As the year ends and a new one is upon us, we wanted to update friends and supporters of Gregory on the struggle to defeat the politically driven prosecution he faces for videotaping a peaceful political statement by Sunsara Taylor with his iPhone at the “Ethical” Humanist Society of Chicago over two years ago.

After serving nearly two months of his unjust and completely unwarranted 300 day sentence, Gregory was granted bond and released from jail. In releasing him on appeal bond, the Court acknowledged the fact that he is not a flight risk, that he is not a “danger to the community,” and furthermore that his appeal raises substantial questions of law or fact “likely to result in reversal or a new trial.” Gregory was released just in time to attend Jazz for Justice, a benefit for his legal defense featuring jazz musicians Ted Sirota and Fred Lonberg-Holm.

Over the course of this past year we have completed the legal briefing portion of the appeal. Our initial appeal brief was filed in February, and the State received six months of extensions before finally filing their response in August. Our final reply brief was then filed in September, which powerfully and compelling dissects and exposes the political nature of the charges and numerous factual misstatements in the State’s brief before breaking down, point-by-point, the legal errors that contributed to this unjust and unlawful conviction and sentence. At the heart of the legal case is the State’s Attorney’s unprecedented argument that refusing to comply with alleged rules of a property owner equate to trespassing. However, under Illinois law, to be legally guilty of trespass, a person must be ordered to leave by the property owner or the owner’s authorized representative, and must be given time and opportunity to leave.  In fact, during the trial the then-president of EHSC testified under oath that he never asked Gregory to leave before he was grabbed, dragged, and assaulted by the police. If this baseless legal argument is allowed to stand, it has dangerous and chilling implications for the public’s right to document public and newsworthy events. We are now awaiting word from the appellate court as to whether and when oral arguments will be held on the appeal. Read the final brief here.

As part of opposing this prosecution both inside and outside the courtroom, the Ad Hoc Committee for Reason raised funds to publish a statement in the March/April 2011 issue of The Humanist magazine, calling on those in the humanist community to speak out in opposition to this political prosecution and noting some of those who have, such as Cindy Sheehan, Cynthia McKinney, PZ Myers and Bill Ayers.

We have also continued to open up discussion and debate around the larger political issues concentrated in the case. In the midst of the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt and the inspiring swirl of the Arab Spring that presaged the outpouring of dissent in the US, forums were held on the rising wave of political repression in the US that targets those who document dissent, protest and police misconduct – Smart Phones and Dumb Laws: Will Your Cellphone Make You A Criminal? Our February Smart Phones and Dumb Laws event was held just after the Egyptian people in Tahrir Square inspired the world. The panel included Gregory and Chris Drew, along with his civil rights lawyer Mark Weinberg. Chris Drew is an artist and activist who is facing up to 15 years in prison under Illinois’ egregious “eavesdropping” law for audio recording his own arrest while selling a $1 piece of art on the streets in an attempt to challenge Chicago’s peddling ordinance.

In November we held another Smart Phones and Dumb Laws event at DePaul University College of Law, after thousands of people occupied spaces across the country and faced police brutality and repression for peaceful political protest (including numerous journalists being arrested and brutalized, which has been documented by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press – see Some journalists still facing charges after Occupy arrests). Gregory and his lawyer Jed Stone were joined by Chris Drew, Mark Weinberg, and Robert Johnson, Chicago civil rights attorney who successfully defended Tiawanda Moore from felony eavesdropping charges. Ms. Moore was prosecuted for audio recording Chicago police on her cellphone as she attempted to have a Chicago police officer investigated who sexually accosted her. Adam Schwartz of the Illinois ACLU also spoke about their federal lawsuit against Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez challenging the eavesdropping law, which recently had oral arguments at the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Both forums were broadcast on CAN-TV, the Chicago local access television network.

Since his release from Cook County Jail on appeal bond, Gregory has continued to speak out about his case and other injustices and crimes of this system. In May, he was invited by students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to be the guest speaker at their Prison Arts Fest, which featured artwork from prisoners in Illinois.

