“Caravans” of migrants to our southern border are once again headline news on the Fox News Channel, but while these anti-immigrant stories divert attention from news that those on the right would like to bury, as usual, they also establish a larger pattern.
I am willing to bet that the Trump "administration" deliberately took those actions in the Northern Triangle, cutting aid, to push people into coming to the United States, so they could be used as they were to foment the "border crisis."
Gosar is definitely a traitor. His family has disowned him and actually campaigned against him when he ran for re-election. I will be completely unsurprised when it comes out that the long speech he gave was deliberate in its timing, to hold the House in session for the assault, so that Democratic members could be grabbed. Remember, they brought a gallows with them to the Capitol assault.
These traitors came sooooooo close to carrying off their Coup d'Etat. It wasn't an "insurrection" - that implies a spontaneous act by people who are "mad as hell and not going to take any more." This was planned and manufactured over the two months following their electoral loss. Start calling it what it was: a Coup d'Etat that failed, just barely - an act of treason in "declaring war on the United States" as the crime is defined in the Constitution. And it was led by the President of the United States.
And the plot thickens... Everything TFG said about the Democrats were projections of what he was doing. You just explained that CNP was/is the deep state. It puts a neat tie around CNP, Citizens United and SCOTUS. TFG was their tool, the "witting idiot". This feels like the climax of a spy/mystery novel. Now to see whether the ending is the triumph of evil or the author decides on a happy ending where democracy is miraculously restored. Shocking. Thank you, Heather, This is a superb piece of putting the pieces together. Frightening though it is.
Dr. Richardson, with you I feel like one of a tiny percentage of people on this planet who — with access to your knowledge and exhaustive and well documented research — have access to facts and context that I trust. By reading what you write, and following many of your links, I feel that I am one of only a comparatively few people who know for sure what the hell is going on around here. I don’t have words to express my gratitude! All I can say is, Well Done — again....
When I read about how Heather described how the alt- right wealthy Christians are pushing for a “moral” society, I laugh. Talk about a bunch of immoral characters! It’s not funny. It’s pathetic and frightening. I want to see Ginni Thomas behind bars which would subsequently force good ole Clarence to retire or to be investigated and removed. I dunno…I hear the drums in the distance getting just a little closer.
While the news and revelations about Trump’s minions just keep getting worse, please remember one thing: If you have elections next week, vote. If you are willing and/or able, make calls for a candidate or volunteer to help in some way. The good folks of Georgia showed us the way forward - and thank God they showed up in droves!
We have local school board elections here. Eyes on the prize-three excellent board members with a true focus on education and the wellbeing of students.
There are a million things happening at the federal level that are gobsmackingly awful but my power remains that of the vote. Small, nearly invisible local election in flyover land. And absolutely the heart of democracy and our future.
And while the Republican hoard continues its assault on democracy, there are other disturbing events afoot: yesterday I wrote to my senator Kirstin Gillibrand, who - along with numerous other democrats - has thrown Steven Donziger under the bus after he won a huge settlement against Chevron in Ecuador. In case some of you don't know, Chevron has sued him, resulting in this environmental lawyer being under house arrest. Gillibrand and other prominent democrats are financially beholden to Chevron and their mouths are closed. This is so depressing. Are they ultimately all in the same boat? It's all about money money money...
For the past few months, I've been working with a documented DACA family that is living in the depths of poverty. I'm fortunate to be receiving essential guidance through the immigration maze from a pro bono immigration law attorney. Unaffiliated immigrants cannot possibly afford to hire an attorney.
"My" family of five lives in an old, old, old mobile home, a holy-mary pass away from a freeway. They keep a very low profile (i.e., live in fear) because they know that the smallest infraction could get them deported. I've seen that process. Before COVID, Mr G and I used to show up with others at a court house in the Twin Cities in solidarity with busloads of immigrants facing their last hearing re deportation. By and large, the immigrants who wind up there are not guilty of anything more than not knowing how to navigate the system!
