descendents, the mob, the pixies, johnny cash, propagandi, minor threat, leonard cohen, buzzcocks, operation ivy, requeim, bright eyes, vince guraldi trio, BDP, the minutemen, aus rotten, the clash, the cure, defiance, ohio, postal service, modest mouse, nirvana, oi polloi, the smiths, public enemy, rainer maria, rilo kiley, the dicks, oogle orphanage, ghost mice, weezer, led zeppelin, crass
Movies
Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage
This is a short 19-minute documentary about recycling and waste in the U.S. Base on the book of the same name by Heather Rogers. The film has great facts and funny archive, it exposes the often magical (but false) feeling we get from 'helping the earth' by 'recycling' It also points out the real problems, over production and industrial pollution. Plus it explains corporate greenwashing and our economic systme of 'built-in obsolescence'.
Television
seinfeld, buffy, angel, curb your enthusiasm, trailer park boyz, best week ever.
Books
current reading list: the soft cage by christian parenti, the heat is on by ross gelbspan, five years in the warsaw ghetto by bernard goldstein, the bandit queen of india by phoolan devi and like a huge stack of books sent to Daniel while he was in prison.
Heroes
Jenny, Lisa, Jonathan Paul, Nathan Block, Joyanna Zacher.
Suny At Buffalo
Buffalo,New York
Graduated: 1996
Student status: Alumni
Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Major: History
1992 to 1996
Christ The King Regional High
Middle Village,New York
Graduated: 1992
Student status: Alumni
Degree: High School Diploma
Clubs: Mary Linda DeWitt Fan Club
[Founding Member]
It's 10 pm on the east coast and a few hours ago we finally heard from Daniel. He called from the Columbia County Jail in Portage, Wisconsin. Daniel was woken up at 4 am and on a plane en route from Oklahoma City to Chicago by 6 am. Daniel and his supporters presumed he was going to Marion, Illinois, but once he landed in Chicago, he was put in a van and driven to Madison, Wisconsin. From there he was driven to Portage. Along the way, Daniel asked if he was being transferred based on facing new charges, and the marshal flatly told him no. Daniel then asked if he was facing a Grand Jury subpoena. The marshal would not come right out and say yes, but he hinted at it and at one point said, "good guess."
If Daniel is called before a grand jury, he will not testify and is concerned about being held in civil contempt and imprisoned at the Columbia County Jail, where the time he serves will not count against his 7 year sentence.
At this point, neither Daniel nor his attorney have received a subpoena or any other paperwork to indicate that he will be appearing before a grand jury, but it's what he is preparing for and what folks would be best served to see as a possibility.
Over the past month, Daniel has been in transfer. And while the time he has served thus far has been without incident and even though he received a good team review before being yanked from FCI Sandstone, he tells us that he has been put in Segregated Housing Units ("The Hole") and treated differently for the duration of this transfer, all due to the application of the "Terrorism Enhancement."
For now, it is important to keep Daniel connected to the communities he is a part of. Please write to him and let him know we're out here for him*.
Daniel's current address is: Daniel McGowan
Columbia County Jail
403 Jackson Street
Portage, Wisconsin 53901
Daniel wanted us to emphasize how important your support has been thus far and how truly appreciative he is.
For a few days, Daniel's partner didn't hear from him and began to worry.
The next day, the bop.gov website showed Daniel as being located at FCI Oxford, in Wisconsin. Daniel is now at FCI Terre Haute, in Indiana.
At this point all we know is that Daniel is being moved. We don't know where. We don't know why. We don't really know when, other than the transfer is in progress now. We'll update folks as we receive new information. Please write Daniel a letter and be prepared to send it once we have his new "long term" address.
Update: September 12th, 2007
Daniel has finally reached his designated prison-- FCI Sandstone in
Minnesota. From what we have been told over the past several months, this is Daniel's last stop...for a while.
Please send all your letters you've been holding onto and resend ones you've just sent!
You can write to Daniel at: Daniel McGowan
#63794-053, Unit I
FCI Sandstone
Post Office Box 1000
Sandstone, Minnesota 55072
As much as possible, let's help Daniel as he begins to settle in to a new prison and when you write, please follow the below guidelines since it will take a while to figure out the regulations regarding mail at FCI Sandstone.