When thousands of prisoners in over one-third of California’s prisons went on hunger strike to oppose the inhumane conditions of torture that many face in isolation in California’s “Security Housing Units” (SHUs), he published a statement and articles in support of the prisoners and he organized a Forum on the California Prison Hunger Strike and Torture in U.S. Prisons in August that was reported on in Revolution newspaper (Correspondence from a reader who took part in organizing a Forum on the California Prison Hunger Strike & Torture in U.S. Prisons)

Gregory has also spoken in university and high school classes in Chicago about torture in U.S. prisons, mass incarceration and police brutality, while organizing for the October 22 National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. Read a report on the Chicago O22 action here.

On the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, Gregory produced a video with his friend Anthony Wagner, Iraq veteran who was very active in opposing the wars and stopping youth from joining the military, who tragically died on November 3, 2011, just hours after marching on Wall Street with other veterans in support of Scott Olsen, who was shot in the head with a tear gas canister by police at Occupy Oakland. After Anthony’s tragic death, Gregory produced a video of a We Are Not Your Soldiers teach-in at Occupy Chicago that Anthony organized, where Anthony’s brother and mother spoke out against the war and its horrific effects.

Much has been accomplished this past year! Thanks to the support from many people, appeal bond was won and Gregory has been able to be a part of all of this work that his life is dedicated to – work he would not be able to do if he was sitting in a jail cell as the Skokie judges, Cook County State’s Attorney, and the “Ethical” Humanist Society of Chicago want. Defeating these ongoing charges is vitally important not only to his life and his work, but for everyone who opposes injustice. We will continue to fight to overturn this unjust political prosecution and link up with others facing political repression in the coming year.

Friends & Supporters,

Jed Stone, Eric Shah, Gregory and his legal team recently wrapped up work on a powerful Reply Brief. The opening paragraphs capture the significance of the battle to overturn the false charges against Gregory for videotaping Sunsara Taylor’s statement with his iPhone nearly 2 years ago:

Across North Africa and the Middle East, during what became known as the “Arab Spring,” ordinary citizens, using cell phones and video cameras, preserve the truth about the events that unfolded before them.  Here, in the United States, we have a tradition of protecting those of us who seek to gather, record and preserve information about public events.

The prosecution of Gregory Koger was initiated because he used a cell phone camera to capture and record the words of Sunsara Taylor, and preserved on video her treatment by the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago (hereinafter, “EHSC”) and Skokie police officers present at an open meeting at the EHSC.  It is clear that others photographed the events of the EHSC that Sunday morning…  No one other than Gregory Koger was told to stop taping or photographing.  It is equally clear that capturing Ms. Taylor’s statement about her censorship by EHSC (and the police reaction to it) was constitutionally protected.

This ill-conceived arrest and prosecution was made worse by the prosecution’s confounding of law of trespass, incorrectly telling the trial court and jury that Mr. Koger’s continued taping constituted a trespass.

Gregory’s Reply Brief goes on to expose numerous factual misstatements in the State’s brief before breaking down, point-by-point, the legal errors that contributed to Gregory’s unjust and unlawful conviction and sentence of 300 days in jail. It also highlights how an important recent case regarding the right to document newsworthy events and the actions of police, Glik v. Cunniffe, relates to Gregory’s prosecution:

“As the Supreme Court has observed, ‘the First Amendment goes beyond protection of the press and the self-expression of individuals to prohibit government from limiting the stock of information from which members of the public may draw.’…  An important corollary to this interest in protecting the stock of public information is that ‘[t]here is an undoubted right to gather news “from any source by means within the law”… The First Amendment right to gather news is, as the Court has often noted, not one that inures solely to the benefit of the news media; rather, the public’s right of access to information is coextensive with that of the press… Moreover, changes in technology and society have made the lines between private citizen and journalist exceedingly difficult to draw. The proliferation of electronic devices with video-recording capability means that many of our images of current events come from bystanders with a ready cell phone or digital camera rather than a traditional film crew, and news stories are now just as likely to be broken by a blogger at her computer as a reporter at a major newspaper. Such developments make clear why the news-gathering protections of the First Amendment cannot turn on professional credentials or status.”  Glik v. Cunniffe, 2011 WL 3769092, (1st Cir.), August 26, 2011.

