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<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/marie-mason-denied-visitors-carswell-cmu/4479/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/marie-mason-denied-visitors-carswell-cmu/4479/<br>
</a></font><h1><font size=4><b>Marie Mason is Being Denied Visitors and
Mail in a Special Prison Unit</b></font></h1><font size=3>by Will Potter
on March 16, 2011<br><br>
in
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/category/prisoners/">
Terrorism Prisoners</a><br><br>
Marie Mason was arrested three years ago and charged with destroying
genetic-engineering research and logging equipment. Her crimes did not
cause any physical injury. Leading up to her sentencing, the FBI had
warned that “terrorists” might attend the hearing. She was sentenced to
nearly 22 years in prison. As I wrote at the time,
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/marie-mason-sentenced/1023/">
Mason’s sentence was twice that of violent racists</a> who assaulted
African Americans on the night Barack Obama was elected
president.<br><br>
From the outset, Mason–a mother of two–was facing the longest prison
term of anyone associated with the Earth Liberation Front. Then in
August, 2010, she was transferred to FMC Carswell in Fort Worth, TX,
which is described by the Bureau of Prisons as providing “specialized
medical and mental health services to female offenders.”<br><br>
Since being transferred to FMC Carswell, she has been denied all visitors
except immediate family. Every single request by non-family has been
turned down. In addition, for months she has not been receiving mail
(prison officials say they have not officially refused any
correspondence). Marie Mason is not being held in solitary (as she was
previously at FCI Waseca), but she reports that she is being housed away
from the general prison population, in a special prison unit.<br><br>
<b>Special Prison Unit<br><br>
</b>At least one other political prisoner is also housed there. In 1984,
Helen Woodson and others entered a Missouri nuclear missile silo with
sledgehammer and jackhammer. They said they were inspired by the Book of
Isaiah, which says “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their
spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.” Woodson is scheduled for release in
September, 2011, after 27 years in prison. [Update: To clarify, that 27
years has been cumulative. Woodson was briefly released from prison
during that time, but she committed additional non-violent political
crimes and was sent back.]<br><br>
I have written extensively on secretive prisons called
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/tag/communications-management-units/">
Communications Management Units</a>, which radically restrict prisoner
communications with the outside world. Daniel McGowan, an Earth
Liberation Front prisoner, and Andy Stepanian, of the
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/tag/shac-7">SHAC 7</a>,
were both imprisoned in a CMU. (These prison units were recently covered
by both
<a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/159161/gitmo-heartland"><i>The
Nation</a></i> and
<a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/03/03/134168714/guantanamo-north-inside-u-s-secretive-prisons">
NPR</a>).<br><br>
The Bureau of Prisons has not responded to my inquiries about the CMUs,
nor about Mason’s conditions at FMC Carswell. However, Mason’s supporters
and attorneys report that federal officials have repeatedly denied that
FMC Carswell is a CMU.<br><br>
<b>Disproportionate Treatment<br><br>
</b>Whether or not that is true, it’s clear that Mason is being singled
out for harsher treatment than other so-called “eco-terrorists,” and
harsher treatment than other prisoners at that facility. Her restrictions
on visitation are actually more extreme than those for CMU prisoners, who
are allowed non-contact visits with family and friends.<br><br>
Mason’s case truly puts on display the unaccountable, unchecked power
that the government has acquired in the name of fighting “terrorism.”
Like many other defendants, Mason was labeled a “terrorist” from day one,
and that label has followed her into the courtroom, through a draconian
sentence, to these disproportionately harsh prison conditions.<br><br>
As the president
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/07/guantanamo-bay-trials-restart">
backpedals on his pledge to close Guantanamo</a>, and alleged Wikileaks
conspirator
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/mar/16/hear-bradley-manning-because-chains">
Bradley Manning is inhumanely being held naked and shackled</a>, it
should be clear that this is fundamentally about a lack of checks and
balances on government power.<br><br>
<b>“An evening like this”<br><br>
</b>Marie Mason’s support committee reports that she has faced these
three difficult years with strength and courage, and she continues to do
so. She has been particularly interested in her artwork and poetry. Here
is an excerpt of <a href="http://supportmariemason.org/texts/poem-2/">one
of her poems</a>, dated August, 2008:<br><br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>An evening like this: summer sunset…<br><br>
<dd>The air no cooler than my blood, and still, so still<br><br>
<dd>The tiny humming of mosquitos hovering in my line of sight<br><br>
<dd>I will remember this when I cannot see the sun for days on
end.<br><br>
</dl>Please visit
<a href="http://supportmariemason.org/">SupportMarieMason.org</a> to
write her a letter and donate to her support fund. <br><br>
</i><font size=3>You can write Marie at:<br><br>
Marie Mason #04672-061<br>
FMC Carswell<br>
Federal Medical Center<br>
P.O. Box 27137<br>
Fort Worth, TX 76127<br><br>
<br>
-- <br>
* LockedOut
<a href="http://zinelibrary.info/lockedout-2010" eudora="autourl">
http://zinelibrary.info/lockedout-2010<br>
</a>* Prison Book Project
<a href="http://www.prisonbooks.org/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.prisonbooks.org<br>
</a>* Radical Reference
<a href="http://www.radicalreference.info/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.radicalreference.info<br>
</a>* AM dial
<a href="http://amdial.tumblr.com/" eudora="autourl">
http://amdial.tumblr.com<br><br>
</a>"I don't believe in charity. I believe in solidarity." -
Eduardo Galeano<br><br>
<br>
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