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Today's Topics:
1. KURTZ : ARTIST CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES IN PRECEDENT-SETTING
CASE (Ewen Chardronnet)
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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:45:24 +0200
From: Ewen Chardronnet <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [spectre] KURTZ : ARTIST CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES IN
PRECEDENT-SETTING CASE
To: [email protected]
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
ARTIST CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES IN PRECEDENT-SETTING CASE
Department of Justice Fails to Appeal Dismissal
Kurtz Speaks about Four-Year Ordeal
Buffalo, NYDr. Steven Kurtz, a Professor of Visual Studies at SUNY at
Buffalo and cofounder of the award-winning art and theater group
Critical Art Ensemble, has been cleared of all charges of mail and
wire
fraud. On April 21, Federal Judge Richard J. Arcara dismissed the
governments entire indictment against Dr. Kurtz as insufficient
on its
face. This means that even if the actions alleged in the indictment
(which the judge must accept as fact) were true, they would not
constitute a crime. The US Department of Justice had thirty days from
the date of the ruling to appeal. No action has been taken in this
time
period, thus stopping any appeal of the dismissal. According to
Margaret
McFarland, a spokeswoman for US Attorney Terrance P. Flynn, the DoJ
will
not appeal Arcaras ruling and will not seek any new charges
against Kurtz.
For over a decade, cultural institutions worldwide have hosted
Kurtz and
Critical Art Ensembles educational art projects, which use common
science materials to examine issues surrounding the new
biotechnologies.
In 2004 the Department of Justice alleged that Dr. Kurtz had schemed
with colleague Dr. Robert Ferrell of the University of Pittsburgh
Graduate School of Public Health to illegally acquire two harmless
bacteria cultures for use in one of those projects. The Justice
Department further alleged that the transfer of the material from
Ferrell to Kurtz broke a material transfer agreement, thus
constituting
mail fraud.
Under the USA PATRIOT Act, the maximum sentence for these charges was
increased from five years to twenty years in prison.
Dr. Kurtz has been fighting the charges ever since. In October
2007, Dr.
Ferrell pleaded to a lesser misdemeanor charge after recurring
bouts of
cancer and three strokes suffered since his indictment prevented him
from continuing the struggle.
KURTZ SUMS UP END OF FOUR-YEAR NIGHTMARE
Finally vindicated after four years of struggle, Kurtz, asked for a
statement, responded stoically: I dont have a statement, but I do
have
questions. As an innocent man, where do I go to get back the four
years
the Department of Justice stole from me? As a taxpayer, where do I
go to
get back the millions of dollars the FBI and Justice Department wasted
persecuting me? And as a citizen, what must I do to have a Justice
Department free of partisan corruption so profound it has turned on
those it is sworn to protect?
Said Kurtzs attorney, Paul Cambria, I am glad an innocent man has
been
vindicated. Steve Kurtz stared in the face of the federal
government and
a twenty-year prison term and never flinched, because he believes
in his
work and his actions were those of a completely innocent man. Clients
like him are a blessing, and although I have had many important
victories, this one stands at the top of the list.
As coordinator of the CAE Defense Fund, a group organized to support
Kurtz from the beginning of the case, Lucia Sommer sees the end of the
prosecution as bittersweet, and like Kurtz, is thoughtful about the
broader significance of the case: This ruling is the best possible
ending to a horrible ordealbut we are mindful of numerous cases still
pending, and the grave injustices perpetrated by the Bush
administration
following 9/11. This case was part of a larger picture, in which law
enforcement was given expanded powers. In this instance, the Bush
administration was unsuccessful in its attempt to erode Americans
constitutional rights.
Referring to the international outcry the case provoked, involving
fundraisers and protests held on four continents, Sommer said, The
government has unlimited resources to bring and prosecute these
kinds of
charges, but the accused often dont have any resources to defend
themselves. This victory could never have happened without the
activism
of thousands of people. Supporters protested, vocally opposed the
prosecution, and refused to let it go on in silence. And without their
efforts at fundraising, Kurtz and Ferrell would not have been able to
defend themselves from these false accusations.
Sommer added that the next step for the defense will be to get back
all
of the materials taken by the FBI during its 2004 raid on the Kurtz
home, including several completed art projects, as well as Dr. Kurtzs
lab equipment, computers, books, manuscripts, notes, research
materials,
and personal belongings. The four confiscated art projects are the
subject of an exhibition entitled SEIZED on view at Hallwalls
Contemporary Arts Center in Buffalo, NY, through July 18:
http://www.hallwalls.org/visual_shows/2008/show_seized.html.
BACKGROUND TO THE CASE
The case originated in May 2004, when Kurtzs wife Hope died of heart
failure as the couple was preparing a project about genetically
modified
agriculture for the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
Police who
responded to Steve Kurtzs 911 call deemed the Kurtzes art materials
suspicious and alerted the FBI. Kurtz explained that the materials
(legally and easily obtained basic life science equipment and two
harmless bacteria samples) had already been displayed at museums
throughout Europe and North America with absolutely no risk to the
public. However, the following day, Kurtz was illegally detained
for 22
hours on suspicion of bioterrorism, as dozens of agents from the FBI,
Joint Terrorism Task Force, Homeland Security, Department of Defense,
ATF, and numerous other law enforcement agencies raided his home,
seizing his personal and professional belongings. After a federal
grand
jury refused to charge Kurtz with bioterrorism, Kurtz and Ferrell were
indicted on two counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud
concerning the acquisition of $256 of harmless bacteria for one of
Critical Art Ensembles educational art projects. (Critical Art
Ensemble
is the recipient of numerous awards for its projects, including the
prestigious 2007 Andy Warhol Foundation Wynn Kramarsky Freedom of
Artistic Expression Grant, in recognition of twenty years of
distinguished work: http://www.creative-capital.org/index2.html.)
The Department of Justice brought the charges in spite of the fact
that
the alleged victims of fraudAmerican Type Culture Collection and
the
University of Pittsburghnever filed any charges or complained of any
wrongdoing, and the fact that in bringing the charges the
Department of
Justice was acting completely outside its own Prosecution Policy
Relating to Mail Fraud and Wire Fraud
(http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/
title9/43mcrm.htm).
For more information and extensive documentation, including the
Judges
dismissal, please visit:
http://caedefensefund.org
***
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End of SPECTRE Digest, Vol 64, Issue 11
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