The arrest and prosecution of Gregory Koger were born out of the Ethical Humanist Society’s attempt to prevent Mr. Koger from documenting Sunsara Taylor’s peaceful statement opposing their censorship of her speech.  The involvement of Skokie Police and the misuse of the criminal trespass statute to further this aim have grave implications for the public’s right to document public events.

We hope you’ll take a moment to read the Reply Brief – you can download it here. The filing of the defense Reply Brief concludes the briefing portion of the appeal. We’re now awaiting a decision from the appellate court as to whether they are going to grant oral argument on the appeal. We’ll keep you posted! Gregory sends his deepest thanks for all of your support and the Ad Hoc Committee urges you to continue to publicize this case and demand his unjust conviction be overturned!

Over the last two years, many of you have supported Gregory Koger both emotionally and financially while he has defended himself from a vindictive prosecution spearheaded by the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago.  The Ad Hoc Committee for Reason, formed to help with Gregory’s defense, wants to update you on the status of his case.

You’ll recall that Gregory was arrested in November, 2009 at the EHSC where he was peacefully video-recording Sunsara Taylor as she made a very brief statement before the Sunday meeting began.  He was charged with three misdemeanors: trespassing, simple battery, and resisting arrest.  These are often called “cover charges” because they are frequently used by police to cover up their own misconduct.  In August 2010, Gregory was convicted of all three charges in a trial that was loaded with judicial and prosecutorial bias against him.

Despite many letters of support and personal testimony in Gregory’s favor, Judge Marguerite Quinn sentenced Gregory to 300 days in Cook County jail. Misdemeanor convictions generally receive either no jail time or very little.  Despite the fact that Gregory’s lawyer asked for bail while his case was appealed, Judge Quinn refused to grant bail, which is also unusual in misdemeanor cases, and she sent Gregory directly to Cook County jail.

After being jailed for two months, the Illinois Appellate Court granted Gregory bail, in spite of the State’s Attorney’s opposition.  Gregory’s next step was to file a written appeal.  Before preparing his appeal, Gregory had to pay for the costly official transcript of his trial.  Many of you helped raise money for Gregory’s lawyers and for the transcript.  Once the appeal brief was filed, the State’s Attorney’s officereceived several time extensions to file its rebuttal.

A few weeks ago, the State’s Attorney’s office finally filed its rebuttal.  Gregory and his lawyers were surprised to discover that this rebuttal is replete with errors and appalling misrepresentations of fact. Following are a few examples of the prosecution’s misrepresentations, which could certainly be expected to improperly bias the Appellate Court judges against Gregory as they review his appeal:

1.    The State’s Attorney continues to erroneously equate being asked to stop videotaping withtrespass.  Gregory’s attorneys objected to this misstatement of the law throughout the trial and in their appeal brief.  To be legally guilty of trespass, a person must be ordered to leave by the property owner or the owner’s authorized representative, and must be given time and opportunity to leave.  In fact, the then-president of EHSC testified under oath that he never asked Gregory to leave before he was grabbed, dragged, and assaulted by the police.

2.     The State’s Attorney claims that Gregory and Sunsara Taylor arrived just one minute before the EHSC program was set to start, apparently in an effort to make it appear to the Appellate Court as if Gregory and Ms. Taylor wanted to disrupt the program.  But, there was no such testimony; in fact, several witnesses testified that the pair entered EHSC at least 10 minutes before the scheduled start of the program.

3.    The State’s Attorney’s rebuttal falsely claims that an ex-EHSC board member testified that Ms. Taylor was never actually invited to speak on the Sunday when Gregory was arrested.   Actually, this board member testified under oath that Ms. Taylor WAS invited, and that an announcement of her talk was published, and widely distributed, in the EHSC newsletter.

