By now many of you are aware of the case of Katie
Sierra, the Charleston, W. Va. anarchist and high
school student who was suspended because she
expressed her opposition to the U.S. war against
Afghanistan and because she tried to start an anarchy
club at her school. The following information is based
on a telephone conversation I had today with Katie's
attorney Roger Forman. Both Katie and Forman are
determined to pursue redress as far as they can for the
outrageous violations of her rights of free speech,
free association and equal treatment that have been
perpretrated by the Kanawha Co., W. Va., school
system. An emergency appeal has already been
filed with the West Virginia Supreme Court of last
week's circuit court decision that upheld the school
system's actions against Katie (see article below) and
a lawsuit has also been filed against the school board
over its violations of Katie's rights. In addition, the West
Virginia Civil Liberties Union (the state's affiliate of the
national ACLU) has indicated that it will also help with
this case. Forman, an experienced civil liberties lawyer,
with a long history of involvement with the WVCLU and
ACLU, is handling Katie's case _pro bono_ and is very
committed to fighting it; however, there will be some
expenses for research/discovery, etc. At some point,
her legal team may want to call anarchists as expert
witnesses to testify about what anarchy really stands for
to counter the misconceptions and slanders that have
been bruited about in recent days.

Here's how you can help:

If you want to send letters of support to Katie:
Katie Sierra
c/o Roger Forman
P.O. Box 2148
Charleston, W. VA 25328