Federal court asked to stop
transfer
Jailed hip-hop soldier Spc Marc Hall petitioned a federal court Monday to stop the army from
moving him to Iraq in order to
court martial him for his "Stop-loss" song;
Marc is asking for
public trial at Fort Stewart.
Alexis Hutchinson wins discharge!
We won. Single mom Spc Alexis
Hutchinson did not go to Afghanistan, will not go to jail, will not be separated
from her baby Kamani, and will get out of the Army. To everyone who
signed the petition or donated to her
defense, thank you.
Travis Bishop to be freed early
Sgt Bishop won a three month reduction of his prison sentence. Hundreds of letters from supporters credited. This successful appeal
was funded by Courage to Resist and supporters like you.
Marc Hall petitions fed court to stop Iraq transfer
Jailed hip-hop soldier asks to stop army from
staging Iraq court martial for "stop-loss" song
By Courage to Resist.
February 16, 2010
Donate | Petition | Leaflet | stoplossmusic.org
So far 53 supporters have donated $1,651 of the $2,500 sent
to file this petition for Marc. Please help.
FORT STEWART, GEORGIA – Attorneys for jailed hip-hop soldier SPC Marc
Hall filed a petition with the US District Court of the Southern
District of Georgia yesterday in an attempt to stop the Army from
transferring SPC Hall to Iraq for court martial. SPC Hall currently
remains incarcerated in the Liberty County Jail, Hinesville, Georgia as
of this morning.
Court filings included: The
brief | Habeas
petition | TRO | Exhibits
David Gespass, civilian attorney for SPC Hall explained, “Not
just
the
Constitution, but the rules for courts-martial, prohibit
prosecutors
from holding a court-martial in a combat zone as a pretext
for
depriving an accused of a public trial, counsel of his choice and
necessary witnesses. Whatever the Army may claim, that is exactly what
the Army is doing to Marc.” Mr. Gespass is the president of the
National
Lawyers Guild. He is based in Birmingham, Alabama.
Read more...
Single mom Alexis Hutchinson wins discharge!
By Friends and Family of Alexis Hutchinson.
February 11, 2010
Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, the single-mother in the Army who missed
deployment last year when her childcare plans fell through at the last
minute was today granted an administrative discharge from the Army.
Hutchinson and her civilian attorney, Rai Sue Sussman, are happy with
the results.
Spc. Hutchinson says that she is “excited to know what
will happen to me, and that I am not facing jail. This means I can still
be with my son, which is the most important thing.” (Photo: James Dao, NY
Times. 2/12/10)
Hutchinson will receive an “Other Than Honorable” discharge,
but
will not be facing criminal charges at a court martial, which would
have subjected her to a bad conduct discharge and up to a year in jail
if she lost, as well as a criminal record. Ms. Sussman stated: “we would
have fought the court martial, and I think that we had valid defenses
if it went to trial. However, this resolution will give Alexis closure
and the ability to move on immediately, without a lengthy trial and
possible jail term.” They believe that at trial, the evidence would show
that Spc. Hutchinson had intended to deploy until her childcare plans
fell through.
The Army has regulations which anticipate the
situation of single
parents having plans for childcare during deployment
fall through. The
regulations call for an extension of time to find
alternate
care-givers, and to discharge a parent honorably if no
solution is
found. Sussman states: “Here, the Army did not act according
to their
own regulations, and did not value the family responsibilities
of this
soldier. If they had, Spc. Hutchinson would not have been in
this
situation and would be getting a better discharge.”
Read more...
Travis Bishop wins
reduction in sentence
February 10, 2010
FORT HOOD, Texas – Sergeant Travis Bishop received word this week
that he was given a 3 month suspension of the 12 month sentence he got
last year for refusing to deploy to Afghanistan based on his Christian
religious beliefs against war. Sgt. Bishop has been imprisoned at the
Fort Lewis, Washington stockade since August 16, 2009. Lt. General
Robert Cone, commanding general of Fort Hood approved the sentence
reduction on February 4th after considering Sgt. Bishop’s clemency
application.
Sgt. Bishop’s clemency application included a legal brief (alleging
problems at trial, problems with the processing of Bishop’s
conscientious objector claim, and mistreatment at the Fort Lewis brig), a
hand-written letter from Sgt. Bishop, and 433 letters (signed by a
total of 538 people from 21 different countries) from members of Amnesty
International calling for Sgt. Bishop to be released.
Sgt.
Bishop’s civilian attorney, James M. Branum, estimates that
Sgt. Bishop
will be released no later than March 31 based on the amount
of good
behavior credit Sgt. Bishop has earned.
In an emotional response,
Sgt. Bishop asked his legal team to relay
this message to the public,
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to
everyone who wrote letters and
supported me! This is amazing and
unprecedented.”
Read more...
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