4.    The State’s Attorney’s rebuttal claims that the former president of EHSC testified that he told Gregory to leave on the fateful morning.  In fact, as mentioned above, the court record shows he actually stated that he did NOT tell Gregory to leave.

In the next few weeks, Gregory and his attorneys will prepare a reply to the State’s Attorney’s rebuttal that points out these misrepresentations.  We hope that the Appellate Court judges will see the contradictions between the actual court record and the prosecutors’ misrepresentations of fact and law, and that they will wisely conclude that Gregory’s conviction should be overturned.

Your support for Gregory’s defense has been invaluable, and we are all very grateful to you.

The Ad Hoc Committee wants to let our friends and supporters know that Gregory will be moderating this important discussion:

Forum on the California Prison Hunger Strike & Torture in U.S. Prisons

Thursday, August 4 at 7pm
Grace Place, 637 S Dearborn Street, Chicago

Beginning on July 1, 2011, hundreds of prisoners in California’s Pelican Bay SHU (“Security Housing Unit”) began a historic hunger strike to demand an end to long-term solitary confinement, which constitutes torture under international law, and other demands to end the cruel and inhumane treatment they suffer under. The hunger strike rapidly spread to over 6,500 prisoners in over one-third of California’s prisons, making their heroic stand the most significant prisoner-led resistance in the U.S. in decades. After going without food for 20 days, the prisoners at Pelican Bay ended their hunger strike, with a call to people on the outside to continue the struggle against torture in U.S. prisons and to ensure their demands are met and that they are not retaliated against for their peaceful political protest. As of Friday, July 22, California prison administrators reported hundreds of prisoners at California’s Corcoran SHU remained on hunger strike, and families reported as of July 26 that prisoners at Corcoran continued to refuse food. The prisoner’s demands and more details are available here.

The use of long-term isolation pervades the U.S. prison system, with tens of thousands of prisoners held in conditions that violate international standards against torture. Join us for a discussion of the courageous stand taken by thousands of prisoners across California and the widespread, systematic use of long-term solitary confinement in U.S. prisons – including in Illinois, the effects of torture on its survivors and what people of conscience can do.

The courageous actions of the prisoners in California risking their lives on hunger strike have dragged the hidden humanitarian crisis that is the pervasive use of long-term isolation in U.S. prisons into the light – anyone concerned about human rights must be part of this discussion.

Panelists include:

Dr. Antonio Martinez, a psychologist with the Institute for Survivors of Human Rights Abuses and co-founder of the Marjorie Kovler Center for the Treatment of Survivors of Torture. Dr. Martinez has lectured about the trauma and consequences of torture and abuse throughout the world.

Alan Mills, Legal Director of the Uptown People’s Law Center. The People’s Law Center has has been engaged in litigation to change conditions at Tamms, Illinois supermax prison, since the day it opened.

Stephen F. Eisenman is Professor of Art History at Northwestern University.  He is the author of (among other books) Gauguin’s Skirt (1997) and The Abu Ghraib Effect (2007).  He is also a prison reform activist with Tamms Year Ten, and regularly publishes his criticisms of the “penal state” in The Chicago Sun Times and Monthly Review. Prof. Eisenman is currently completing a book entitled Meat Modernism concerned with the image of animals in Western Art from the mid 18th Century until today.

Laurie Jo Reynolds is the organizer of Tamms Year Ten, the grassroots campaign to end the use of long-term isolation at Tamms supermax prison in Southern Illinois. TY10 was launched in 2008, at the ten-year anniversary of the opening of the prison, with the strategy of pushing for reform through public education, media attention, and legislative oversight. TY10 mounted more than 50 educational, artistic and cultural events about the use of isolation and segregation in Illinois prisons, and pulled together a coalition of concerned citizens, faith groups, mental health advocates, law and public policy clinics, prison reformers, and human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in London. Reynolds is currently a Soros Justice Advocacy Fellow.