I know this is not the same thing as this letter about refugees seeking entry, but entry is only the beginning of a long, extremely difficult path. The learning curve is both steep and deep. There are probably people living not far away from you who are in desperate need of volunteer guides through this terrible system. A system that went from bad to a kind of fresh hell for immigrants when the disgraced ex-POTUS seized control of our country. In the U.S., that begins at the border, and extends through years and years for those who survive what comes next.
I'm now seeing the U.S. immigration system from the inside, and it's ugly. Also, arcane, convoluted, unjust, and nowhere near "user-friendly." That people risk their lives fleeing from horrific conditions in other countries (in this case, Guatemala) to live here is testament to their desperation. All of that makes me want to re-write Emma Lazarus's poem to reflect the harsh reality of these times.
Good morning everyone! I heard this morning on NPR that folks in places like the Dakotas are getting worried about the continued holdup of the infrastructure bill because their states rely so thoroughly on the federal government's handouts to employ people and to maintain their roads and bridges--because they have such an inadequate tax base. https://www.npr.org/2021/10/26/1048918708/regional-planners-wait-as-bidens-infrastructure-plan-stalls-in-congress
Of course, the person being interviewed was very careful not to blame his Repugnican senators and congressmen, who are actually to blame for the holdup. Thankfully, Steve Inskeep didn't take the low road and egg him on to blame the Dems, since that is the narrative we are hearing. The drums that need to be beaten loudly are those that yell that the Ghastly Obstructionist Party is to blame, and that if all of these "red" states want to see prosperity happen they should support the Dems and get rid of their deranged/moronic/corrupt/totalitarian representatives.
If only there were actually two parties, with one representing a Loyal Opposition. Instead, we have one party desperate to get something positive done, one party determined to destroy as much as they can in a naked bid for untrammeled power, and two oleaginous fu**weasels who are being bought off by malignant corporate interests whose role is to completely gum up the works so that nothing at all gets done because it suits them to do so. This is not democracy--except for the fact that the bums can be thrown out if enough people do their jobs as citizens and vote.
Lauren Boebert’s carefully worded statement of “I had no role in the planning or execution of any event that took place at the Capitol or anywhere in Washington, DC on January 6.” sounds suspiciously like Tonya Harding’s denial of any involvement in the planning of the attack on Nancy Kerrigan.
Steve Bannon's name seems to pop up in all the most sinister places, often saying very sinister things. He also asserts that having been a White House employee for a short time, executive privilege covers all his activity since, and he need not heed a congressional summons.
Poor boy! I recommend some jailhouse therapy, several years if need be, to put him on the path of righteousness.
Heather- once again, we are in your debt for putting the pieces together. My concern is that some of these right wing narratives are beginning to influence or infect the respectable press such as the NYT who are railing that Biden is not moving fast enough or that his administration re immigration is more of the same. The damage wrought by Trump goes deep- so much work has to be done to restore what was lost and Biden has been dealt a weak hand- 50 - 2 senators. Again, Americans need to wake up to the gravity of their current situation. Your letters help.
But this isn’t a dream. Even though many are being slow walked towards Authoritarianism, as conservatives seek, with the help of some old fascist ideas.
There is no debate that Facebook has this ultimate power to divide, destabilize, and destroy stable countries. It’s a psychological weapon of mass destruction, through manipulative and steady distraction, as it forces endless attraction towards anger over compassion, passions over love, and confrontation over mutual respect and understanding. Social cohesion is now shredded.
But FB was given its birth from the very democracy that made possible free markets/ free people, from valuing education, ingenuity, and hard work that lead to creative breakthroughs. Facebook could end completely the system that made it possible, as well has keep it that way forever.
Imagine FB in the wrong hands, or wrong governments. It’s not hard to, because FB, Google, and Apple are already doing that for Governments in Asia, South America, Russia, Eastern Europe, etc. Now imagine FB under TFG’s thumb combined with NSA tech and a loyal only to him FBI and police forces. That’s what’s at risk now.
Facebook seems devilishly designed for our willful demise.
David Neiwert’s tweet & the link to the NYT’s video Heather excluded out of concern the server would flag it:
Seeing Paul Gosar emerging as a central player in the planning for the insurrection--particularly with his offer of pardons for all involved--reminded me of this snippet from the NYT's devastating video report on how it happened.
