[Ppnews] Jeff Luers back in custody after mistaken release

[Political Prisoner News]

Jeff Luers back in custody after mistaken release

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gvDQ-1fL5TvSfDxiKNH76IF90iIgD9B39LG80

(AP) – 2 hours ago

PORTLAND, Ore. ­ Self-proclaimed anarchist Jeff 
Luers was released Friday after years in prison 
for setting trucks ablaze in an environmental 
protest ­ but he was back in custody within hours.

Department of Corrections spokeswoman Jennifer 
Black said a mistake was made in calculating the 
amount to time off Luers could get for good behavior.

Luers was convicted in June 2001 and sentenced to 
23 years in prison after he admitted setting a 
fire at a Eugene car dealership that destroyed a 
pickup truck and damaged two other trucks. He did 
not admit to putting an incendiary device on an 
oil delivery truck in Eugene, but was convicted in that case, too.

The case drew widespread attention and groups 
around the country raised money to help him, 
while the city of Eugene's Human Rights 
Commission wrote a letter urging his sentence be reduced.

Eventually, his sentence was cut to 10 years, 
making him eligible to release this year with time off for good behavior.

That release came Friday morning from a Portland 
prison, but he was picked up again when he 
checked in with his parole officer in Eugene, Black said.

Black said the error occurred in determining 
Luer's time off. He had qualified for a 20 
percent reduction in his sentence for good 
behavior, and authorities took another 10 percent 
off under terms of recent legislation designed to 
reduce the state prison population. But Black 
said they learned after releasing him that one of 
Luers' convictions did not qualify under the law

His new release date is Dec. 16.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
*******************************************************
Jeffrey Free Luers, final Dispatch from Prison
September 2009

The last nine years have been a long journey for 
me. During that time I have written extensively 
of my hopes and aspirations, my heartache and my 
loss. These dispatches have allowed me to remain 
an active part of this movement and a voice for 
earth liberation. They have provided me an outlet 
for the often painful emotions that come from being in prison.

When I began this journey many years ago in the 
back seat of a police car, I had no hope or any 
expectation but that I would walk this path 
alone. The overwhelming love and support I have 
received since my first night in jail has been 
constant and absolute. I have never had to walk 
this path without the support of my friends, 
family and thousands of unknown allies walking behind me.

I am eternally thankful to my dedicated friends 
that built my support from a handful of people 
into an international campaign. Their work and 
loyalty has served as the foundation for which 
earth liberation prisoner support is now based.

I owe so much to the people of this struggle. I 
owe you my freedom. Without the support I have 
received throughout the years and the demand for 
my release I do not believe my sentence would have been reduced.

For the rest of my life I will carry with me the 
memory of the years spent behind these walls; 
undoubtedly, they will shape my future.

However, the strongest memory of all will not be 
of the years inside. It will be of the years of 
solidarity; the demonstrations and protests, the 
letters and visits, and most of all the love.

To all of those who have supported me over the 
years, those who have read these dispatches and 
shared in my life I give you my never ending 
thanks. You have carried me through these years.

It is time now for me to end this chapter of my 
life. This will be my final dispatch. For many of 
us this is our goodbye, for a handful this is just the beginning.

All of you have my sincerest heartfelt 
appreciation and gratitude. You have shown me 
without a doubt that I was never forgotten and never abandoned.

This struggle, our cause, brings us together. 
Each of us is connected, every moment of 
resistance intertwined. Together we carry with us 
some ancient understanding of freedom and 
intrinsic knowledge that we must honor the land and water as sacred.

I will always carry this struggle in my heart. I 
will always remember the victories and bitter 
losses, the joy and heartache, the camaraderie 
and betrayals. This is our history, who we are, who I am.

I can give no greater tribute to this movement 
than a promise I will remember everything we 
gave, every sacrifice, every love filled battle 
cry and every heart broken tear. I will always remember. I will never forget.

-Jeffrey Free Luers
<http://www.freejeffluers.org>http://www.freejeffluers.org





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