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NOW OUT—THE BOOK AND FILM
THE FBI TRIED TO STOP!
In their May 2004 raid on Steve Kurtz’s
home, agents from the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force
seized art works, research, and the first draft of a book
that were to be part of Critical Art Ensemble’s project
Marching Plague, dedicated to demystifying the issues surrounding
germ warfare. After wasting millions of taxpayer dollars,
the government was unable to produce any evidence that Steve
was a “bioterrorist” – yet they refused
to return any of the seized materials. Despite this attempt
at censorship, Steve was finally able to (partially) reconstruct
his research, which has now been published as Marching Plague:
Germ Warfare and Global Public Health (New York: Autonomedia,
2006). The companion film received its American premiere
in the 2006 Whitney Biennial. (Please see sidebar for other
screenings and showings of this project.)
This would not have been possible
without the support of thousands of people who raised the
money to pay the legal bills and generated the media surrounding
the case –without you, Steve would most likely be
in jail today awaiting trial. We now need your help more
than ever to spread the word about this case as widely
as possible between now and the time of the trial.
Please click
here to see how you can help!
CASE CONTINUES ON (03/13/06)
On January 12 our motions for dismissal were denied, and
it seems very likely that the case will go to a full trial.
Although it has been over 18 months since Steve was charged
with “mail fraud” and “wire fraud”—charges
carrying a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in jail—he
will now have to wait at least 8 months, and possibly much
longer, for the final decision on these motions. Your support
is needed now more than ever.
Read
more about this decision and what you can do to help
Read the
Magistrate's recommendations [PDF]
FBI
HARASSMENT CONTINUES--ARTIST FACES 20-YEAR CHARGES
Read this release in
German here.
July 8, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: mailto:media@caedefensefund.org
FBI HARASSMENT OF ARTIST AND SCIENTIST CONTINUES Kurtz and
Ferrell face 20-year charges of mail and wire fraud in federal
court arraignment
Dr. Steven Kurtz, Associate Professor of Art at the University
of Buffalo, was arraigned and charged in Federal District
Court in Buffalo today on four counts of mail and wire fraud
(United States Criminal Code, Title 18, United States Code,
Sections 1341 and 1343), which each carry a maximum sentence
of 20 years in prison.
The arraignment of Dr. Robert Ferrell, Professor of Genetics
at the University of Pittsburgh, who was indicted along with
Kurtz, has been postponed for a week for health reasons.
The defendants were charged not with bioterrorism, the investigative
reason that was state on the original FBI subpoenas, but
with a glorified version of "petty larceny," in the words
of Kurtz attorney Paul Cambria. The laws under which the
indictments were obtained are normally used against those
defrauding others of money or property, as in telemarketing
schemes. Historically, these laws have been used when the
government could not prove other criminal charges. (See http://www.caedefensefund.org/ for
background and full text of indictment.
Under the arraignment conditions, Kurtz is subject to travel
restrictions, random and scheduled visits from a probation
officer, and periodic drug tests.
EMINENT SCIENTISTS CONFUSED AND ALARMED
A great number of people are wondering why this seemingly
absurd case is still being pursued.
"I am absolutely astonished," said Donald A. Henderson, Dean Emeritus of the
Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health and resident scholar
at the Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Henderson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bush for
his work in heading up the World Health Organization smallpox eradication program
and was appointed by the Bush administration to chair the National Advisory
Council on Public Preparedness.
"Based on what I have read and understand, Professor Kurtz has been working
with totally innocuous organisms... to discuss something of the risks and threats
of biological weapons--more power to him, as those of us in this field are
likewise concerned about their potential use and the threat of bio-terrorism." Henderson
noted that the organisms involved in this case--Serratia marcescens and Bacillus
atrophaeus--do not appear on lists of substances that could be used in biological
terrorism (http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=646).
University of California at San Diego Professor of Design
Engineering Natalie Jeremijenko noted that scientists ship
materials to each other all the time. "I do it, my lab students
do it. It's a basis of academic collaboration.... They're
going to have to indict the entire scientific community."
