Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

help free young eco activist sentenced to 22 years 8 months in USA

schmoo | 05.12.2005 23:43 | Ecology | Repression | Social Struggles | London | World

TODAY (5th Dec) is Jeff Luers's birthday, he will be 27, and he will be spending it in an American maximum security prison (pictured above) serving a sentence of 22 years and eight months.



Jeff Luers has been in prison now for 5 years. He needs and deserves the support of every man woman and child on Earth.

If something is not done about it, he can expect to spend another 17 birthdays, locked up for a 'crazy' act of passion; trying to save humanity and the planet that sustains us, which we are systematically destroying.

Act of Passion

Five years ago, Jeff Luers and a friend went to a car dealers parking lot in Oregon, USA, and set a light to three SUV cars. Most people will agree this was a very miss guided act of 'eco rage' against the existence of these gasoline guzzeling beasts. Apart from anything else burning cars is extreamly harmful to the enviornment; SUV's should be either recycled into bicycles, or given to the UN to use in climate change disaster zones.

However, it does not deserve 22 years, 8 months in prison.

A comparison of sentences given in the same state shows rapists, child molestors, other far more destructive arsonists, and a man who attempted murder with an axe getting far less severe sentences.

In the same year that Jeff was sentenced to 22 years and 8 months for burning three cars, a man who raped a girl under the age of fourteen, and raped three girls under the age of 16, and contributed to the delinquency of a girl under the age of 18, and delivered drugs to a minor, was sentenced to just 13 years.

Jeff Luers is very much a political prisoner; his sentence proves it.

He first came to the attention of the authorities and the powerful logging companies, when he started trying to save the giant red wood trees, part of the American national heratige, which they wanted to chop down for profit.

He built tree houses at the top of the trees and chained himself to them, blocking the interests of one of the most powerfull vested interest groups in America.

Thats why he got 22 years and 8 months.

What Jeff Luers did was wrong, but so was his sentence, and two wrongs don't make for justice: he should be released now.

Even if you do not agree with what he did, Jeff Luers deserves your support, and the support of every man, woman, and child on this planet, because it was the planet he was trying to save.

His crime of passion involved no danger to life or limb and the three cars he burnt were insured.

A worldwide campaign for his release is underway, which will not stop until he is free, and you can help.

1. Raise this issue where ever you can. If you belong to an environmental action group, raise the issue at a meeting, and discuss what support you can give as a group.

2. A legal appeal about the length of his sentence is under way, but it needs financial support. Send a donation however small, it's the thought that counts. The more different groups and individuals that give a donation, the more pressure there is on the US authorities to do something. Try to get a local group to make a donation.

3. Write to Jeff and to the Governor of Oregon (details below).

4. Organise an event for the International Day of Solidarity.

5. Get information up on a website, blog or news group.

6. Think of something yourself, and do it. Also let us know.

Write to the Governor of Oregon:

MAIL
Governor Kulongoski
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, Oregon 97301-4047

PHONE
Governor's Citizens Representative Message Line:
503.378.4582

FAX: 503.378.6827

 http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/contact_us.shtml
Free Jeff Leurs Campaign

schmoo
- Homepage: http://www.schmoo.co.uk

Additions

addtional information

05.12.2005 23:49

More information + uk campaign at  http://www.schmoo.co.uk

Free Jeff Luers Campaign:  http://www.freefreenow.org

schmoo


Comments

Display the following 6 comments

  1. Eh? — Donny
  2. 22 years — Anne Archie
  3. Donny — fredrico
  4. Dear Fascist Bastard, — Danny
  5. Insurance premiums — Danny
  6. Surely... — Rob Corlett
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech