E-Actions for Freedom

Help make sure Otter and Sanders Amendments become law!

From the Bill of Rights Defense Committee:

In July of this year, under the leadership of Republican Representative C.L. "Butch" Otter, the U.S. House of Representatives listened to their constituents' voices criticizing the USA Patriot Act and voted 309-118 for an amendment that would turn back one of the Act's most over-reaching provisions--Section 213 or the "sneak and peak" provision. Section 213 of the USA Patriot Act allows the government to search a person's home or office without notifying them for weeks or even months after the search. These powers can be used in all criminal cases, not just terrorism related investigations. Such a broad power is a violation of our sacred protections from "unreasonable searches and seizures" that the Fourth Amendment provides.

The House of Representatives also approved a similar amendment offered by Independent Representative Bernie Sanders which would prevent the government from using Section 215 of the Patriot Act to look at the books we are checking out from the library or buying from a bookstore. Again it was grass roots support that made this victory possible.

Your help is needed now to make sure that these two amendments become law before Congress adjourns for the year. Representative Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Representative C.L. "Butch" Otter (R-ID), and Representative John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) are circulating a letter for Members of the House of Representatives to sign on to in support of keeping these provisions in the final law known as an "Omnibus."

Please telephone your Member of Congress today and urge him or her to sign on to this letter: http://bordc.org/dearcoll1103.pdf.

Suggested telephone script: Tell the person who answers the phone...

"Hello my name is ____________. I am a constituent of Representative ___________ and I am calling to ask Representative ___________ to sign the Sanders-Otter-Conyers Patriot Act letter to House Conferees on the Omnibus Appropriations bill. This letter urges the House Appropriators to make sure any Omnibus bill retains language that would protect against the over reaches of Section 213 and 215 of the Patriot Act. To sign on to this letter, your office can call Representative Sanders' office at (202) 225-4115."

The time for action is now because there isn't much time left until Congress adjourns for the year. To find out who your Representative in Congress is please click on this link http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ and follow the directions or call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Bill of Rights Defense Committee
www.bordc.org
413-582-0110

Stand up for Sashwat Singh's right to rap

UPDATE: Sashwat's case seems to have come to a close: his family reached a "compromise" with the school. Part of that compromise is that Sashwat must see a school counselor, and that his family won't pursue getting the suspension taken off his record. Weak. And now Sashwat says, in reference to the questions he'll be asked by schoolmates about his rap album, "I'm going to have to ignore most of it. Because if I make a disturbance in the school, they'll try to suspend me again for that."

And I'm certain that Principal Mark Cerutti (ceruttim@elmbrook.k12.wi.us) has not gotten enough e-mails of disapproval over his suspension of Sashwat, and I'm equally certain that Superintendant Matt Gibson (gibsonm@elmbrook.k12.wi.us) has not heard enough about how lame it was that he lorded the threat of expulsion over Singh's head in order to get the family to back down and take their undeserved lumps.

And/or, please write a letter to the editor of the regional papers there, and/or write to the school board and the administrators listed in the original action below. PoliticalNonviolence.org has a web tool that allows you to choose up to 10 Wisconsin papers to send your letter to simultaneously. Just go to their campaigns page and you'll see a link to the Sashwat case ("Defend Sashwat Singh's Right to Rap") in the list of national campaigns on the right. The other pieces of that campaign were prepared before Monday's settlement, so they are a little outdated, but the letter-sending tool is still useful. I'll update the rest of the campaign there (and here) later today.

Original E-Action:

Here's the backstory, from my main blog:
(or, skip right to the action)

Sashwat Singh is an honor student at Brookfield Central High School in Brookfield, WI. He's a big music lover -- he's in the school band and choir, and he's a big fan of local live music as well. And, like most kids these days, he's good on the computer.

...

That entry goes on to make an impassioned case against the school's actions, and to explain that administrators are currently considering whether to make things even worse, by holding an expulsion hearing, for Sashwat's "offense" of making a rap CD. If you need to be convinced that this is an injustice (or you want to read my exceptional persuasive writing), click here to finish reading that entry. Actually, why don't you go do that either way? I'll wait.

(Update: A conversation with Sashwat's father revealed that the song where he "threatens" his principal is primarily a protest song against the new principal's tendency to call the police into the school for "every little thing".)

Alright then, on to the action. The figures in this case are the following:

Everyone: Call Superintendent Matt Gibson NOW and impress upon him the importance of not moving forward with an expulsion hearing for Sashwat Singh. I just spoke with him a moment ago, and he listened nicely to my comments. He is apparently working on settling things with the family's attorney today. Call him right now (262-781-3030 ext. 1124*) and make sure he does the right thing.

And of course, spread the word. Pass this action item around to anyone who you think might care.

If you live near Brookfield, Wisconsin:

If you live outside of Wisconsin, then I recommend the following action--

--Send an e-mail to the above-mentioned people -- you can click here and it should pop-up an e-mail with all their addresses already in place. Principal Cerutti and Superintendent Gibson will be in the "To:" box, and the Associate Principals and the Board of Education members will be in the "Cc:" box. Put your own e-mail address in there somewhere, to facilitate the next step after this one.

