UPDATE:
Squirrel’s letters are getting rejected. PLEASE read the “Sending Letters & Books” section of the Jail Support page before sending mail. If you include things like stickers, letters, etc., your letter will get rejected. Also, please include a return address so that it gets through and so that squirrel can write you back. Thanks so much for sending Squirrel letters!
Today in Kanawha county court, Squirrel agreed to a plea deal which resulted in her being transported to south central regional jail to serve the remaining 18 days of a 20 day sentence. That means she will get out on Thanksgiving day.
Squirrel is the last member of her affinity group to be sentenced for boarding a barge on the Kanawha River near Chelyan, with a large banner that read “Coal leaves, cancer stays,” and locking their bodies to the barge. At the same time, dozens of concerned citizens obstructed access to the haul road on Kayford Mountain, stopping coal trucks from entering or leaving the Republic Energy mine. On May 24th, coal transport in two locations was halted to protest mountaintop removal.
The initial plea offer Squirrel received this afternoon was 10 days in jail with a year probation and an additional 80 days suspended sentence, meaning she would only serve those 80 days if she violated probation. Squirrel was not interested in serving probation, so she made a counter-offer of 20 days in jail with no probation. The prosecutor agreed and Magistrate Workman then signed off on the deal. She was given 2 days time served for the 2 days that she served in jail immediately following the action. Magistrate Workman offered for her to serve the remaining 18 days only on weekends, which Squirrel refused as she would rather serve the full sentence at one time.
Before court today, squirrel had this to say “Since I’ve been arrested three times in West Virginia, I anticipate facing some jail time. I would love letters and news while I’m in jail, but no worry. I would also love for RAMPS to receive donations to the general Fund”
You can write to her:
Catherine Ann MacDougal
South Central Regional Jail
1001 Centre Way
Charleston, WV 25309-1001
For more information about Jail Support, check out our Jail Support page.
You Can to the RAMPS General Fund here.
Squirrel had this to say after serving those 2 days immediately after the action …
When my friends and I locked our bodies to a coal Barge on the Kanawha River, we found ourselves in a place of great visibility. We were immediately noticed and photographed and our story and message spread through newspapers, on twitter, and all over the internet.
That same day, we entered South Central Regional Jail in Kanawha County, WV, where those held are almost invisible. I believe that jail is always inhumane–a poor way to resolve social conflict but an excellent way for those in power to repress dissenting people groups.
You can read her full post showing solidarity with prisoners of south central regional jail