In less than 5 hours, Steven Donziger will appear before a three-judge panel from the federal appellate court in Manhattan, who will hear argument on whether he can stay out of prison pending resolution of his appeal of Judge Preska's so-called "conviction" of him on a misdemeanor after denying him a jury of his peers.
If anyone has any ability to influence this case, please do whatever you can to save this man's life. Here is an email he sent yesterday:
10/25/21
This is difficult for me to write, so bear with me.
I write to state as clearly as possible that while my clients in Ecuador’s Amazon continue to suffer the deadly impacts from Chevron’s mass toxic dumping, I as their main lawyer might find myself in one of the most unsafe jails in our country as soon as two days from now. I am writing urgently to enlist your support so I can survive what could be one of the most challenging situations of my life. Before I go further, I want you to know how grateful I am for your support — neither I nor my family could have survived my 800-plus days of house arrest without it.
That said, my situation might quickly grow even more tenuous and perilous within hours.
This is an update on my situation:
1. Tomorrow (10/26/21) at 10:00 a.m. ET in Manhattan, a three-judge panel from the federal appellate court will hear argument on whether I can stay out of prison pending resolution of my appeal of Judge Preska's so-called "conviction" of me on a misdemeanor after denying me a jury of my peers. While I maintain my innocence and expect to be exonerated on appeal, that's not quite the point of Chevron and Preska: they want to press their leverage to intensify their campaign of personal destruction.
Remember, Judge Preska is a leader of the Chevron-funded Federalist Society; my prosecutor comes from a Chevron private law firm. I am being targeted by our nation’s first corporate prosecution. As I have said, I believe it is an outrage that we are even having the argument tomorrow given that no misdemeanor defendant in history ever has been forced to serve the entirety of their sentence prior to their appeal being heard.
As an aside, I am honored to be represented at argument by Professor Stephen Vladeck of the University of Texas law school, one of the nation's leading Constitutional law scholars.
2. But here's the rub. If my team loses this argument, Judge Preska has ordered me to report to custody within 24 hours — a brutal order issued for no reason other than to harass me and my family with her particular brand of gratuitous cruelty that has kept me locked up at home on a misdemeanor for 811 days. What this means in practice is that we are going to potentially live for an additional weeks and months (depending on how long the court takes to rule), not knowing whether within 24 hours I will disappear into the American prison system for six months with destination unknown. Given how I have been mistreated up to this point and how many people die or get injured in U.S. prisons, it's sort of like feeling that you may disappear into a Kafkaesque hell.
Again, this is unheard of: people convicted of a misdemeanor are always allowed to self-report to prison weeks after sentencing to the facility designated by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) — in my case, a much safer minimum-security prison given that I have the lowest security score possible under the guidelines and I have no criminal history. So why is Preska trying to manipulate the system to force me into one of the most brutal jails in the country in Brooklyn?
3. I believe my physical safety and integrity could be threatened if I am forced into the federal jail in Brooklyn. I have a bottomless belief in my own strength and resilience, but I don't need to tell you that prison environments can be lawless. Given the raw power and nefarious objectives of the forces arrayed against me (including Chevron and its 60 powerful law firms), I am approaching the prospect of prison with an appropriate degree of fear. The fact Judge Preska is trying to maneuver me into a particular jail rather than adhering to the normal course and letting the BOP decide what minimum-security prison I should go to is just deeply concerning.
4. If the appellate judges tomorrow rule in my favor on this urgent appeal (which is different from my main appeal), I will face a bizarre situation: I will return to house arrest to await resolution of my main appeal. Still, we will count it as the victory that is: a mild rebuke to Judge Preska’s abuse of power. That said, I will not be free. And the U.S. courts will still be in violation of multiple provisions of international law, as determined by five esteemed jurists from the United Nations who issued a powerful ruling recently condemning my treatment and requesting my release.
