FC: Update on Raisethefist.com creator Sherman Austin, now in prison

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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From: "Bodhi Man" <bodhiman () hotmail com>
To: declan () well com
Cc: jya () pipeline com
Subject: sherman watch
Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2003 08:36:54 +0000

on august 29 zach de la rocha former lead singer of rage against the 
machine appeared at che cafe on the UCSD campus for a concert benefitting 
sherman austin / raisethefist.com.  local bands and hundreds of people 
showed up enabling sherman to pay off his court ordered fines (about 
$2,000). the capacity of the building was 250 and about 450 showed up with 
many people being turned away.

sherman surrendered to fed custody a week later on sept 4 at the roybal 
federal building.  he spent a few weeks in san bernardino county jail and 
on sept 12 was transferred to oklahoma. according to shermans girlfriend, 
he saw his transfer papers and he says he is headed for tuscon, arizona next.
Looks like he is getting a dose of diesal therapy.......

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From: "Bodhi Man" <bodhiman () hotmail com>
To: declan () well com
Subject: sherman austin cited by senator feinstein
Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2003 10:13:37 +0000

http://feinstein.senate.gov/03Releases/r-bombmaking3.htm

Senator Feinstein Urges Department of Justice to
Aggressively Enforce Bombmaking Statute
- First person prosecuted under law is scheduled
to be taken into custody tomorrow -
September 3, 2003
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has called upon 
the Department of Justice to aggressively enforce a law that makes it 
illegal to distribute bombmaking information with the knowledge or intent 
that the information will be used to commit a violent federal crime.
This statute, which was established through legislation sponsored by 
Senator Feinstein in 1997, was recently applied for the first time in a 
case against Sherman Austin, an anarchist who put links to bombmaking 
information on his website. Austin, who is scheduled to surrender to U.S. 
Marshals tomorrow, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, a $2000 fine, 
three years of probation, as well as other restrictions.
In this case, according to press reports, the federal prosecutor reached 
two separate plea agreements with Austin, but the presiding judge threw out 
the initial pleas, saying that they were insufficient and that the 
government was not taking the crime "seriously" enough.
In a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft, Senator Feinstein wrote: "I 
was pleased to learn recently that Sherman Austin was sentenced earlier 
this month in federal court in Los Angeles for violating 18 U.S.C. 842(p), 
a law I authored mandating up to 20 years in prison for anyone who 
distributes bombmaking information knowing or intending that the 
information will be used for a violent federal crime. However, I remain 
concerned by reports that federal prosecutors may not be taking this 
important anti-terrorism tool seriously. Thus, I write to request your 
assistance in ensuring that DOJ personnel know about section 842(p) and are 
aggressively enforcing it.
A few weeks ago, because of Mr. Austin's admitted violation of section 
842(p), U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson sentenced him to 12 months 
of custody, a $2000 fine, three years probation, and as well as other 
restrictions. However, I was dismayed to learn that Judge Wilson imposed 
this sentence only after throwing out two previous plea agreements reached 
with Mr. Austin as too lenient. The first plea agreement gave Mr. Austin 
one month in prison followed by five months in a halfway house and the 
second agreement gave him four months custody and four months in a halfway 
house.
According to press reports, Judge Wilson stated at a hearing on the second 
plea agreement that, while the Austin case had 'national and international 
implications,' the government was not taking it 'seriously' and that in 
fact the plea agreement was 'shocking.' Subsequently, upon learning that 
the plea agreement had not been cleared by top DOJ officials, the judge 
asked the prosecutor to contact Main Justice as well as FBI Director Robert 
Mueller and solicit their views on the matter.
In my view-and apparently the view of at least one federal judge-the 
Department of Justice needs to do a better job making prosecutors aware of 
section 842(p) and ensuring that they take the law seriously. It is 
dismaying that there has only been one conviction under section 842(p) in 
the four years that the law has been on the books and that, once that 
conviction was obtained, a federal judge described the final recommended 
plea bargain for the convicted individual as 'shocking' in its leniency. 
Moreover, I was also disturbed to read that Mr. Austin, in an interview 
after his sentencing, stated that 'The fact that bomb-making information is 
readily available on the Internet doesn't concern the feds. If someone were 
to use a bomb to do something illegal, there's plenty of information out 
there….'
Last May, I met with then Deputy Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher 
and FBI Director Robert Mueller. Both Ms. Fisher and Director Mueller 
assured me that they would arrange for widespread distribution of 
information about section 842(p) within their respective agencies. A month 
later, Director Mueller informed me that the FBI had sent an electronic 
communication to all field offices encouraging awareness and enforcement of 
section 842(p). However, I never received word that the DOJ Criminal 
Division had issued any similar communication.
Section 842(p) should be an important tool in fighting terrorism but, 
unfortunately, it has been little used. I would greatly appreciate your 
assistance in getting the word out to all to all appropriate components of 
the Department of Justice about this statute





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