◆ SpookStack

Serving Indeterminate (life) sentences In California, and can remind myself that ‘my little seventeen months ain't nothin. i've learned that | can cope with a spectre = the grand Jury - that's kaun-_ ted me for years, without breaking down. t've seen better than anyone how incred= Ibly people - espectally folks from the -womens' movement, in which { was never very heavily Involved - have come through when the going got rough. Through the grand jury wars, I've met two people who have helped me hold to~ gether as | could never begin to express: John Zieg'er, the first lawyer i've ever admitted | love, and Laurie Raymond. Just to have met those two makes the whole nightmare worthwhile - and that's not lightly sald from my present perch, ; In fact, Laurie Is so devoted a sister that she's In here to keep me e company right now = and brought two friends with her! Jo Maynes, Alice Ray- i Keil and Laurle were arrested form Pa~ — * cific Life Community action against Tri- dent Nuclear Submarine Base (cutting fences), and are serving 30-day sen jtences. Jo, Laurie and other PLC mem- 1 bers also have a trial pending an- other simtlar action. : eeeAnd Laurfe also goes to trial Nov: aber 8 for. "'as~ ~ saulting a federal marshal" (as { was handcuffed to be ,jalled for refusing. to com operate with the grand jury). She faces up to three years and a $5,00C _ fine. Well, the Seattle left community can hardly be accused of ;shirking our duty to . ‘contribute to the cur- | ' rent prison population © t explosion. . - Sought before | was’ jailed. ed . ,, _——— Of course, life _ goes on In jail. Since i've been here, I've offered the tiny nudge > required to start a tre- mendous campaign for med- ical care here in the Women's Jall. Leftist Lez- zies picked up the ball out~- side and coordinated a short- notice demonstration of 150 people on Saturday (9/4). People are really getting behind our situation and the jail administration is clutching desperately for excuses ~ OF, In some cases, saying ‘up front that prisoners (especially us hysterical" women) don't deserve good medical care. We will see some changes! Meanwhile, outside, work is pro- gressing on the big old house (Sheep Ranch) that Laurie and ! had just © (Object= i ively, this may have been a foolish move; but we were made an offer we couldn't refuse. Besides, | think we felt a need to assert our right to have “lives, in spite of the government, end create a home as some base of stability for ourselves and the two children, Lily and Dan...and at the time we didn't know Laurie would pick up an assault charge. Oh welleee) We feel optimis=- tic about our chances of not losing the house. And Lily and Den are with good people. The community has really come through tremendously with help. _So we're holding upe We do, how- ever, desperately need help in the money (for support of Sheep Ranch and the children’ as well as for our legal defenses) and publicity departments. (Contributions or whatever can be sent to: Deep. Freeze, PO box 12847, § WA 98111) We've also considered then idea of autonomous defense committees in different cities. If anyone has energy and interest in such an endeavor, drop me a tine and let's get stuff moving! (c/o Womens’ Jail, Publick Safety Blidge, Seattle, WA 98104) Mailing lists would be real: helpful, as would "piggyback" offers with papers... Thanks for bearing with me in my (as usual) lengthy blatherins! ~~. Love and Struggle _ Michelle Whi tnack