5. If we “win” tomorrow, I likely will spend over three years on house arrest on a misdemeanor by the time my main appeal is resolved. We will try to change that, but that's the reality of what is starting to feel like a Gulag situation. During this time, I will not be free; will be unable to travel; will be unable to meet my clients in the Amazon; will be unable to meet with funders and lawyers; will be unable to pursue my human rights advocacy; and will be unable to be a full father to my son, who has started the last three years of school knowing that his Dad wears an ankle bracelet shackled to his leg.
6. On timing, the appellate court could rule as soon as tomorrow as to whether I must go to the Brooklyn jail. More likely is the judges will take a few days or weeks to write an opinion while I remain on house arrest. But if they rule against me tomorrow, on Wednesday my new ordeal as a federal inmate is likely to begin.
If I am imprisoned, the #FreeDonziger team will continue sending updates on my behalf. I will do my best from inside to continue working and communicating, but I could well be incommunicado for a long period of time. Most importantly, I will need emotional support: visits, letters, and good energy from as far and as wide as possible. Frequent visits can be its own sort of protection. And of course, please continue supporting my son Matthew and wife Laura as this challenge in many respects is greater for them than it is for me.
The case against me implicates the very fabric of our society and whether human rights and environmental justice lawyering can take place in the United States without advocates being locked up which is what happens in so many countries like Russia, China, and Turkey. I ask each of you to stand by me and the people of Ecuador in this critical moment. Please spread the word and get more people to sign up for our campaign at FreeDonziger.com.
And if you are able to help with our defense fund (legal expenses are mounting rapidly), please contribute $1000, $500, $250, $100, $50, $25, or whatever you can today to help us continue to pursue justice regardless of what happens tomorrow.
Remember how everyone laughed when Hillary Clinton called out "this vast right wing conspiracy" during the Clinton impeachment? She was right.
I am willing to bet that the Trump "administration" deliberately took those actions in the Northern Triangle, cutting aid, to push people into coming to the United States, so they could be used as they were to foment the "border crisis."
Gosar is definitely a traitor. His family has disowned him and actually campaigned against him when he ran for re-election. I will be completely unsurprised when it comes out that the long speech he gave was deliberate in its timing, to hold the House in session for the assault, so that Democratic members could be grabbed. Remember, they brought a gallows with them to the Capitol assault.
These traitors came sooooooo close to carrying off their Coup d'Etat. It wasn't an "insurrection" - that implies a spontaneous act by people who are "mad as hell and not going to take any more." This was planned and manufactured over the two months following their electoral loss. Start calling it what it was: a Coup d'Etat that failed, just barely - an act of treason in "declaring war on the United States" as the crime is defined in the Constitution. And it was led by the President of the United States.
And the plot thickens... Everything TFG said about the Democrats were projections of what he was doing. You just explained that CNP was/is the deep state. It puts a neat tie around CNP, Citizens United and SCOTUS. TFG was their tool, the "witting idiot". This feels like the climax of a spy/mystery novel. Now to see whether the ending is the triumph of evil or the author decides on a happy ending where democracy is miraculously restored. Shocking. Thank you, Heather, This is a superb piece of putting the pieces together. Frightening though it is.
Dr. Richardson, with you I feel like one of a tiny percentage of people on this planet who — with access to your knowledge and exhaustive and well documented research — have access to facts and context that I trust. By reading what you write, and following many of your links, I feel that I am one of only a comparatively few people who know for sure what the hell is going on around here. I don’t have words to express my gratitude! All I can say is, Well Done — again....
When I read about how Heather described how the alt- right wealthy Christians are pushing for a “moral” society, I laugh. Talk about a bunch of immoral characters! It’s not funny. It’s pathetic and frightening. I want to see Ginni Thomas behind bars which would subsequently force good ole Clarence to retire or to be investigated and removed. I dunno…I hear the drums in the distance getting just a little closer.
While the news and revelations about Trump’s minions just keep getting worse, please remember one thing: If you have elections next week, vote. If you are willing and/or able, make calls for a candidate or volunteer to help in some way. The good folks of Georgia showed us the way forward - and thank God they showed up in droves!
