Lawyers For Professor Steven Kurtz Ask Case To Be Dismissed

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LAWYERS FOR DR. STEVEN KURTZ ASK CASE TO BE DISMISSED

SUNY Professors, Co-Defendant’s Wife and Daughter Criticize Case
Buffalo, Toronto Support Dr. Kurtz with Multiple Fundraisers

Buffalo, NY – On Tuesday in Federal District Court, lawyers for Dr. Steven Kurtz, Professor of Visual Studies at SUNY Buffalo, will present arguments for dismissal of a surreal post-PATRIOT Act legal case that has attracted worldwide attention.

Dr. Kurtz, founder of the internationally acclaimed art and theater group Critical Art Ensemble, was illegally detained by the U.S. government in 2004 stemming from his acquisition of harmless bacteria used in several of Critical Art Ensemble’s educational art projects. Also indicted was Dr. Robert Ferrell, Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, and a scientific consultant on Critical Art Ensemble’s projects. After a costly investigation lasting several months failed to provide any evidence of “bioterrorism,” the Department of Justice instead brought charges of “mail fraud” and “wire fraud” against Drs. Kurtz and Ferrell. Under the USA PATRIOT Act, the maximum penalty for these charges has increased from 5 years to 20.

SUNY PROFESSORS, DR. FERRELL’S WIFE & DAUGHTER CRITICIZE CASE

“The government’s prosecution is an ill-conceived and misguided attack on the scientific and artistic communities,” said Dr. Richard Gronostajski, Professor of Biochemistry at the University at Buffalo, where Professor Kurtz also teaches. “It could have a chilling effect on future scientific research collaborations, and harm teaching efforts and interactions between scientists, educators and artists.”

Said Professor Paul Vanouse, one of Kurtz’ colleagues in the Department of Visual Studies, “It’s unbelievable that the DoJ is spending millions of taxpayer dollars to prosecute two distinguished professors—one of whom just lost his wife, and the other struggling with cancer—over a couple hundred dollars of alleged 'fraud', even though no party claims to have been defrauded. The waste and cruelty of it all is unfathomable.”

The hearing comes only two weeks after Dr. Robert Ferrell, under tremendous pressure and facing serious medical problems, pled guilty to lesser charges rather than facing a prolonged trial. Commenting on the plea agreement, Dr. Dianne Raeke Ferrell, Dr. Ferrell’s wife and an Associate Professor of Special Education and Clinical Services at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, said: “From the beginning, this has been a persecution, not a prosecution. Bob is a 27-year survivor of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which has reoccurred numerous times. He has also had malignant melanoma. Since this whole nightmare began, Bob has had two minor strokes, and a major stroke which required months of rehabilitation.” Dr. Ferrell added that her husband was indicted just as he was preparing to undergo a painful and dangerous autologous stem cell transplant, the second in 7 years.

The Ferrell’s daughter, Gentry Chandler Ferrell, added: “Our family has struggled with an intense uncertainty about physical, emotional and financial health for a long time. Agreeing to a plea deal is a small way for dad to try to eliminate one of those uncertainties...Sadly, while institutions merely are tarnished from needless litigation, individuals are torn apart. I remain unable to wrap my mind around the absurdity of the government's pursuit of this case and I am saddened that it has been dragged out to the point where my dad opted to settle from pure exhaustion.” (To read Gentry Ferrell’s full statement, please visit: http://caedefensefund.org/press/ferrellplea.html)

BUFFALO, TORONTO SUPPORT DR. KURTZ WITH MULTIPLE FUNDRAISERS

The hearing comes at a time of overwhelming public support for Drs. Kurtz and Ferrell. A Halloween Benefit last Saturday night organized by Dr. Kurtz’s students drew 200 supporters and grossed $2,200 to help offset his escalating legal fees. Said Benefit co-organizer Jacob Kassay, “Professor Kurtz’s case shows that the incredible partisan corruption in the Department of Justice has arrived here in Buffalo. He’s a great teacher and artist, and we wanted to do something to help him. And a fundraiser was a way to do that and have fun at the same time.”

That fundraiser comes on the heels of a September 8 Fundraising Screening of a documentary about the case co-sponsored by Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center and the Market Arcade Film & Art Center that drew a sold out crowd and raised approximately $5,000, with Dr. Kurtz visibly moved by the audience’s massive ovation. Over 300 people remained in the theater for an hour after the film to discuss the implications of the case, other unjust post-PATRIOT Act prosecutions, and what Americans can do to safeguard our Constitutional rights. The film, Strange Culture (directed by Lynn Hershman Leeson and featuring Tilda Swinton, Thomas Jay Ryan, and Peter Coyote) has screened in dozens of U.S. cities after its selection to open both the 2007 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival doc section. Numerous other fundraisers have been organized on 5 continents, including a 2005 art auction at Paula Cooper Gallery in New York City that raised $167,000 for Drs. Kurtz and Ferrell.

On November 22 & 23, in an act of international solidarity with the Buffalo and New York fundraising initiatives, A Space Gallery of Toronto will present a screening of Strange Culture and Gala Art Auction featuring Naomi Klein as the Keynote Speaker, with contributions from many of Canada’s top artists, to raise urgently-needed funds for Dr. Kurtz’ legal defense: http://www.aspacegallery.org/events.html.

JURIDICAL ART CRITICISM?

Assistant U.S. Attorney Hochul and the DoJ are vigorously prosecuting Dr. Kurtz in a case where no one has been injured, and no one has been defrauded. The materials found in Dr. Kurtz's house were obtained legally and used safely by the artist. After 3 1/2 years of investigation and prosecution, the case still revolves around $256 worth of common science research materials that were used in educational art works by a highly visible and respected group of artists. These art works were commissioned and hosted by cultural institutions worldwide where they were safely displayed in museums and galleries with absolutely no risk to the public. The Government has consistently framed this case as an issue of public safety, but the materials used by Critical Art Ensemble are widely available, can be purchased by anyone from science supply companies, and are regularly mailed.

BACKGROUND TO THE CASE

The legal nightmare of Drs. Kurtz and Ferrell began in May 2004. Dr. Kurtz and his late wife Hope were founding members of the internationally exhibited art and theater collective Critical Art Ensemble. Over the past decade cultural institutions worldwide have commissioned and hosted Critical Art Ensemble’s participatory theater projects that help the general public understand biotechnology and the many issues surrounding it. In May 2004 the Kurtzes were preparing a project examining genetically modified agriculture for the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, when Hope Kurtz died of heart failure. Police who responded to Professor Kurtz’s 911 call deemed the couple’s art suspicious, and called the FBI. Within hours the artist was illegally detained as a suspected "bioterrorist" as dozens of federal agents in Hazmat suits sifted through his work and impounded his computers, manuscripts, books, his cat, and even his wife’s body.

CASE DEPLETES PUBLIC & PRIVATE RESOURCES

The government has pursued this case relentlessly for three and a half years, spending enormous amounts of public resources. Most significantly, the legal battle has exhausted the financial, emotional, and physical resources of Ferrell and Kurtz; as well as their families and supporters. The professional and personal lives of both defendants have suffered tremendously. A trial date has not yet been established.

For more information about the case, with extensive documentation, please visit:
http://caedefensefund.org

[Mojorabbit]

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[Hissyspit]

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