Update: September 11th, 2007
After spending over a week in Terre Haute, Daniel is now at FCI Oxford in Wisconsin. We're not sure how long he'll be here but it may be another week. Please write to Daniel at: Daniel McGowan
#63794-053
FCI Oxford
Post Office Box 1000
Oxford, Wisconsin 53952
Also, please understand that he has had limited access to pens, paper, and stamps along the way and hasn't been able to respond to most people yet.
Again, letters mean the world to someone in prison. Please keep writing! Please follow the below guidelines when writing, as we have no idea what the regulations are at FCI Oxford.
Update: September 1, 2007
Daniel is already on the road again. He's at FCI Terre Haute in Indiana (not sure how NYC to Oklahoma to Indiana makes much travel sense!), but there's no way to know for how long. If you'd like to write, his new address is:
Daniel McGowan
#63794-053
FCI Terre Haute
Post Office Box 33
Terre Haute, Indiana 47808
Again, we have absolutely NO idea how long he will be here or where he'll end up next so if you'd like to write a letter it's up to you if you want to send it here. I'm sure he'll appreciate it if he ends up stuck there for a week or two.
Also, please follow the guidelines below, since we don't know the regulations at FCI Terre Haute.
Update: August 30, 2007
Daniel has been moved. He is currently imprisoned at FTC Oklahoma City, a federal transfer facility. Transferring is a terrible experience, so please write to Daniel at:
Daniel McGowan
#63794-053
FTC Oklahoma City
Post Office Box 898801
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73189
Please follow the guideline below, as we do not know the mailing regulations specific to FTC Oklahoma City.
Update: July 2, 2007
On July 2nd, Daniel McGowan self reported to prison in NYC and is now in custody. Daniel went to MDC Brooklyn Monday morning to self surrender but they did not have him designated to that facility yet. He was advised to instead report to the US Marshals (at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse) who agreed to transport him to MDC Monday night. Please take a minute to write a supportive letter to him.
Please use the following address: Daniel McGowan
#63794-053
MDC Brooklyn
Metropolitan Detention Center
Post Office Box 329002
Brooklyn, New York 11232
Until we have figured out the exact mailing regulations for MDC (it's sort of trial and error), we are providing the basics of what generally applies to most facilities.
When sending a letter, it's best to keep it simple. Write on blank notebook or copy paper no bigger than 8.5x11 and don't use any special colored or gel pens or pencils, stamps, or stickers. Don't write anything on the outside or inside of the envelope except the prisoner's address and your full name and return address in the upper left hand corner of the addressed side of the envelope. Use plain white envelopes without a clear plastic address window, or any special decorations. Most prisons also REQUIRE a return address on the envelope.
Please take a minute to read the following VERY IMPORTANT guidelines.
* Write on both sides of the paper, since the number of pages he can have may be limited. It is also totally acceptable to type your letters. More will fit on a page.
* Write your address inside your letter/card if you think he does not have it, but DO NOT put an address label anywhere inside or on the letter/card. Address labels are ONLY OK to go on your envelope.
* Do NOT send him stamps, envelopes (self-addressed or otherwise), blank paper or notecards. He will not be able to receive them and he will be denied your letter.
* Do NOT send him any form of currency, whether cash, check or money order.
* Do NOT send photographs larger than 4x6. Do not send polaroids and make sure the content is appropriate.
* Do NOT include any paperclips, staples or any extra things in your letter.
* Do NOT send a card that has glitter or any 3-D objects in or on it.
* Do NOT send cards with paper inserts glued in them.
* Do NOT tape your envelope shut.
* Do NOT ever write "legal mail" or anything implying that you are an attorney unless you are in fact a lawyer
* Please use your common sense; don't write about anything that is likely to get a prisoner in trouble in any way.
Daniel does not receive the envelope your letter is mailed in, so write your return address and full name in the letter as well. Also, number the pages like "1/5, 2/5,3/5..." so that a prisoner can tell if some pages are missing.
If you send Daniel 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.
Please do NOT send in any books to Daniel yet. We are in the process of getting a system going for him to receive books. If you would like him to receive books we would prefer you donate money and we will make sure to get him a book on his request list and let you know about it.
Update: June 4, 2007
Daniel was sentenced to a 7 year (84 month) sentence on Monday June 4th in Eugene Federal Court for his participation in arsons at Superior Lumber Company and Jefferson Poplar Farms. The government was asking for 7 years, 8 months.
Judge Aiken also gave Daniel the "terrorism enhancement" for the arson at Jefferson Poplar Farms because of particular language in the communique for that incident. We do not know what impact this will have on Daniel's classification in the Bureau of Prisons.
