liberties. By dropping the charges, you will also be fulfilling your word that you would not prosecute these types of charges in protest-related arrests.

Our Freedoms must be upheld by the District Attorney's office--especially at this critical juncture, when the federal government is discarding the Constitution, national, and international law and shamelessly catering to Big Money, Big Business, and Empire-building, while the mass of US residents suffer from poverty, pollution, inadequate education, health-care, and housing. People need to exercise our civil rights to publicly assemble, criticize, and end these outrageous abuses--now more than ever! It is your obligation to uphold our right to protest, not to discourage or dampen it!

Please do the right thing and drop all protest-related charges now!

Sincerely,

[Your Name & Address]


To Mayor Newsom/SF Supervisors:

[See below for email addresses and phone numbers]

Re: Protecting and Defending First Amendment Rights in San Francisco!

Dear Mayor Newsom and SF Supervisors,

I am asking you to take a strong stand and to send a powerful message to the District Attorney, the SFPD, and all San Franciscans that you fully support the public's First Amendment rights. In particular, I am asking you to exert political pressure on the D.A's office to drop all charges pertaining to the mass protest-related arrests that occurred on June 8. To the D-A's credit, her office has already dropped charges in the illegal mass arrests of protestors on Market Street the evening of June 8; the charges are equally indefensible in the case of the arrests made the morning of June 8. In defiance of her own statement that she would not prosecute the types of charges in these protest-related arrests, Kamala Harris is proceeding to do just that.

Upholding the people's right to protest, that is, our First Amendment rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, is absolutely critical at the local level, all the more so, given the current oppressive political climate at the federal level as characterized by the Patriot Act, which tramples the Bill of Rights, cavalierly stripping away our civil liberties.

Our Freedoms must be upheld by local government--especially at this critical juncture, when the federal government is discarding the Constitution, national, and international law and shamelessly catering to Big Money, Big Business, and Empire-building, while the mass of US residents suffer from poverty, pollution, inadequate education, health-care, and housing. People need to exercise our civil rights to publicly assemble, criticize, and end these outrageous abuses--now more than ever! It is your obligation to uphold our right to protest, not to allow it to be discouraged or dampened!

Please do the right thing and demand that the City and County of San Francisco drop all protest-related charges now! I also urge you to exert political pressure to rein in the latitude currently granted to the SFPD, which has resulted in the wanton killing of unarmed people--a wave that has reached epidemic proportions, illegal arrests, over-charging, and over-staffing, most of which is needlessly bleeding the already stretched SF budget!

Sincerely,

[Your name and address]

Please call Tom Ammian's office (415-554-4155) and tell him (or his aide)
that...

--We greatly appreciated his PROCLAMATION supporting the RTC efforts!

--Now would he please call D.A. Kamala Harris and ask her to drop all
charges against the arrestees. Use the tralking points from the
letter...

--Harris had told the NLG that she would not prosecute these types of
charges in protest-related arrests, but she is, and we suspect it's to
appease an SFPD that is angry at her for not seeking the death penalty
in
the slaying of Isaac Esponoza, for which we laud her.

--We need local government to uphold the people's right to protest now
more
than ever, given the NEO-CONS' agenda, which includes stripping
Americans of
our constitutional rights per the Patriot Act, wasting our tax money on
military spending, corporate welfare, and tax breaks for the rich,
plunging
the nation into debt while vast numbers of Americans suffer from
poverty,
pollution, joblessness, inadequate healthcare, education, and housing.

You can also call Matt Gonzalez ( 415-554-7630) and Chris Daly
(415-554-7940) and use the last three bullets for them!


> Mayor
> Gavin Newsom <gavin.newsom [at] sfgov.org>
> 415/554-6141
>
> Supervisor, District 1
> Jake McGoldrick <Jake.McGoldrick [at] sfgov.org>
> 415/554-7410
>
> Supervisor, District 2
> Michela Alioto-Pier <Michela.Alioto-Pier [at] sfgov.org>
> 415/554-7752
>
> Supervisor, District 3
> Aaron Peskin <Aaron.Peskin [at] sfgov.org>
> 415/554-7450
>
> Supervisor, District 4
> Fiona Ma <Fiona.Ma [at] sfgov.org>
> 415/554-7460
>
> Supervisor, District 5
> Matt Gonzalez <Matt.Gonzalez [at] sfgov.org>
> 415/554-7630
>
> Supervisor, District 6
> Chris Daly <Chris.Daly [at] sfgov.org>
> 415/554-7970
>
> Supervisor, District 7
> Tony Hall <Tony.Hall [at] sfgov.org>
> 415/554-6516
>
> Supervisor, District 8
> Bevan Dufty <Bevan.Dufty [at] sfgov.org>
> 415/554-6968
>
> Supervisor, District 9
> Tom Ammiano <Tom.Ammiano [at] sfgov.org>
> 415/554-5144
>
> Supervisor, District 10
> Sophie Maxwell <Sophie.Maxwell [at] sfgov.org>
> 415/554-7670
>
> Supervisor, District 11
> Gerardo Sandoval <Gerardo.Sandoval [at] sfgov.org>
> 415/554-6975
>
--FAX NUMBERS FOR SF SUPES!!! If you have a fax machine, please fax each Supervisor's office with the sample letter below--or preferably your own!

Chris Daly 554-7974
Tom Ammiano 554-6255
Sophie Maxwell 554-7674
Aaron Peskin 554-7454
Gerardo Sandoval 554-6979
Tony Hall: 554-6546
Bevin Dufty 554-6909
Fiona Ma 554-7432
Michael Alioto-Pier 554-7843
Matt Gonzalez 554-7634

___________________________________________

In Solidarity!

Mary

Mary Bull
Greenwood Earth Alliance
Save the Redwoods - Boycott the Gap Campaign
252 Frederick, San Francisco, CA 94117 http://www.gapsucks.org
415-731-7924 chalicenew [at] earthlink.net

***Join the Reclaim the Commons Mobilization!!!***
June 3--9, San Francisco, CA http://www.reclaimthecommons.net

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