Eric McDavid Update - Lockdowns, Moves, and New Address

Urgent ELP Bulletin (16th of February 2009)

Dear friends

ELP has just received the following e-mail from Eric McDavid's support campaign.

Dear friends,

Last month marked the 3rd year that Eric has spent behind bars. His
arrest and imprisonment were a direct result of government infiltration
and entrapment - Eric has spent the last three years of his life in a cage
for what amounts to thought crime. Those years have been full of
challenges and struggle, but Eric has met all of them with the utmost
courage and integrity.

Most recently, Eric has been enduring lockdowns at the prison, the loss of
phone and internet access, and a move. On December 23, a "riot" broke out
at Victorville, sending 6 inmates to the hospital and forcing 17 to be
treated at the prison for injuries ranging from stab wounds to blunt
trauma. We waited for two weeks to hear from Eric - not knowing whether
or not he was ok. On January 5 he was finally able to call and let us
know he was ok. Victorville remains on lockdown, but they were easing up
on restrictions and he was able to receive visitors two weeks ago
(although that has changed yet again...).

During the lockdown it became difficult for Eric to get vegan food.
Normally this is not a problem for him - chowhall has plenty of vegan
options, and he can supplement this with items from the commissary to
round out his diet. But during the lockdown, prisoners only had access to
the food brought to them in their cells. This greatly limited Eric's
diet. Fortunately, after trying various avenues for redress, the food
situation improved and Eric is now (last we heard) receiving enough food.

However, as part of the attempt to get vegan food, an "illegal" (according
to the prison) phone call was made. As punishment for trying to get
himself food, Eric's phone and email access was turned off for 60 days.
Other than letters and face to face visits, which are difficult and costly
for friends and family (and as a result, they don't happen very often),
phones and email are Eric's main lifeline outside the prison.

Unfortunately, this is not the only thing... Over the weekend, an
incident at one of the facilities at Victorville (it is unclear which
facility) caused both the Medium I and the Medium II facilities to go on
lockdown, which means visitation has been canceled until further notice.
After discovering this, we checked to make sure that Eric was still at the
Medium II facility and found that he has, in fact, been moved to the
Medium I at Victorville. This is difficult news for a variety of reasons.

We are left wondering why Eric was moved in the first place, but also it
means that Eric's life has been uprooted and scrambled once again. It is
doubtful that he got to take much - if anything - from his previous cell
with him. It's possible he lost letters, addresses, pictures, etc. Eric
now has to start all over in a new environment, which can be extremely
complicated and stressful when that environment is a federal prison.

We will keep you updated on this situation as we find out more.

The appeals process has been delayed multiple times. Eric's opening brief
is now due March 5. He has multiple strong arguments on appeal, and we
look forward to getting the process moving. If all goes well, everything
could be filed for review by the appeals court sometime this summer.

Thank you all for your continued support. Eric has been receiving your
letters and they have definitely helped him through these winter months -
especially during these lockdowns when he has not been able to have
contact with his loved ones.

Please remember that Eric has been moved - which means he has a new address:

Eric McDavid 16209-097
FCI Victorville Medium I
Federal Correctional Institution
PO Box 5300
Adelanto, CA 92301

We'll keep you updated as things moved forward with the appeals.

Yours,
SPS

www.supporteric.org


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Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network
BM Box 2407
London
WC1N 3XX
England
www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk