A message from Terry Gilbert, one of Carol Fisher’s lawyers
Judge Timothy McGinty forcibly incarcerates Carol
Fisher in the psych unit, 5/9
Previous news and information on Carol’s arrest and trial
5/13/06, A message from Terry Gilbert, one of Carol Fisher’s lawyers
To Carol’s supporters:
I received a copy of the transcript from the
May 10th hearing where McGinty sent Carol to jail. Here are some
quotes. I don’t know whether to laugh or vomit:
“The fact that she’s still wearing these protest shirts to her trials tells me that she’s not focusing on the issues.”
“But I haven’t seen anybody in the exact
circumstances of Miss Fisher has in her resisting, continuing to
resist, hysterical behavior, accusations, ranting and raving about
fascism. And this political, somehow aligning her arrest with Bush, and
the political ramifications, as if this is part of the Bush, Cheney,
Rumsfeld response to her, you know. I mean, it’s borderline delusional,
and I want to find out if her behavior is delusional or not. I don’ t
think Bush or his group that she has on the shirt here, had much to do
with the Cleveland Heights incident.”
“I want to find out if there were other
hysterical behaviors, martyrdom-type acts, where she’s purposely
getting arrested, or going through these type of things for attention,
or whatever the issues are. Maybe she thinks, in her mind, that going
to jail will help the cause, and she wants to sacrifice her freedom for
the cause.”
“If that be the case, and she’s so
emotionally charged about the war, W.M.D.’s, or the death toll, or the
continuing escalation over there, that has nothing to do with her
sentencing. I’m concerned about that.”
“I don’t want somebody going to prison because they think it’s going to help a political issue.”
—
More to come soon, including a statement from Carol about her release from jail and what are our next steps.
Click here to find out what you can do to help.
May 11, 10pm: Carol Fisher has been released! We’ll send out
more info when we have it. In the meantime, this is an excellent
development. But it’s also NOT over.
We don’t
know what the judge and other authorities will do next. Carol’s
sentencing date is June 2. She still faces 3 years in jail and
thousands of dollars in fines. We plan to appeal the verdict and
challenge all the gross violations of her rights.
Click here to find out what you can do to help.
CAROL FISHER REMAINS STRONG AND UNAPOLOGETIC
May 9: Judge Timothy McGinty forcibly incarcerated Carol
Fisher in the psych unit of the Cuyahoga County Jail in downtown Cleveland, where she now
sits for an indefinite period of time.
In a hastily called hearing yesterday, Judge McGinty made a
highly unusual and outrageous decision to force Carol to undergo a state psychological
exam as part of her pre-sentencing investigation. From the very start of Carol’s
case, the judge has openly said that she must have mental problems for
resisting an unlawful and brutal encounter with Cleveland Heights police. He went even further in yesterday’s hearing,
saying that her opposition to the Bush regime makes her “delusional.”
The small courtroom on the 21st floor of the Justice Center was ringed with 5 armed court
bailiffs. McGinty started off the
hearing by making Carol stand up and had one of her attorneys read her t-shirt,
which said:
“Wanted for Illegally Crossing Borders: The Bush Regime
“If you are going to insist that crossing borders
illegally is a crime which cannot be tolerated, how about George Bush, Dick
Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice (and yes, Colin Powell) and the rest
of that gang, with their highly illegal, and violent, ‘crossing of the border’-into
Iraq, among other places?!”
McGinty then said this was proof of her delusion! He also kept saying Carol “wants”
to go to jail, and that she has a “martyr complex.” When Carol tried
to explain why she wouldn’t take this test, the judge’s only response was,
“I do not negotiate with felons.”
Does Carol really want to go to jail? No!
But she is not willing to comply with a vindictive court ordered test to
“prove” her sanity. And more
than that, she is taking a stand for everyone who is angry and fearful of a
government that, under the rubric of “national security and the war on
terror,” willfully and unapologetically tramples on the most basic rights
of privacy. Think about this in light of
the NSA spying scandal, and now Bush wants to install the head of the notorious
NSA to be CIA chief! As Carol said before
she went to jail, “I’d be crazy to go along with this shit! That which you will not resist and mobilize
to stop, you will learn–or be forced–to accept.”
Just look at this whole case: a woman posts a “Bush Step
Down” poster on a telephone pole, being brutalized by the police in the
process, and now not only faces 3 years in prison but also a mandatory psych
exam. As Terry Gilbert, one of Carol’s
attorneys said, “This is Gulag stuff–saying that people who are dissidents
are crazy.” He further added that in his 33 years of practicing law, he
has never seen anything like this.
Is this the kind of country you want to live in?
On the phone this morning, Carol Fisher stated that, in
addition to sending her to the psych unit, McGinty has also put her on
“suicide watch”! They have
taken away her eyeglasses. And if she
refuses the psych exam, she will be forcibly sent to North Coast Mental
Institute for a 20 day evaluation.
Legal challenges are continuing, including seeking a writ of
habeas corpus.
When the transcripts are available to the public, they will
show how outrageous this hearing was.
(Click here for previous news and more information about Carol Fishers arrest and trial)
*Donate to Carol’s legal defense. It costs a lot of money to get transcripts,
file appeals, etc. Make checks payable
to ‘Carol Fisher Defense Fund’ and mail to ‘NION/WCW PO Box 609034 Cleveland,
OH 44109.
*Call Judge Timothy McGinty and express your outrage:
216-443-8758
*Speak Out Monday June 5 at 7 pm at CoventrYard, at the corner of Coventry and Euclid Hts Blvd. Get out the word to everyone you know.
*Get your legal organization to be part of Carol’s defense:
make statements, file friend of the court briefs, etc.
*Have your church group, school group, organization or club
join this battle by sending statements of support, donating funds, etc.
*Put this poster up to show public support and spread the word.
*Request radio stations play any of the following songs,
dedicate it to Carol Fisher and explain what is going on with her case:
Tom Petty’s ‘Won’t Back Down’
Pearl Jam’s ‘World Wide Suicide’
Pink’s ‘Dear Mr President’
Neil Young’s ‘Let’s Impeach the President’
*Write letters to the editor of:
The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Go to website: www.cleveland.com\plaindealer\lettertoeditor
The Cleveland
Free Times. Email: editor@freetimes.com
The Sun Press. Email:
sun@sunnews.com
*Send this article to your list serves and post to blogs.
*Join the World Can’t Wait- Drive Out the Bush Regime!
Contact: World Cant Wait, Cleveland 216-633-6200
PO Box 609034
Cleveland OH
Cleveland@worldcantwait.org
www.worldcantwait.org