On January 26th, long-time activist and political prisoner Marie Mason will be turning 50. Taking just a few minutes to send a card or write a letter to her is a small, but powerful act for those confined to a prison cell.
You can write to her at
Marie Mason #04672-061
FMC Carswell
Federal Medical Center
P.O. Box 27137
Fort Worth, TX 76127
For tips and guidelines on writing Marie, visit her about page here.
There is now a quick and easy way to send books to Marie- the Amazon Wish List. It features the books which Marie is currently requesting so you know just what to get her! Especially living under more restrictive conditions in FMC Carswell, this is a great way to support Marie.
If you would rather bypass amazon you must send the book directly from the publisher. Just make sure to email us at supportmariemason@gmail.com letting us know what you sent so we can update Marie’s wishlist.
Please make sure to read the following guidelines so that your book reaches Marie:
If you have an amazon.com account, you can add her wishlist to your profile for easy reference.
There are currently two books on her wishlist, Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology and The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World.
It would be great to see individuals and groups work to meet these requests! 
If you want to send a book to Marie via Amazon, please indicate that it is a gift and include your name. Otherwise, Amazon will not print your name on the paperwork that goes to the prison, and without the name of the person sending the book, the prison will not allow it.
In case you haven’t noticed, there is a lot of new content on the site.
New things that have been put up in the last few months include photos of Marie at Waseca prison just before she was transferred; new poetry and art from Marie; a new sticker design; and pictures of Marie’s cats. Click here to see these.
Also, we finally have Mason’s original sentencing transcript from 2009 available. Highlights include statements from an MSU bureaucrat and the sentencing judge, who both declare that Mason should be punished for violating the “marketplace of ideas.” Federal agents describe Earth First! as a “related organization” to the ELF, and Frank Ambrose is described as having taped “hundreds” of conversations with activists. Mason is absurdly portrayed as pulling the strings behind the I-69 campaign while she was on bail with at her mother’s house in northern Michigan. References to her support websites (undoubtedly including this one) are introduced as some kind of nefarious action. And Rod Coronado and Fifth Estate both make an appearance. Well worth a read.
UPDATE ON MARIE MASON (Aug 30, 2010)
We have some updated news on Marie Mason.
First, Mason urgently asks that all supporters STOP sending money directly into her commissary account. Money for her commissary should be sent directly to her mother, Karin Mason, at: PO Box 352, Stanwood, MI 49346. Money sent there is put into her commissary as needed. If you know anyone who may be sending money directly to her commissary, please contact them IMMEDIATELY and ask them to stop doing this.
Second, the lawyers have hold us that the feds have consistently denied that Carswell is a CMU. However, the wing Mason is in is clearly a special control unit, and the conditions there are also very restrictive. At least one other political prisoner is being held there, Helen Woodson.
We are extremely happy to report that Mason’s food situation has improved significantly compared to Waseca prison. She is also no longer held in solitary all the time; as of her last communication, she has been let out occasionally, but has not been released into general circulation in her unit yet.
Mason asks that people hold off sending any books for the time.
The hearing for her appeal for re-sentencing is set for October 19 in Cincinnati. Mason will not be there, but it will be open to the public to attend.
Marie Mason’s case is one of three examples discussed in Peter Gelderloos’s new article “The Decline of Resistance from the Red Scare to the War on Terror”, available on Counterpunch.
Mason is now at the federal prison in Carswell, Texas.
For many years, it has been rumored that this is the location of a third of the previously secret CMUs (Communications Management Units). For more on CMUs, see here.
Please write to Mason:
Marie Mason #04672-061
FMC Carswell
Federal Medical Center
P.O. Box 27137
Fort Worth, TX 76127
According to the BOP inmate locator, Marie Mason is at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City. Although rumors continue to swirl, there is no confirmation at this time as to where Mason will end up.
Please drop Mason a line. If you are writing a longer letter, we recommend you photocopy it, in case she is gone by the time it arrives. This way you can resend it again later.
MARIE JEANETTE MASON #04672-061
———
[Mason has now been moved]
On Thursday (July 1) Marie Mason was placed in solitary confinement. Her cell is very small and windowless, and since then she has only been allowed to stand outside (in a small cage) for under an hour, in total.
She cannot send email and can only make one phone call a week. She has also lost access to the vegan food she was buying from the commissary, and so she has an extremely limited diet.
She has been told that she has been ”re-classified”, although exactly what this means is unclear. They may be preparing to transfer her.
Mason can still send and receive letters. However, she asks that supporters do not send pictures at this time.
If anyone has information about what process is being initiated, please contact us at supportmariemason at gmail. We encourage all supporters to write her and keep her spirits up.
Marie Mason’s birthday is January 26. We ask all supporters to send her a card!
If you make one, remember – don’t use anything like white-out, stickers, tape or glitter on it. We also recommend that you put her name and prisoner number on the card, lest the authorities “lose” the envelope and forget where it is going.
Marie Mason #04672-061 FCI Waseca Federal Correctional Institution P.O. Box 1731 Waseca, MN 56093