We have local school board elections here. Eyes on the prize-three excellent board members with a true focus on education and the wellbeing of students.
There are a million things happening at the federal level that are gobsmackingly awful but my power remains that of the vote. Small, nearly invisible local election in flyover land. And absolutely the heart of democracy and our future.
Thank heavens for LFAA and all of you.
And while the Republican hoard continues its assault on democracy, there are other disturbing events afoot: yesterday I wrote to my senator Kirstin Gillibrand, who - along with numerous other democrats - has thrown Steven Donziger under the bus after he won a huge settlement against Chevron in Ecuador. In case some of you don't know, Chevron has sued him, resulting in this environmental lawyer being under house arrest. Gillibrand and other prominent democrats are financially beholden to Chevron and their mouths are closed. This is so depressing. Are they ultimately all in the same boat? It's all about money money money...
For the past few months, I've been working with a documented DACA family that is living in the depths of poverty. I'm fortunate to be receiving essential guidance through the immigration maze from a pro bono immigration law attorney. Unaffiliated immigrants cannot possibly afford to hire an attorney.
"My" family of five lives in an old, old, old mobile home, a holy-mary pass away from a freeway. They keep a very low profile (i.e., live in fear) because they know that the smallest infraction could get them deported. I've seen that process. Before COVID, Mr G and I used to show up with others at a court house in the Twin Cities in solidarity with busloads of immigrants facing their last hearing re deportation. By and large, the immigrants who wind up there are not guilty of anything more than not knowing how to navigate the system!
I know this is not the same thing as this letter about refugees seeking entry, but entry is only the beginning of a long, extremely difficult path. The learning curve is both steep and deep. There are probably people living not far away from you who are in desperate need of volunteer guides through this terrible system. A system that went from bad to a kind of fresh hell for immigrants when the disgraced ex-POTUS seized control of our country. In the U.S., that begins at the border, and extends through years and years for those who survive what comes next.
I'm now seeing the U.S. immigration system from the inside, and it's ugly. Also, arcane, convoluted, unjust, and nowhere near "user-friendly." That people risk their lives fleeing from horrific conditions in other countries (in this case, Guatemala) to live here is testament to their desperation. All of that makes me want to re-write Emma Lazarus's poem to reflect the harsh reality of these times.
Good morning everyone! I heard this morning on NPR that folks in places like the Dakotas are getting worried about the continued holdup of the infrastructure bill because their states rely so thoroughly on the federal government's handouts to employ people and to maintain their roads and bridges--because they have such an inadequate tax base. https://www.npr.org/2021/10/26/1048918708/regional-planners-wait-as-bidens-infrastructure-plan-stalls-in-congress
Of course, the person being interviewed was very careful not to blame his Repugnican senators and congressmen, who are actually to blame for the holdup. Thankfully, Steve Inskeep didn't take the low road and egg him on to blame the Dems, since that is the narrative we are hearing. The drums that need to be beaten loudly are those that yell that the Ghastly Obstructionist Party is to blame, and that if all of these "red" states want to see prosperity happen they should support the Dems and get rid of their deranged/moronic/corrupt/totalitarian representatives.
If only there were actually two parties, with one representing a Loyal Opposition. Instead, we have one party desperate to get something positive done, one party determined to destroy as much as they can in a naked bid for untrammeled power, and two oleaginous fu**weasels who are being bought off by malignant corporate interests whose role is to completely gum up the works so that nothing at all gets done because it suits them to do so. This is not democracy--except for the fact that the bums can be thrown out if enough people do their jobs as citizens and vote.
Lauren Boebert’s carefully worded statement of “I had no role in the planning or execution of any event that took place at the Capitol or anywhere in Washington, DC on January 6.” sounds suspiciously like Tonya Harding’s denial of any involvement in the planning of the attack on Nancy Kerrigan.
Steve Bannon's name seems to pop up in all the most sinister places, often saying very sinister things. He also asserts that having been a White House employee for a short time, executive privilege covers all his activity since, and he need not heed a congressional summons.
Poor boy! I recommend some jailhouse therapy, several years if need be, to put him on the path of righteousness.