Perhaps with such an outcome in mind, preeminent science
magazine Nature has called on scientists to support Kurtz. "As
with the prosecution of some scientists in recent years,
it seems that government lawyers are singling Kurtz out as
a warning to the broader artistic community.... Art and science
are forms of human enquiry that can be illuminating and controversial,
and the freedom of both must be preserved as part of a healthy
democracy--as must a sense of proportion" (http://www.caedefensefund.org/press/CAEed.pdf).
FACE-SAVING MEASURE OR WARNING TO ARTISTS?
Some believe that the entire case is merely a face-saving
tactic by the FBI: "Recently, federal agents arrested University
at Buffalo art professor Steven Kurtz, implying he was a
bioterrorist. Now, officials have downgraded that to a mail
fraud charge.... The FBI always gets its man, even if it
has to change its charge. Jaywalkers, beware" (http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20040707/3028537.asp).
Others, like the editors of Nature quoted above, see the
intent as much more insidious. "It's really going to have
a chilling impact on the type of work people are going to
do in this arena, and other arenas as well," noted Stephen
Halpern, a SUNY Buffalo law professor who specializes in
Constitutional law (http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=646).
Professors and staff from the University of California system
express similar fears. "We are both extremely concerned and
disturbed that the prosecution of the CAE members and research
colleagues is continuing.... We see here a pattern of behavior
that leads to the curtailing of academic freedom, freedom
of artistic expression, freedom of interdisciplinary investigation,
freedom of information exchange, freedom of knowledge accumulation
and reflection, and freedom of bona fide and peaceful research.
All of which are fundamental rights and cornerstones of a
modern academic environment."
"Kurtz's materials are politically, not physically, dangerous," said Mary-Claire
King, the University of Washington geneticist who first proved the existence
of a gene for hereditary breast cancer. "They [Steve Kurtz and the Critical
Art Ensemble] re-create [scientific] ideas using their own way of imaging,
and then say, 'Maybe you'd like to look at it this way.' To me, that's teaching.
It does not seem to me to threaten homeland security. In fact, I would be threatened
to live in a homeland in which that was perceived to be a threat" (http://www.tribnet.com/entertainment/story/5238040p-5173016c.html).
CAE had intended to use the bacteria concerned in a project
critiquing the history of US involvement in germ warfare
experiments, including the Bush administration's earmarking
of hundreds of millions of dollars to erect high-security
laboratories around the country. Many eminent scientists
likewise view these plans as a recipe for catastrophe. "I'm
concerned about them from the standpoint of science, safety,
security, public health and economics," writes Dr. Richard
Ebright, lab director at Rutgers University's Waksman Institute
of Microbiology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "They
lose on all counts" (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/29/science/29cont.html).
In a letter to the FBI, the PEN American Freedom to Write
committee writes that "PEN supports strong, targeted laws
to apprehend terrorists and those who would carry out terrorist
attacks. In seeking to meet the terrorist threat, however,
we must not give in to the impulse to censor or ban whole
bodies of basic knowledge. The tools of terrorists are the
tools of modern life, and many of these tools, including
biotechnology, have wide-ranging, non-criminal applications.
They also pose challenging ethical and policy questions,
which it is both the right and responsibility of a free society
to consider. Arts such as literature and performance are
indispensable tools that often serve to stimulate and advance
public awareness and understanding of otherwise arcane bodies
of knowledge.... Actions [of the FBI and the Joint Terrorism
Task Force] could exert a chilling effect on kinds of speech
that clearly enjoy full First Amendment protection. You have
pledged to carry out antiterrorism efforts without compromising
civil liberties and constitutional protections."
Innumerable other scientists, artists, institutions, and
others have written letters of support for Kurtz and Ferrell.
A number of these can be viewed at http://www.caedefensefund.org/letters.html.
INVESTIGATION CONTINUES
Even after today's arraignment, the FBI's investigation of
Kurtz and Ferrell is not over. The grand jury is still hearing
testimony of subpoenaed witnesses including Autonomedia,
an independent publisher who has published five CAE books
(http://www.autonomedia.org/). Autonomedia, summoned to appear
in court on July 13 and to submit all records and editorial
correspondence pertaining to their dealings with CAE, is
represented by the New York Civil Liberties Union with an
amicus curiae brief from the American Booksellers Committee
for Free Expression.
