Supporters Say Artist's Prosecution Is About Expression, Not Bioterrorism

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-fisher/supporters-say-artists-p_b_71712.html

William Fisher| BIO
Supporters Say Artist's Prosecution is About Expression, Not Bioterrorism
Posted November 8, 2007 | 10:16 AM (EST)

A week after 20-year-old charges were dropped against the last two defendants in the longest-running Federal prosecution in US history - the so-called L.A. Eight - another case threatens to take its place. And critics of the Department of Justice are charging that the newest case is a clear example of prosecutorial over-zealousness.

After numerous defeats in court, the Government late last month agreed to drop deportation charges against Khader Hamide and Michel Shehadeh, who were accused in 1987 on charges of being affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The government charged that any association with the PFLP was grounds for deportation under the McCarran-Walter Act, legislation written during the McCarthy era that allowed deportation for association with any organization that "advocated the doctrines of world Communism."

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The other six defendants were in the US on temporary visas when the case began. Three of them have become permanent residents. One became a permanent resident and then a naturalized citizen. Two others are eligible to become permanent residents and have applications pending. So for all practical purposes, the case against Hamide and Shehadeh was the final one.

But the clock is ticking on another case that appears to be similarly endless. It is a prosecution that many are describing as one of the most bizarre in US legal history.

The case pits avant-garde protest artists against government anti-terrorism investigators. The key players are Dr. Robert E. Ferrell, 68, a nationally known genetics researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, and Dr. Steven A. Kurtz, 48, a tenured arts professor at the University at Buffalo and a founding member of the award-winning collective Critical Art Ensemble (CAE). Some of CAE's work is designed to protest the potential risks of genetically modified (GM) food.

The case started in May of 2004. While Kurtz was preparing for an exhibition at
MASS MoCA, a museum in North Adams, Massachusetts, his wife of twenty years died in her sleep. When police responded to his 911 call, they saw petri dishes in his home -- part of the scheduled installation -- filled with bacteria cultures.

They called the FBI. While politicians and Federal prosecutors rushed to trumpet the thwarting of a major threat, Kurtz was illegally detained under the Patriot Act on suspicion of bioterrorism. The street where Kurtz's home was located was cordoned off, his house searched, and his property seized.

The Governor of New York, George Pataki, lauded the work of the FBI for disrupting a major bioterrorism threat. And the then US Attorney in Buffalo, Michael A. Battle - the lawyer who was later to become the Department of Justice employee who notified eight US Attorneys that they were being fired - praised the work of the Buffalo Joint Terrorism Task Force.

But after a several-month-long investigation, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DSH) failed to provide any evidence of "bioterrorism" On the contrary, FBI tests revealed within a few days of the incident that there were no harmful biological agents in Kurtz's house and that his wife had died of heart failure.

Forced to drop its charges of weapons manufacture, the government instead accused Kurtz and Ferrell of mail and wire fraud. They had failed to complete a question in the requisition required to transport the admittedly harmless bacteria - the purpose of the shipment. This resulted in Ferrell's plea to illegally using the mails to transport restricted materials. The charges against the two academics were brought under the Patriot Act, thus increasing the maximum penalty from five years to 20.

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Prosecutors say the Kurtz-Ferrell case revolves around public safety concerns, not politics. According to reporting by Dan Herbeck of the Buffalo News, the current US Attorney, Terrance P. Flynn, has declined to comment on the case. But Lucia Sommer, a spokeswoman for Kurtz's defense fund, said that Kurtz will continue to fight the government's charges.

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were the petri dishes used in/for the artwork? And this was touted as a major blow against terrorism? Pleeze! That's why it remains open, and will probably close eventually after ruining these people's lives.

The LA8, which I have read about, after years of stress and b.s., was quietly closed. And all these people suffer while the government is without fault. This is so wrong!

So the petri dishes could be used in any of those aspects, but there was never any safety issue. These people are professionals.

to get national attention? This is the first I've heard of this case despite the artistic community being behind them. :( Who are their congresscritters? I'm not asking you specifically, but this seems intolerable to me.