Heather- once again, we are in your debt for putting the pieces together. My concern is that some of these right wing narratives are beginning to influence or infect the respectable press such as the NYT who are railing that Biden is not moving fast enough or that his administration re immigration is more of the same. The damage wrought by Trump goes deep- so much work has to be done to restore what was lost and Biden has been dealt a weak hand- 50 - 2 senators. Again, Americans need to wake up to the gravity of their current situation. Your letters help.
So it turns out there really is a "deep state". Only its not who trump said it was. It's the CNP.... Kelly Ann and Steve among others
“Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow —
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand —
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep — while I weep!
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?” E.A. Poe
But this isn’t a dream. Even though many are being slow walked towards Authoritarianism, as conservatives seek, with the help of some old fascist ideas.
There is no debate that Facebook has this ultimate power to divide, destabilize, and destroy stable countries. It’s a psychological weapon of mass destruction, through manipulative and steady distraction, as it forces endless attraction towards anger over compassion, passions over love, and confrontation over mutual respect and understanding. Social cohesion is now shredded.
But FB was given its birth from the very democracy that made possible free markets/ free people, from valuing education, ingenuity, and hard work that lead to creative breakthroughs. Facebook could end completely the system that made it possible, as well has keep it that way forever.
Imagine FB in the wrong hands, or wrong governments. It’s not hard to, because FB, Google, and Apple are already doing that for Governments in Asia, South America, Russia, Eastern Europe, etc. Now imagine FB under TFG’s thumb combined with NSA tech and a loyal only to him FBI and police forces. That’s what’s at risk now.
Facebook seems devilishly designed for our willful demise.
David Neiwert’s tweet & the link to the NYT’s video Heather excluded out of concern the server would flag it:
Seeing Paul Gosar emerging as a central player in the planning for the insurrection--particularly with his offer of pardons for all involved--reminded me of this snippet from the NYT's devastating video report on how it happened.
https://twitter.com/DavidNeiwert/status/1452688688110923776
In less than 5 hours, Steven Donziger will appear before a three-judge panel from the federal appellate court in Manhattan, who will hear argument on whether he can stay out of prison pending resolution of his appeal of Judge Preska's so-called "conviction" of him on a misdemeanor after denying him a jury of his peers.
If anyone has any ability to influence this case, please do whatever you can to save this man's life. Here is an email he sent yesterday:
10/25/21
This is difficult for me to write, so bear with me.
I write to state as clearly as possible that while my clients in Ecuador’s Amazon continue to suffer the deadly impacts from Chevron’s mass toxic dumping, I as their main lawyer might find myself in one of the most unsafe jails in our country as soon as two days from now. I am writing urgently to enlist your support so I can survive what could be one of the most challenging situations of my life. Before I go further, I want you to know how grateful I am for your support — neither I nor my family could have survived my 800-plus days of house arrest without it.
That said, my situation might quickly grow even more tenuous and perilous within hours.
This is an update on my situation:
1. Tomorrow (10/26/21) at 10:00 a.m. ET in Manhattan, a three-judge panel from the federal appellate court will hear argument on whether I can stay out of prison pending resolution of my appeal of Judge Preska's so-called "conviction" of me on a misdemeanor after denying me a jury of my peers. While I maintain my innocence and expect to be exonerated on appeal, that's not quite the point of Chevron and Preska: they want to press their leverage to intensify their campaign of personal destruction.
Remember, Judge Preska is a leader of the Chevron-funded Federalist Society; my prosecutor comes from a Chevron private law firm. I am being targeted by our nation’s first corporate prosecution. As I have said, I believe it is an outrage that we are even having the argument tomorrow given that no misdemeanor defendant in history ever has been forced to serve the entirety of their sentence prior to their appeal being heard.
As an aside, I am honored to be represented at argument by Professor Stephen Vladeck of the University of Texas law school, one of the nation's leading Constitutional law scholars.