Organizers and supporters of the defense committee have pledged
to continue their information, education, and protest activities.
Several campuses have already organized teach-ins on the
case in the fall, and fund-raisers and speak-outs are scheduled
in Chicago, London, New York, and other cities throughout
July and August.
To donate to the defense fund, please visit http://caedefensefund.org/donate.html.
Updates on the case will be posted at http://www.caedefensefund.org/.
To receive more frequent updates by email, please join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAE_Defense/.
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ADDITIONAL
ARRAIGNMENT DETAILS
July 8, 2004
The courtroom was packed with press as Steve Kurtz and his
lawyer Paul Cambria arrived. The proceedings lasted almost
two hours. The charges are the same as in the http://www.caedefensefund.org/indictment.pdf indictment.
Kurtz pleaded "not guilty." Most of the court time was devoted
to working out the restrictions on the accused (or shall
we call him the perp? He certainly did a good perp walk yesterday).
It is important to note that the harassment which continues
to characterize this case was evident in the courtroom also.
Prosecutor Hochul had filled the jury box with invitees from
the FBI and Joint Terrorist Task Force (Department of Defense)
guys (they were recognized by Cambria and another lawyer).
Since they were not there to give testimony, the purpose
of their presence seemed to be to make the situation look
more serious legally than it is, thereby hoping to influence
the judge to make harsher conditions for the accused. However,
the judge did not seem to be intimidated.
Steve will have to see a probation officer every week, and
is subject to random visits and inspections by the officer
to his home. He is also subject to random drug testing and
may have to wear a drug patch. He can travel within the continental
United States but has to get special permission for foreign
travel (which he can do only for business or family reasons,
surrendering his passport every time he returns to the US).
He also has to get special permission for any travel that
would interrupt meeting with the probation officer. Steve
will be allowed to order more "biological materials," but
will have to first alert his US probation office, his University
Health and Bio-safety officer and his lawyer, Paul Cambria.
Upon being booked, Steve did not have to post bond--if he
violates any of the conditions he will have to pay a $1000
fine. He is obligated to report parking tickets or any other
official problem, or any interaction with law enforcement
authorities. Upon arraignment Steve was finger-printed, photographed,
and he gave a urine sample for drug testing. He passed the
test!
Steve is still not talking to the press. The next court date
is July 28--Ferrell's arraignment, which will include a discussion
of the trial.
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"BIOTERROR" CHARGES
AGAINST ART PROFESSOR DOWNGRADED TO "MAIL FRAUD" IN STEALTH
INDICTMENT \$256 technicality may be face-saving
move by FBI - June 29th, 2004
Read this release in
German here.
Professor Steve Kurtz was charged today by a federal grand
jury in Buffalo, New York--not with bioterrorism, as listed
on the Joint Terrorism Task Force's original search warrant
and subpoenas, but with
"petty larceny," in the words of Kurtz attorney Paul Cambria. (See http://www.caedefensefund.org/ for
background.)
Also indicted was Robert Ferrell, head of the Department
of Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Public
Health. The charges concern technicalities of how Ferrell
helped Kurtz to obtain $256 worth of harmless bacteria for
one of Kurtz's art projects.
The laws under which the indictments were obtained--Title
18, United States Code, sections 1341 and 1343, covering
mail and wire fraud--are normally used against those defrauding
others of money or property, as in telemarketing schemes.
This is a far cry from the bioterrorism charges originally
sought by the District Attorney. To make a "federal case" out
of such minor allegations, the District Attorney will have
the burden of proving criminal intent.
"There was very obviously no criminal intent," said Kurtz attorney Cambria. "The
intent was to educate and enlighten." Cambria suggested that the pursuit of
such a minor case at the federal level was profoundly absurd. "If the University
of Pittsburgh feels that there was a contract breach, then their remedy is
to sue Steve for $256 in a civil court."
A STEALTH INDICTMENT
The U.S. District Attorney attempted to cast the issue as
one of public health and safety in a public press conference
called without the knowledge of either defendant's lawyers,
thus eliminating the chance of rebuttal. During the conference,
parts of which were broadcast on local Buffalo news channels,
U.S. Attorney William Hochul and U.S. District Attorney Michael
Battle repeatedly alluded to "dangerous" and
"bio-hazardous material," even though the charges have nothing to do with such
issues, and scientists universally regard the materials in question as safe.
