Innocent Videographer Sentenced to
300 Days in Cook County Jail Today, September 8, 2010, in Skokie IL, the judge sentenced Gregory Koger to  300 days in Cook County jail. She did this in the face of 7 character witnesses (including a college professor, a former assistant state's attorney, a Catholic priest, a University of Chicago student Gregory mentored, and his employer, an attorney) and 25 written personal testimonials from a wide array of people, including former Ethical Humanist Society members. These were all moving tributes to Gregory's character, his transformation from a troubled youth, his morality and his devotion to bettering humanity. These statements painted a picture of a human being who had touched many lives and inspired people. They and the almost 1,000 signatories and comments on a petition called on the judge to not give Gregory jail time.
Supporters who overflowed the courtroom were outraged when the judge threw the book at Gregory for misdemeanor convictions for taking pictures with an iPhone. Probation is the default sentence for all misdemeanors. The prosecution presented no witnesses. They entered only documentation of two prior convictions. The judge took this up with a vengeance, saying that Gregory had demonstrated his "volatile nature." She even went so far as to claim he endangered every person in the Ethical Humanist Society auditorium. This was extraordinary since there was no testimony claiming this during the trial. The judge delivered a tirade to Koger which included stating, "you absolutely deserve the maximum ..."
The defense committee for Gregory stated in a press release, "After the hearing people gathered outside to denounce the sentencing. People who had witnessed the arrest spoke about how outraged they were that Gregory was even arrested in the first place much less face real jail time." We are determined to not let this outrage stand. Many more people need to hear about it and raise their voices in protest. |
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Post this blog everywhere, your blog, twitter, facebook etc... everywhere you can Immediately sign and circulate this petition: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1170/action/gregory-koger.
Sign the ad (coming very soon). 1000 people @ contributing $5 or more for publication in a major Chicago newspaper. Matching funds also needed.
Send letters and cards to Gregory in jail to show your support. In order to be sure he gets his mail, inform the committee that you wrote him. ( adhoc4reason@gmail.com)
Gregory Koger
#2010-0826188
PO Box 089002
Chicago, IL 60608 Share these resources |
Gregory Koger Writes From Jail
I want to express my most sincere and heartfelt thanks for the outpouring of love and support in the face of this political attack.
Although it pains me to be locked up in the hellholes of America's racist gulag once again, I now have the opportunity to bring revolution and communism to the youth and others locked down here with me in the Cook County Jail.
Despite the attempts of those in power in the ruling class to break my spirit, this political prosecution has only served to strengthen my determination to sweep this horrendous capitalist system of exploitation and oppression from the face of the earth and liberate all of humanity.
Revolutionary Love,
GREGORY
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A Grave Injustice Has Been Perpetrated..
FREE Gregory! 
No Jail Time!
A grave injustice has been perpetrated! In an outrageous trial, for "crimes" that never happened, a young man who came out of prison and took up revolutionary politics was convicted in a Skokie, Illinois, court on August 26 of three totally trumped-up criminal misdemeanor charges of trespass, simple battery (on a cop) and resisting arrest. In an additional outrage, instead of allowing Gregory to remain out of jail on bond pending a sentencing hearing, the judge revoked his bond and he was taken directly from the courthouse to jail. The sentencing hearing is September 8, where he faces as many as three years in jail. This railroad must be stopped!(read the whole posting)
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