I recommend addressing Superintendent Matt Gibson. Tell him that to apply a "zero tolerance" policy to a music album is a very bad idea, and that to apply such a policy to something produced outside of school is also a bad idea. And that punishing creative expression is a bad idea as well. You get the idea -- just tell him what you think of the way Principal Cerutti has handled this situation, and the way that Sashwat Singh has been treated. Tell him he should choose not to hold an expulsion hearing. If you want to go further, tell him he should work to get the suspension removed from Sashwat's record. And if you want to go even further, tell him that he should apologize to sashwat and his family on behalf of the school district, and that he should fire or otherwise discipline Principal Cerutti. Tell him, if you like, that you are part of a gathering group of activists who will be watching this story closely. And finally, tell him that you will be forwarding your letter to the local news outlets. If you like, you can link to my blog entry where I defend Sashwat and bemoan the school's action. This is the link: http://www.freedom2008.com/blog/archives/001859.html

Be courteous and calm in your letter -- you're trying to persuade, not to scare or offend. After you've sent it, forward it to these folks:

Reid J. Epstein - author of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article about Singh
repstein@journalsentinel.com

Gazette Extra Newsroom (They published this story about the incident.)
newsroom@gazetteextra.com

If you are feeling spunky, or if you don't feel like writing, you can make some phone calls. The phone contact info for all the above-mentioned school folks is below.

If you live in Wisconsin:

You can do the above action, plus you can send in a letter to the editor about the incident to the local papers, saying most of the stuff mentioned above, except directing it to the editor and the public, instead of Superintendent Gibson.

Here's the letter to the editor form at the GazetteExtra. You can also fax them at 608.755.8349, and call their Sound Off line at 608.755.8335.

The editor of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Martin Kaiser, can be e-mail at mkaiser@journalsentinel.com. Or, you can use their online form for submitting your letter. They published this very misguided editorial this weekend, approving of the suspension, apparently mostly on the grounds that his lyrics were "offensive and violent". They could use some schooling on freedom of expression.

Here is the contact info for the relevant school officials:

Principal Mark Cerutti
Brookfield Central High School
16900 West Gebhardt Road
Brookfield, WI 53005
Phone: (262) 785-3910
Fax: (262) 785-3993
ceruttim@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Superintendent Matt Gibson
Elmbrook School District
13780 Hope Street
P.O. Box 1830
Brookfield, WI 53008-1830
Phone: 262-781-3030 ext. 1124*
Fax: 262-783-0983
(*Secretary Carol Chetney)
gibsonm@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Elmbrook Board of Education:
(info is from this public web page)

Mr. Patrick J. Murphy
12554 Knoll Road
Elm Grove, WI 53122
Home Phone: 262-782-5270
District Voice Mail: 262-781-3030 ext. 1265
murphyp@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Mr. Stephen C. Schwei
1427 South Parkview Avenue
New Berlin, WI 53151
Home Phone: 262-780-0581
District Voice Mail: 262-781-3030 ext. 1263
schweis@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Mr. Bruce E. Nattinger, President
21165 Stratford Court
Brookfield, WI 53045
Home Phone: 262-784-0790
District Voice Mail: 262-781-3030 ext. 1508
nattingb@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Mrs. Cheri A. Sylla, Vice President
3410 Lilly Road
Brookfield, WI 53005
Home Phone: 262-781-3592
District Voice Mail: 262-781-3030 ext. 1507
syllac@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Mr. Thomas A. Ricca, Clerk
21435 Ann Rita Drive
Brookfield, WI 53045
Home Phone: 262-784-6769
District Voice Mail: 262-781-3030 ext. 1261
riccat@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Mrs. Meg T. Wartman, Treasurer
2425 Whippletree Lane
Brookfield,WI 53045
Home Phone: 262-827-8850
District Voice Mail: 262-781-3030 ext. 1266
wartmanm@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Mr. Robert J. Ziegler
14360 Corona Court
Brookfield, WI 53005
Home Phone: 262-784-2422
District Voice Mail: 262-781-3030 ext. 1239
zieglerr@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Help the Homeschooling Bryant family

The Bryant family of Waltham, Mass. have been involved in conflict with the state and the school borad for 6 years, and things have recently gotten more worrisome for them. The Bryants homeschool their two children, and refused to submit to the state's demands in terms of testing and evaluation of their children's educational progress. No allegations of harm or negligence have been made; the issue is simply that the Bryants are asserting their right to control their children's education, and the state asserts that it has the final say, and that they must pass the official tests and requirements.

The state Department of Social Services won official custody over their children almost two years ago. 11 days ago, police and DSS workers showed up at the Bryants' home to collect the two children (George, age 15, and Nyssa, 13) so that they could be made to take a standardized test to determine their educational level. The parents refused to comply, and were temporarily left alone.

You can read more about the Bryants here, and read an editorial here. I wrote about my recent phone conversation with George Bryant, Sr. here.

George Bryant feels that the best action for others to take if they want to help is to contact the Mayor of Waltham, and put pressure on him to put pressure on the School Board, to leave the Bryants alone.

Here is contact information for Waltham's Mayor:

Mayor David Gately
610 Main St.
Waltham, MA 02453

Phone: 781-893-4040

That number is to city hall's main office. I will try to get a better number, as well as a fax number, tomorrow.

I also feel it would be helpful to write letters to the editor of the local paper, which has written sympathetically about the Bryants in the past.

There is a web form where you can submit an opinion to the paper in just a matter of minutes, right here. That's a page for Herald Interactive, the parent company of the Daily News Tribune.

Here is the Daily News Tribune's direct contact information:

If you write in, I suggest sending your comments in through both the web form and through e-mail, fax or letter to the places above (because the form offers a chance that your letters could be picked up by one of the larger papers in that company's network, while the other options seem to be the best chance of getting it published or counted at the local paper.)

Points to make:

I've asked George Bryant to let me know if anything new comes up that deserves action. Check back for updates.