At one point in the press conference, U.S. Attorney Hochul
stated that Serratia marcescens, one of the two bacteria
ordered by Ferrell, "is in fact a dangerous material in that
it can cause pneumonia." Serratia cannot cause pneumonia,
only aggravate it in someone who already has it, and very
rarely at that. Furthermore, it would be hard to characterize
as a "dangerous material" something that high school students
routinely use in biology class experiments. (Easily trackable
by its bright red color, S. marcescens is commonly used to
demonstrate the many ways microbes can be destroyed--e.g.
with household bleach. The other bacterium, Bacillus globigii,
is also used in experiments as a stand-in for dangerous microbes--precisely
because it is harmless.)
Many believe the attempt to cast the $256 technicality as
a public health and safety issue is a face-saving measure
by the government, which has already expended an enormous
amount of time and money in their fruitless pursuit of this
case.
ONLY THE BEGINNING
Although the original bioterrorism charges are now completely
off the table, the trial still promises to be financially
and psychologically draining for the defendants.
The international support of the defendants by artists, scientists
and other citizens has been remarkable; it is crucial that
this support continue as the government extends this outrageous
and wasteful persecution into a grueling trial.
To donate to the defense fund, please visit http://caedefensefund.org/donate.html.
Updates on the case will be posted at http://www.caedefensefund.org/.
To receive more frequent updates by email, please join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAE_Defense/.
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TEN SUBPOENAS ISSUED
IN FBI CASE AGAINST ARTIST - June 8th, 2004
Nine colleagues of Steve Kurtz have been subpoenaed
to appear before a Federal Grand Jury on June 15th. Thus
far subpoenas have been issued to: Adele Henderson, Chair
of the Art Department at UB; Andrew Johnson, Professor of
Art at UB; Paul Vanouse, Professor of Art at UB; Beatriz
da Costa, Professor of Art at UCI; Steven Barnes, FSU; Dorian
Burr, Beverly Schlee, Claire
Pentecost, Julie Perini, and the publisher Autonomedia.
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ARTISTS SUBPOENAED IN USA PATRIOT ACT CASE
Feds STILL unable to distinguish art from bioterrorism
Grand jury to convene June 15
Seven artists have been served subpoenas
to appear before a federal grand jury that will consider
bioterrorism charges against a university professor whose
art involves the use of simple biology equipment.
The subpoenas are the latest installment
in a bizarre investigation in which members of the Joint
Terrorism Task Force have mistaken an art project for a biological
weapons laboratory (Background
essay). While most observers have assumed that the Task
Force would realize the absurd error of its initial investigation
of Steve Kurtz, the subpoenas indicate that the feds have
instead chosen to press their "case" against the
baffled professor.
Two of the subpoenaed artists--Beatriz
da Costa and Steve Barnes--are, like Kurtz, members of the
internationally-acclaimed Critical
Art Ensemble (CAE), an artists' collective that produces
artwork to educate the public about the politics of biotechnology.
They were served the subpoenas by federal agents who tailed
them to an art show at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary
Art. More recently subpoenas have been issued to: Adele Henderson,
Chair of the Art Department at UB; Paul Vanouse, Professor
of Art at UB; Andrew Johnson, Professor of Art at UB; And
founding members of CAE, Dorian Burr and Beverly Schlee.
The artists involved are at a loss to
explain the increasingly bizarre case. "I have no idea
why they're continuing (to investigate)," said Beatriz
da Costa, one of those subpoenaed. "It was shocking
that this investigation was ever launched. That it is continuing
is positively frightening, and shows how vulnerable the PATRIOT
Act has made freedom of speech in this country." Da
Costa is an art professor at the University of California
at Irvine.
According to the subpoenas, the FBI is
seeking charges under Section 175 of the US Biological Weapons
Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, which has been expanded by the
USA PATRIOT Act. As expanded, this law prohibits the possession
of "any biological agent, toxin, or delivery system" without
the justification of "prophylactic, protective, bona
fide research, or other peaceful purpose." (See http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/175.html for
the 1989 law and http://www.ehrs.upenn.edu/protocols/patriot/sec817.html for
its USA PATRIOT Act expansion.)
