Hengest
04-23-2007, 02:48 PM
From Laurel Owen - OR Prison Affairs Bureau:
Hail to All~
We must act on this as soon as possible. People in England and in other countries are welcome to participate as well. All the information is below except Patrick's email, which is TinkerGld@aol.com
Thank you,
Laurel
*******
What I need is Declarations from a number of different kindreds. They should be simply worded, something like this:
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Bob Jones, and I am a (whatever term best fits) of the Kindred of Thor. If I were called to testify in a court of law, the following would be my truthful testimony under oath:
Odinists and Asatru require sacred outside space to perform their religious services. This is both our common practice and also required by our faith tenets. There is a long history of our faith practicing outdoors, which is well documented.
This I do declare under the penalty of perjury,
Signature
Bob Jones
Signed at Los Angeles California, April 22, 2007
That's about it.
So here's the deal. California is moving to take away the few areas of sacred space granted to us in their prisons. They are also denying new kindreds from having sacred out door space all together. Several kindreds have filed grievances and the state has contacted me to help resolve the issue. The particular Administrator who I'm working with, wants to grant us our space and to reverse California's policy. He wants me to provide him with Declarations to present to the department heads and to the state's legal team, and he feels quite certain that if we have the declarations, we will win. We have to have the Declarations to him within the next 7 days, or it's a done deal against us and will likely take years in court to reverse.
Also, these State administrators are on a national e-list that I'm on, and they plan to announce the outcome of this situation as a guide for departments in other states, so this could either be great for us if we show up, or disastrous if we don't.
My suggestion is, to have everyone you can, e-mail me their Declaration as soon as possible and then have them mail me a hard copy to Rev. Patrick McCollum, 450 Center Street, #133, Moraga, CA. 94556.
If they have a letter head, have them use it. If not, it will have to do.
I will forward each declaration to him with a note that I will be sending the hard copy as soon as I receive it.
I'm pretty confident that this will work.
The ball is in your court. I've done everything I can on my end, and I will go to bat for our kindreds with all I've got, but the larger community has to show up on this one.
Patrick
This is the letter I wrote for Pat, just as a sample:
*****************
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Laurel Owen. I am the Coordinator for the Prison Affairs Bureau of the Odinic Rite. We are an international Odinist organization. I have volunteered in state and federal institutions for Odinist services. If I were called to testify in a court of law, the following would be my truthful testimony under oath:
Odinists and Asatru require sacred outside space to perform their religious services. This is both our common practice and also most appropriate by our faith tenets. There is a long history of our faith practicing outdoors, which is well documented. All Odinist/Asatru groups I know of in the federal prison system worship outside. This is just a given, and it as not been a question for many years now. I am hopeful that the state systems will follow this lead, and that Odinist/Asatru hearths and kindreds can Blot, Sumbel, and fellowship outside in every state institution.
This I do declare under the penalty of perjury,
Laurel Owen
Signed at Eureka Springs, AR on April 22, 2007
Hail to All~
We must act on this as soon as possible. People in England and in other countries are welcome to participate as well. All the information is below except Patrick's email, which is TinkerGld@aol.com
Thank you,
Laurel
*******
What I need is Declarations from a number of different kindreds. They should be simply worded, something like this:
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Bob Jones, and I am a (whatever term best fits) of the Kindred of Thor. If I were called to testify in a court of law, the following would be my truthful testimony under oath:
Odinists and Asatru require sacred outside space to perform their religious services. This is both our common practice and also required by our faith tenets. There is a long history of our faith practicing outdoors, which is well documented.
This I do declare under the penalty of perjury,
Signature
Bob Jones
Signed at Los Angeles California, April 22, 2007
That's about it.
So here's the deal. California is moving to take away the few areas of sacred space granted to us in their prisons. They are also denying new kindreds from having sacred out door space all together. Several kindreds have filed grievances and the state has contacted me to help resolve the issue. The particular Administrator who I'm working with, wants to grant us our space and to reverse California's policy. He wants me to provide him with Declarations to present to the department heads and to the state's legal team, and he feels quite certain that if we have the declarations, we will win. We have to have the Declarations to him within the next 7 days, or it's a done deal against us and will likely take years in court to reverse.
Also, these State administrators are on a national e-list that I'm on, and they plan to announce the outcome of this situation as a guide for departments in other states, so this could either be great for us if we show up, or disastrous if we don't.
My suggestion is, to have everyone you can, e-mail me their Declaration as soon as possible and then have them mail me a hard copy to Rev. Patrick McCollum, 450 Center Street, #133, Moraga, CA. 94556.
If they have a letter head, have them use it. If not, it will have to do.
I will forward each declaration to him with a note that I will be sending the hard copy as soon as I receive it.
I'm pretty confident that this will work.
The ball is in your court. I've done everything I can on my end, and I will go to bat for our kindreds with all I've got, but the larger community has to show up on this one.
Patrick
This is the letter I wrote for Pat, just as a sample:
*****************
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Laurel Owen. I am the Coordinator for the Prison Affairs Bureau of the Odinic Rite. We are an international Odinist organization. I have volunteered in state and federal institutions for Odinist services. If I were called to testify in a court of law, the following would be my truthful testimony under oath:
Odinists and Asatru require sacred outside space to perform their religious services. This is both our common practice and also most appropriate by our faith tenets. There is a long history of our faith practicing outdoors, which is well documented. All Odinist/Asatru groups I know of in the federal prison system worship outside. This is just a given, and it as not been a question for many years now. I am hopeful that the state systems will follow this lead, and that Odinist/Asatru hearths and kindreds can Blot, Sumbel, and fellowship outside in every state institution.
This I do declare under the penalty of perjury,
Laurel Owen
Signed at Eureka Springs, AR on April 22, 2007