Only the day before that phone call, a letter from Warren Allmand
(Canadian House of Commons member) reached me, and I was able to refer to
it to point out to Mr. Spector's aide that the cyncism was more widespread
than just among the U.S. citizenry. As Mr. Allmand explained in his
letter to me, for the first time since 1870, in August 1996 the British
courts ruled that evidence supporting a U.S. request for extradition (of
Graham Tomlins) WAS SUSPECT, and REFUSED that extradition.
My thinking is that the Judicial Committee members who may have heard Mr.
Specter's comments could use some followup, in the form of cc's of
whatever letters you have been faxing during this "Week of Action in
support of Executive Clemency for Leonard Peltier."
>From "http://www.senate.gov/committee/judiciary.html" the committee members
are:
Orrin G. Hatch, Utah, Chairman
Strom Thurmond, South Carolina
Alan K. Simpson, Wyoming
Charles E. Grassley, Iowa
Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania
Hank Brown, Colorado
Fred Thompson, Tennessee
Jon Kyl, Arizona
Mike DeWine, Ohio
Spencer Abraham, Michigan
Joseph R.Biden, Jr., Delaware
Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts
Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont
Howell Heflin, Alabama
Paul Simon, Illinois
Herb Kohl, Wisconsin
Dianne Feinstein, California
Russell D. Feingold, Wisconsin
The TOLLFREE White house switchboard number(800-962-3524) will allow you
to connect to ANY of their DC offices, and from there, you can ask for
their HOME DISTRICT FAX numbers. (In my conversation with Spector's
aide, I realized my faxes to the DC office went unnoticed. As a
constituent, I should have used his Scranton office, where the volume is
lower, and therefore, the fax is more likely to be noticed.)
One sample letter I have been given permission to share, to get you
started if you haven't already composed and sent your own:
Dear -------:
Prisoner Leonard Peltier, as you know, has been having exceptional
difficulty recently in obtaining his medical records. This is a
problem which concerns the many thousands who have been following his
case for many years. He needs, and is legally entitled to, those records
in order to make an informed choice about the best procedures of jaw
surgery which may be necessary. Each day of delay means unnecessary
pain. I appeal to you to take whatever steps may shorten the process of
obtaining these records -- and, in the interim, I urge you to see to it
that Mr. Peltier's assigned duties take his health problems into account.
Obviously, Mr. Peltier's case is an exceptional one -- the worldwide
attention to its complexities has been very unusual and long-lasting; and
this scrutiny of what is happening seems to be growing rather than
diminishing. This places added responsibility on you and your staff to
see that this matter is treated justly and without delay. Thanks for
considering these remarks.
Respectfully,
Faxes should go to Warden Page True, Leavenworth (913-082-0041), Kathleen
Hawk, Bureau of Prisons (202-514-6878), and Attorney General Janet Reno
(202-514-4371). (Don't forget to cc the Judicial Committee as listed
above, ESPECIALLY if one of those named is YOUR state's Senator. and for
those who may have wondered, faxes really DO cost less than a stamp. I
just checked my last phone bill and was happily surprised...)
Also, fyi, an 11-14 update was sent to LPSG's and alt.native, which I
think bears wider posting:
Peltier Update 11-14
Leonard Peltier continues to be denied access to the telephone. he was
given a thirty day phone suspension for making a two minute phone call
following a visit on 11-4-96. Several guards have told him that they had
never seen punishment for something so petty before and that he should be
very cautious because it appeared that he might be set up to look bad
prior to a decision on the clemency petition.
Also, the prison will not allow Leonard's paralegal access to him stating
that they are "updating their records." They need Leonard's attorney to
return paperwork they claim they sent (the attorney did not receive
anything) before they can allow this paralegal, who has visited the
prison dozens of times over the last two years, to visit with Leonard.
It is vital that the public be made aware of these circumstances! Leonard
has expressed in letters and verbally that he WILL NOT allow certain
prison officials and FBI agents to cause him to react negatively. He WILL
NOT jeopardize his best chance for justice and freedom.
This is our WEEK OF ACTION. Please phone, fax, write, and e-mail the
president:
President Clinton, the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC
20500 phone: 202-456-1111 (dial 0 to skip the survey and get an operator)
fax 202-456-2461
Attorney General Janet Reno, Dept. of Justice, 10th & Constitution,
Washington, DC 20530 202-514-2000, fax 202-514-4371
Call and visit with your elected officials asking that they support
CLEMENCY. Please let us know the results!
If you need your representative's fax number, write us and we will try to
provide it.
-- >>>>>>> get involved-learn the truth-spread the truth<<<<<<< >>> JUSTICE FOR PELTIER-http://www.unicom.net/peltier/<<<