Even under the expanded powers of the
USA PATRIOT Act, it is difficult to understand how anyone
could view CAE's art as anything other than a"peaceful
purpose." The equipment seized by the FBI consisted
mainly of CAE's most recent project, a mobile DNA extraction
laboratory to test store-bought food for possible contamination
by genetically modified grains and organisms; such equipment
can be found in any university's basic biology lab and even
in many high schools (see "Lab Tour" at http://www.critical-art.net/biotech/free/ for
more details).
The grand jury
in the case is scheduled to convene June 15 in Buffalo, New
York. Here, the jury will decide whether or not to indict
Steve Kurtz on the charges brought by the FBI. A protest
is being planned at 9 a.m. on June 15 outside the courthouse
at 138 Delaware Ave. in Buffalo.
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May 25, 2004
FBI ABDUCTS ARTIST, SEIZES ART
Feds Unable to Distinguish Art from Bioterrorism
Grieving Artist Denied Access to Deceased Wife's Body
DEFENSE FUND ESTABLISHED - HELP URGENTLY
NEEDED
Steve Kurtz was already suffering from
one tragedy when he called 911 early in the morning to tell
them his wife had suffered a cardiac arrest and died in her
sleep. The police arrived and, cranked up on the rhetoric
of the "War on Terror," decided Kurtz's art supplies
were actually bioterrorism weapons.
Thus began an Orwellian stream of events
in which FBI agents abducted Kurtz without charges, sealed
off his entire block, and confiscated his computers, manuscripts,
art supplies... and even his wife's body.
Like the case of Brandon Mayfield, the
Muslim lawyer from Portland imprisoned for two weeks on the
flimsiest of false evidence, Kurtz's case amply demonstrates
the dangers posed by the USA PATRIOT Act coupled with government-nurtured
terrorism hysteria.
Kurtz's case is ongoing, and, on top of
everything else, Kurtz is facing a mountain of legal fees.
Donations to his legal defense can be made at http://www.caedefensefund.org/
FEAR RUN AMOK
Steve Kurtz is Associate Professor in
the Department of Art at the State University of New York's
University at Buffalo, and a member of the internationally-acclaimed
Critical Art Ensemble.
Kurtz's wife, Hope Kurtz, died in her
sleep of cardiac arrest in the early morning hours of May
11. Police arrived, became suspicious of Kurtz's art supplies
and called the FBI.
Within hours, FBI agents had "detained" Kurtz
as a suspected bioterrorist and cordoned off the entire block
around his house. (Kurtz walked away the next day on the
advice of a lawyer, his "detention" having proved
to be illegal.) Over the next few days, dozens of agents
in hazmat suits, from a number of law enforcement agencies,
sifted through Kurtz's work, analyzing it on-site and impounding
computers, manuscripts, books, equipment, and even his wife's
body for further analysis. Meanwhile, the Buffalo Health
Department condemned his house as a health risk.
Kurtz, a member of the Critical Art Ensemble,
makes art which addresses the politics of biotechnology. "Free
Range Grains," CAE's latest project, included a mobile
DNA extraction laboratory for testing food products for possible
transgenic contamination. It was this equipment which triggered
the Kafkaesque chain of events.
FBI field and laboratory tests have shown
that Kurtz's equipment was not used for any illegal purpose.
In fact, it is not even _possible_ to use this equipment
for the production or weaponization of dangerous germs. Furthermore,
any person in the US may legally obtain and possess such
equipment.
"Today, there is no legal way to
stop huge corporations from putting genetically altered material
in our food," said Defense Fund spokeswoman Carla Mendes. "Yet
owning the equipment required to test for the presence of
'Frankenfood' will get you accused of 'terrorism.' You can
be illegally detained by shadowy government agents, lose
access to your home, work, and belongings, and find that
your recently deceased spouse's body has been taken away
for 'analysis.'"
Though Kurtz has finally been able to
return to his home and recover his wife's body, the FBI has
still not returned any of his equipment, computers or manuscripts,
nor given any indication of when they will. The
case remains open.
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