It has been some time before we sent out a proper update about Daniel. The last 3 months have been busy with helping Daniel adjust to life outside of prison. His support crew recently sent a comprehensive update.
We wanted to thank everyone for the supportive emails we have received since December. Not only has Daniel seen and read all of them but we are all appreciative of the support that people have continued to show him since 2005.
How is Daniel doing since release?
This is the question we get the most and its a tough one for a few reasons. We want to protect Daniel’s privacy and his desire to move forward but he also wants people to know he is doing well. As you may know, Daniel is working for a law firm in NYC and started two days after he got to the halfway house. He is working full-time, seeing his wife Jenny, family and friends on weekends and counting the days until he comes home for good. He is not doing media interviews nor can he attend public speaking events at the moment. We will continue to share emails sent to friendsofdanielmcg@yahoo.com with Daniel.
Is Daniel still in custody? What’s the deal with the halfway house?
Daniel was released from prison on December 11, 2012 and is serving the last 6 months of his sentence at a halfway house in New York. Because he is in BoP custody and still serving is sentence, his activity is limited to work, home and medical appointments. He cannot get unannounced visitors or calls at the halfway house. Unfortunately, Daniel was denied home detention, which would have allowed him to come home month ago and report to the halfway house weekly. There was little reason given other than that it relates to Daniel’s charges. The Bureau of Prisons continues to punish Daniel and ignore his complete lack of disciplinary violations. Thankfully on June 5th his sentence ends and he starts a three year term of supervised released (probation).
What ever happened with Daniel’s lawsuit against the Bureau of Prisons?
We have had a number of small victories in the Aref v Holder lawsuit that Daniel is a plaintiff on. This is the lawsuit filed in April 2010 against the Department of Justice and BoP for designating Daniel (and other prisoners) to a Communication Management Unit (CMU). [The suit’s defendants are Attorney General Eric Holder; Charles Samuels, Director of the BOP; D. Scott Dodrill, Assistant Director of the Correctional Programs Division of the BOP and Leslie Smith, head of the BOP’s Counter Terrorism Unit].
In the last few months, we were granted the right to file an amended complaint charging that the BoP retaliated against Daniel for his Constitutionally-protected political activism and speech. It was confirmed through the viewing of previously-secret documents in the legal discovery process that Daniel’s political speech was the rationale for sending Daniel to a CMU two separate times (a total of 47 months). You can read the amended complaint at http://j.mp/WyC9Yx
A few weeks ago, Daniel won an order denying a summary judgment motion filed by defendants over a year ago that argued that he had only complained to the facility that the transfer violated his constitutional rights and did not specify that it was retaliatory. Our lawyers countered that Daniel’s administrative complaint was more than adequate. Nearly 16 months later the Court agreed, denying the motion for summary judgment.
In February, the defendants filed yet another motion to dismiss which reiterates the same arguments they raised in the last motion to dismiss. In this one, they released redacted memos written by Counter Terrorist Unit staff regarding Daniel’s placement in the CMU. Theses are very interesting and contrary to the written rationale given to Daniel for CMU placement.
Next up, we will be filing a response to the defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the week of March 18, 2013. Big thanks to our lawyers and the staff at the Center for Constitutional Rights for their efforts with this lawsuit. You can download the latest two-page CMU flyer here.
T-Shirt sale is on!
We are having a T-shirt sale this weekend!!!
All Support Daniel T-shirts, with the beautiful image made by Kristine Virsis, have been discounted. These shirts have been printed since early 2006 in order to raise funds for Daniel’s legal defense and commissary fund but we are now at an end. There are roughly 20 shirts left and we wanted to sell these ones to our supporters at a discount. We will not be printing these again!
For only $13, you can get a Support Daniel T-Shirt (printed on American Apparel) here. The price includes domestic shipping. Questions & International orders? Contact us at friendsofdanielmcg@yahoo.com
What’s next for Daniel?
We are going to leave that one up to Daniel. As for us, our group will be disbanding once Daniel is home. For the last 8 years, we have kept up a steady and energetic campaign of legal defense, prison support and release/re-entry help for our friend. While this all continues offline, we are ceasing our public work. Daniel is one of many political prisoners in the system and while he is out, there are many people still inside. We want to lend our efforts and support to those people. We will be using the Support Daniel list serves, website, Facebook profiles and Twitter feed to that end.
Please check out the following support websites for Political prisoners and more specifically, eco prisoners. These people are all in need of your support.
Marie Mason
Earth First! Prisoner Support Webpage
NYC ABC Illustrated Guide to Political Prisoners
Portland ABC
Thank you all for your continued support of Daniel these past 8 years. We want to thank all the people who donated for the Welcome Home registry we set up and came out for the various December 7th events held in NYC, Eugene, Portland and Niagara Falls. Those events and your efforts have made it so Daniel did not have to worry about buying essential items like clothes, etc.