To listen to the argument, click here:
https://ww2.ca2.uscourts.gov/court.html
To read our brief as to why I should be released, click here:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ac2615b8f5130fda4340fcb/t/6161c9ebdf7f7b42ac0c758d/1633798640966/2021-10-08-motion-for-release-pending-appeal.pdf
2. But here's the rub. If my team loses this argument, Judge Preska has ordered me to report to custody within 24 hours — a brutal order issued for no reason other than to harass me and my family with her particular brand of gratuitous cruelty that has kept me locked up at home on a misdemeanor for 811 days. What this means in practice is that we are going to potentially live for an additional weeks and months (depending on how long the court takes to rule), not knowing whether within 24 hours I will disappear into the American prison system for six months with destination unknown. Given how I have been mistreated up to this point and how many people die or get injured in U.S. prisons, it's sort of like feeling that you may disappear into a Kafkaesque hell.
Again, this is unheard of: people convicted of a misdemeanor are always allowed to self-report to prison weeks after sentencing to the facility designated by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) — in my case, a much safer minimum-security prison given that I have the lowest security score possible under the guidelines and I have no criminal history. So why is Preska trying to manipulate the system to force me into one of the most brutal jails in the country in Brooklyn?
3. I believe my physical safety and integrity could be threatened if I am forced into the federal jail in Brooklyn. I have a bottomless belief in my own strength and resilience, but I don't need to tell you that prison environments can be lawless. Given the raw power and nefarious objectives of the forces arrayed against me (including Chevron and its 60 powerful law firms), I am approaching the prospect of prison with an appropriate degree of fear. The fact Judge Preska is trying to maneuver me into a particular jail rather than adhering to the normal course and letting the BOP decide what minimum-security prison I should go to is just deeply concerning.
4. If the appellate judges tomorrow rule in my favor on this urgent appeal (which is different from my main appeal), I will face a bizarre situation: I will return to house arrest to await resolution of my main appeal. Still, we will count it as the victory that is: a mild rebuke to Judge Preska’s abuse of power. That said, I will not be free. And the U.S. courts will still be in violation of multiple provisions of international law, as determined by five esteemed jurists from the United Nations who issued a powerful ruling recently condemning my treatment and requesting my release.
https://www.makechevroncleanup.com/press-releases/2021/9/29/breaking-highest-un-human-rights-body-rules-us-government-must-release-steven-donziger-from-arbitrary-detention-and-compensate-him-for-legal-violations
5. If we “win” tomorrow, I likely will spend over three years on house arrest on a misdemeanor by the time my main appeal is resolved. We will try to change that, but that's the reality of what is starting to feel like a Gulag situation. During this time, I will not be free; will be unable to travel; will be unable to meet my clients in the Amazon; will be unable to meet with funders and lawyers; will be unable to pursue my human rights advocacy; and will be unable to be a full father to my son, who has started the last three years of school knowing that his Dad wears an ankle bracelet shackled to his leg.
6. On timing, the appellate court could rule as soon as tomorrow as to whether I must go to the Brooklyn jail. More likely is the judges will take a few days or weeks to write an opinion while I remain on house arrest. But if they rule against me tomorrow, on Wednesday my new ordeal as a federal inmate is likely to begin.
If I am imprisoned, the #FreeDonziger team will continue sending updates on my behalf. I will do my best from inside to continue working and communicating, but I could well be incommunicado for a long period of time. Most importantly, I will need emotional support: visits, letters, and good energy from as far and as wide as possible. Frequent visits can be its own sort of protection. And of course, please continue supporting my son Matthew and wife Laura as this challenge in many respects is greater for them than it is for me.
The case against me implicates the very fabric of our society and whether human rights and environmental justice lawyering can take place in the United States without advocates being locked up which is what happens in so many countries like Russia, China, and Turkey. I ask each of you to stand by me and the people of Ecuador in this critical moment. Please spread the word and get more people to sign up for our campaign at FreeDonziger.com.
And if you are able to help with our defense fund (legal expenses are mounting rapidly), please contribute $1000, $500, $250, $100, $50, $25, or whatever you can today to help us continue to pursue justice regardless of what happens tomorrow.
https://donorbox.org/steve-donziger-legal-defense-7-3-2/