Moderated by Gregory Koger, social justice activist who as a youth spent over six years straight in solitary confinement in prison in Illinois.

Sponsored by the Chicago Chapter of World Can’t Wait and Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund

Endorsed by the Chicago Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild

Humanists for the Ethical Treatment of Gregory Koger published as an ad the following statement in the March/April 2011 issue of The Humanist magazine:

Read The New York Times article on Chris’ case and check out his website for more information.

Sponsored by:
Chicago Women’s Caucus for Art
The Ad Hoc Committee for Reason
World Can’t Wait — Chicago & Evanston Chapters

Endorsed by:
Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism
Neighbors for Peace

On behalf of the Ad Hoc Committee,  thank you to everyone who has been a part of the efforts for justice for Gregory Koger – by signing petitions hosted by World Can’t Wait, by contributing to the defense fund, by spreading the word about this outrageous prosecution to mobilize others.

As you may recall, Gregory was arrested in November 2009 when he was videotaping Sunsara Taylor’s brief statement at the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago, which is not a crime.  The Society had cancelled a speech Ms. Taylor was scheduled to give after key members were whipped up into a frenzy of anti-communist hysteria.  Gregory was beaten and maced by the police, and then charged with trespassing, resisting arrest, and simple battery.  A brief by The American Constitution Society describes these charges as “cover charges,” because they are so often used to cover up police misconduct.

This past August many of us spent time in the Skokie, Illinois court house at Gregory’s trial, and it was quite an eye opener to watch the justice system at work.  It’s not like on television!  While the judge declared her joy at the many people attending the trial, there were never enough seats, and the bailiffs never seemed happy with our behavior whether court was in session or not.  When court was not in session, they regularly barked commands at us such as, sit back in your seat, no reading material, take off your hat, take that barrette out of your hair, keep aisles clear, and be quiet, be quiet, be quiet.   This was their world; we were the intruders, and we needed to be kept in our place.

Most unsettling to many of us was the alliance of the (un)holy trinity: the prosecution, the police, and the judge. For starters, the prosecution rewrote the charges the morning the trial started.  Why?  The defense had submitted Greg’s video of events that took place the day he was arrested, and it disproved key parts of the prosecution’s story and contradicted the cops’ original report.  When the defense objected and wanted to use the cops’ original report to show that the prosecution witnesses had changed their stories, the judge refused the defense requests, as she did on every important disagreement.

And so the trial went, with what we perceived as the state doing whatever it could to get someone in jail, not to get justice or do the right thing.  They wanted to win at any cost and they did.  The result – a good person was convicted and dragged off to jail before our very eyes.

Visiting people in jail was another eye opener.  We were searched by prison guards who were on major power trips, and subjected to lots and lots of waiting around with overwhelmingly Black, Latino, and other poor people who filled the waiting area.  Then we were ushered into a small, loud room where you had to yell through glass, making it almost impossible to communicate.  We could not imagine that any form of rehab in this hell is possible.

The frightening thing is that this is the much vaunted American justice system.  Imagine how many people are now sitting in jail with no resources, no help, and little or no support.

Fortunately we were able to engage Jed Stone, Gregory’s appeal lawyer, who filed the motion that got Gregory’s bond reinstated.  But it took a lot of people, a lot of time, and a lot of money.  Gregory’s lawyers have greatly reduced their fees, but they have to cover their expenses, and an appeal is expensive.  One major expense is the trial transcript, which must be purchased and will cost close to $2500 dollars.  Here in Illinois, the judge has discretion to give the defendant transcripts for free, but even if she were so inclined (which she is not), it would take months to get them.

These efforts on Gregory’s behalf would not have been possible without support from all of you and many others.  Most recently, two renowned jazz musicians, Ted Sirota and Fred Lonberg-Holm, contributed their music and talent for an evening of Jazz for Justice here in Chicago.  Thanks to this event and many, many contributions, we are meeting many of these expenses.

