Animal Rights Prisoner Support

We are calling on all supporters of Marie Mason to contact the warden’s office at Waseca prison and ask that she be provided with vegan food. Mason is a vegan for ethical, medical and spiritual reasons, but the prison has denied her vegan meals since her incarceration. Because of this, she has been in ill-health, suffering from symptoms like dizziness and extreme pain in her hands.

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Marie Mason has just started her staggering 22-year sentence for eco-sabotage. She is currently serving the longest sentence of any US “Green Scare” prisoner. In February 2009 she was sentenced for two acts of property destruction that occurred in 1999 and 2000. Marie was caught when her then-husband, Frank Ambrose, turned informant and was set to testify against her. (He filed for divorce the day she was arrested, and he eventually received nine years.) Marie ended up taking a plea bargain and admitted guilt for 12 actions; no one was injured or killed in any of them. They included an ALF-claimed action against a chicken farm, and an ELF-claimed destruction of a Monsanto-funded GMO researcher’s office.

The prosecution agreed to ask for 15–20 years, but the judge – apparently enraged by Marie’s refusal to name names against fellow activists – gave her an even longer sentence. After the arrest, federal authorities continued to harass Marie’s family: they raided her mother’s house (where Marie had stayed on bond); questioned her ex-husband at his workplace; seized Marie’s diaries from her daughter; and even had Marie’s son arrested on spurious charges from years ago, when he was a juvenile! (The charges were dismissed.)

Marie is currently imprisoned at Waseca, a low-security prison in Minnesota, while her lawyer appeals her sentence. She is doing relatively well and has a job as a guitar instructor, which she enjoys very much. However, contact with her lawyers and others on the outside has been very sporadic; mail seems to frequently disappear and phone calls do not go through. Prison officials even banned contact with one group of supporters, although this was eventually reversed. Additionally, a new program has been implemented where Marie can only write to a pre-approved list of 100 people (although she still can receive letters from anyone). The prison has also notified her that she will not be allowed to use the new email system.

Her food situation is turning dire, however. The prison has refused Marie’s request for vegan food; therefore she has been buying additional food from the commissary. However, there was too much money in her commissary account and therefore a monthly amount has been garnished (Marie must pay court-ordered restitution). This has created a vicious cycle: the prison system is refusing to provide her with vegan food, forcing her to buy food from the commissary; but because there is money in her commissary account to buy the food, they are punishing her for it. At this juncture, she wants supporters to be aware of the situation, but NOT to take any action. We also ask that supporters do not place money directly in her commissary account, but rather provide any funds directly to her family.

Additional information is available at www.supportmariemason.org.

Donations can be sent directly to her family (Karin Mason, PO Box 352, Stanwood, MI 49346). And please write to Marie! Marie Mason #04672-061, FCI Waseca, Federal Correctional Institution, P.O. Box 1731, Waseca, MN 56093.