As you can imagine, we are completely overwhelmed by the last two days in court and only want to extend our thanks to everyone for the constant emails, phone calls and check ins over the last couple of weeks.
Daniel will be reporting to prison on July 2nd and will be finishing his first quarter of his masters degree program and spending time with his friends and family until he goes in. We will be sending out updates shortly.
Thank you,
Family and Friends of Daniel McGowan
Update: November 9, 2006
Friends and supporters,
We would like to inform everyone about the events in court today. After months of negotiations and consideration, Daniel, along with Jonathan Paul, Joyanna Zacher and Nathan Block, pled guilty to some of the many charges. We cannot emphasize enough what an extremely difficult decision this was for Daniel and we will continue to give him our full support.
We do not want there to be any confusion about Daniel's plea agreement so we have posted it here. Daniel agreed to plead guilty with the understanding that he would not implicate or identify anyone at all other than himself. The other three remaining co-defendants entered pleas with the same terms. Daniel has done everything possible to maintain his integrity, and he wants to be as open about his agreement as possible. We have also provided Daniel's statement to Judge Aiken and Daniel's lawyers statement on our website.
As we already stated, we will continue to support Daniel completely. He and his family have been through an extremely difficult time and deserve to get through this with the best possible outcome.
We will be posting information shortly about how others can continue to help Daniel by submitting letters to the judge.
Please keep in mind that our fight is not over. We will still need your help and support in the coming months, in order to fight for the least possible sentence for Daniel.
Thank you for your continued support,
Family and Friends of Daniel McGowan
Daniel is an environmental and social justice activist. He was charged in federal court on many counts of arson, property destruction and conspiracy, all relating to two incidents in Oregon in 2001. Until recently, Daniel was offered two choices by the government: cooperate by informing on other people, or go to trial and face life in prison. His only real option was to plead not guilty until he could reach a resolution of the case that permitted him to honor his principles.
Now, as a result of months of litigation and negotiation, Daniel was able to admit to his role in these two incidents, while not implicating or identifying any other people who might have been involved. The government will seek a sentence of eight years, while Daniel's lawyers will seek a sentence of no more than 63 months.
Donate to Daniel's legal fund through PayPal or through our PO Box. You can make checks out to Lisa McGowan and send them to Lisa McGowan, PO Box 106, New York, NY 10156.
Daniel's press conference after his plea hearing-November 9, 2006
Barbara Dudley-Portland State University professor, Former Executive Director of Greenpeace USA and former President of the National Lawyers Guild speaking on the Green Scare
Who I'd like to meet: People who want to make the world a better place.
The National Lawyers Guild has established a hotline, 888-NLG-ECOL, for individuals arrested or subpoenaed for offenses related to environmental or animal activism.
Support United States Political Prisoners and Prisoners-of-War at the 7th RUNNING DOWN THE WALLS!
On Saturday, August 23, 2008 join in the community effort to support and raise awareness of those who have been targeted and punished for their political actions and beliefs.
RUNNING DOWN THE WALLS is a 5k non-competitive run/walk/bike in the beautiful Whittier Narrows Regional Park. Registered participants will receive food and entertainment and there will be water available at rest stops along the route. Registration entry fees are: $12 for pre-registration, $15 for registration at the run site. Supporters who wish not to run, walk or bike may make a donation. Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. Further games, entertainment, and speakers will continue after the run and will last until 2:00 p.m.
Proceeds from this 5K run will benefit the ABCF Warchest. Founded in 1994, the program has provided consistent and reliable financial aid to Political Prisoners held within the US prison system. Since its creation, it has raised over $50,000 for these prisoners and will continue in these efforts. A portion of the proceeds will also go to El Centro Cultural de Mexico, a community center in Santa Ana dedicated to developing a cultural and educational bridge that brings together a variety of cultural projects from Mexico, Central and South America. Proceeds will also go to the Committee to Free Chip Fitzgerald, a support group dedicated to the release of Romaine 'Chip' Fitzgerald. Chip is the longest held Black Panther political prisoner in the United States.
When: August 23, 2008 9:30am-2pm Where: Whittier Narrows Recreation Area, 750 Santa Anita Ave South El Monte, CA 91733-4300
For more information, please check out our website: www. abcf. net/la LA-ABCF PO Box 11223 Whittier, CA 90603 la@abcf.net (562) 214-1554