Our work to reverse this unfair verdict and keep Gregory Koger out of jail is ongoing.  Justice has a high price in America.  There are continuing expenses and much more legal work must be done.

Thank you for all you have done to date.  We will continue to keep you informed, and we hope we can rely on your continuing support!  Please keep in touch with us at adhoc4reason@gmail and www.dropthecharges.net.

Presented by Humanists for the Ethical Treatment of Gregory Koger:

Join us for a fun jazz-filled evening with Ted Sirota, internationally acclaimed drummer and leader of “Rebel Souls,” and the Valentine Trio, Fred Lonberg-Holm, leader and renowned avant-garde cellist, Jason Roebke (bass) and Frank Rosaly (drums), on Friday, November 12, 2010, at 8 PM at Grace Gallery, 1741 N. Western Ave, Chicago. (Doors open at 7:30 PM .) This benefit performance is for political prisoner Gregory Koger’s defense fund.**

Ted Sirota’s avant-garde, post-bop music has roots in the rebellious jazz and improvised music of the 1960’s. He also draws on myriad styles – Afro-pop, funk, reggae, ska, hip-hop – to build what The Chicago Reader called an “immediately recognizable sound.” Rebel Souls often perform at Green Mill and other major jazz venues in Chicago , and they have toured extensively in ¬¬Europe and throughout the U.S. The N. Y. Times says their music is “….full of urgent political themes and smart ensemble playing.” Chicago-based Sirota uses his music as a weapon in the battle against oppression and reactionaries worldwide.

Fred Lonberg-Holm, who describes himself as an “improviser, composer, and anti-cellist,” is most identified with playing free improvisation and free jazz. The Chicago Reader says his work is “surprisingly accessible ….Lonberg-Holm delivers a gorgeous mix of lyric extrapolation and coloristic depth….” This Chicago-based musician and his groups, Valentine Trio and Flying Aspidistra, have performed throughout Europe and the U.S. to excellent reviews.

Doors open at 7:30 PM , and a $20 donation is suggested. A silent auction and a cash bar serving beer and wine will add to the evening’s fun.

BACKGROUND:
These great musical artists are performing to benefit the defense fund for Gregory Koger, a videographer who was beaten, maced, and arrested by Skokie police for videotaping a controversial event. On November 1, 2009 , Koger was filming a brief statement by well-known writer Sunsara Taylor at the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago (EHSC) in Skokie , IL . Taylor was objecting to her sudden dis-invitation to speak at the EHSC that day. She had asked Koger to record her statement before the EHSC program began. (EHSC programs are advertised as “free and open to the public.”)

Taylor and Koger were minutes away from leaving the EHSC auditorium when the president of the EHSC grabbed Koger’s video camera and told him to put the video camera down – which Koger did. In an attempt to complete his fully-lawful assignment to document Taylor ’s final words, Koger used his cell phone to try and accomplish this. But the Skokie police attacked, beat him, and then maced him after he was handcuffed. (For further details visit dropthecharges.net)

Koger was charged with three misdemeanors that the American Constitution Society calls “cover charges,” because they are so commonly used to cover up police misconduct. (http://www.acslaw.org/node/16288) He was convicted at a trial marked by numerous irregularities and given a sentence of 300 days. His bond was also revoked, which is extremely rare in misdemeanor cases, especially when an appeal is pending.

In a just-breaking development in the case, due to the perseverance and on-going struggle of his wide range of supporters and lawyers against this political prosecution, the Appellate Court ordered Mr. Koger’s release from the Cook County Jail on appeal bond. He was released on Oct. 21, 2010 .

This benefit will help fund the remaining expenses to appeal this outrageous verdict and vindictive sentence for “crimes” that never occurred – as well as celebrate the bonded release of Mr. Koger, who is now able to be present at this performance party.

For further information, contact the Ad Hoc Committee for Reason at adhoc4reason@gmail.com, or call 312-593-4191.