Submission + - 3 Years in Jail for Web Protest and Encrypted Mail (democracynow.org)
Democracy Now has a scary interview with Andrew Stephanian. Andrew spent three years in jail for organizing animal rights protests on line. Five months of his incarceration were in a controversial new US prison system called a "Communications Management Unit" of CMU.
this war on dissent
... the evidence against him was essentially that he was associating with a website, didn't operate the website. [FBI wiretaps showed his decision and urging of others not to violate] civil injunctions that were imposed on certain demonstrations. ... the government alleges [encrypted email is] evidence of his criminal intent.
the journey that Andrew Stepanian has gone through is a frightening example of... this incredible attempt by the government to envelop political activists, criminalize dissent, convict them and then send them to special housing units based on a political agenda.
Andrew's other dangerous activities include six years of feeding homeless people and rebuilding homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. I don't think limited software options were the main problem when state police labled dissidents, "terrorists" two years ago. The oppression of dissidence is systematic. It's time to get rid of these obnoxious and illegal surveillance systems and the cowardly laws that foist them on us."