Father Louie doing fine in prison

[Kadie]

Father Louie doing fine in prison

Doing hard time isn't so hard for the Rev. Louie Vitale, the feisty peace-activist priest reports from federal lockup in Southern California.

But then, that's to be expected. The 77-year-old Father Louie, as he's known in the Bay Area, where he has been a foremost peacenik for many years, always has an upbeat attitude in prison -- and the word "always" takes in quite a bit. He's done this dance in the federal crossbars hotel three times before, all for the same offense of trespassing onto a military site in the cause of peace demonstrations.

This time, Vitale wound up in Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex, a medium-security prison about an hour north of Santa Barbara. He was transferred there two weeks ago after bouncing around several lockups from here to Georgia over the past three months.

"They brought me up here from the federal prison in Victorville, and it was a beautiful bus ride around the desert and coastline," Vitale said cheerfully in a collect phone call -- the only kind you can make from prison -- from Lompoc on Monday. "It was a really nice ride."

A spartan prison bed and concertina wire on the fences enclosing his world don't really bother him, he said. He went to prison in the name of peace, he said, and now he gets to spread the word of peace in a different setting. Plus he can offer some impromptu counseling in his priestly way, even though the closest he gets to official priest duties right now is working as a cleanup orderly in the prison chapel.

snip...
"I get out of prison on July 24, and will go right up to San Francisco," Vitale said -- and then what? He'll get right back to his priestly tasks, he said. Which will, of course, include peace protests of all kinds.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/crime/detail?entry_id=61115&tsp=1#ixzz0l0JeTudg




The Rev. Louie Vitale, right, ministers to a homeless person at St. Boniface Catholic Church in 2005.

[Ron Green]

1. This is the kind of trouble a priest ought to be making.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Good for him!

He is really doing God's work.

[Downtown Hound]

3. Awesome dude!

I like how he talks about his ride on a prison bus in which he was probably shackled hand and foot as, "a really nice ride."

Some people really are amazing, and just have a knack for reminding us all to appreciate the little things in life and to make the most out of every situation.

I am surprised he's in a medium security prison though. A guy like that belongs in minimum, but I guess peace really is a dangerous thing that should be severely punished. :eyes:

[Kadie]

11. I totally agree!

Some people really are amazing, and just have a knack for reminding us all to appreciate the little things in life and to make the most out of every situation.


A great attribute that I need to improve on. ;)

[Hawkeye-X]

4. What was he charged for?

[Downtown Hound]

7. Although I don't know for certain, it sounds like a School of the Americas protest

The fact that they said he was coming from Georgia, that he is doing federal time as opposed to county, and the fact that the sentence is grossly excessive fits the pattern of what has happened to previous protesters that have trespassed onto the School of the America's. The average sentence is anywhere from two to six months in federal prison, even for a first time offense.

[Bluebear]

5. So THAT'S what gets a priest sent to the pokey. nt

[DCKit]

6. Shouldn't we be contributing to his prison spending account? n/t

[Psephos]

9. That's actually a great idea. Any info on how to do it? n/t

[Downtown Hound]

10. Look up the prison where he's incarcerated on the web

They probably have instructions on how to do just that on their web site, and if they don't, they should have contact information for somebody that should know. If all else fails, you can simply start out by writing the good father and asking him himself.

Generally to give money to an inmate, you have to send it to a separate address where prison officials will store it in a separate account they sometimes call "commissary money."

Another resource you can try is prisontalk.com. Just open up an account, introduce yourself and ask them whatever question you want about prison, and they will be more than happy to help you out. Can you tell I've done this before? LOL. Just tell them you want to send money to an inmate, tell them what prison he's in, and you should have no trouble getting answers. I'd do it myself but I already have several political prisoners that I send money to on a regular basis. Little tapped out.

[roody]

12. How about contributing to School of the Americas Watch?

www.soaw.org

[Hell Hath No Fury]

8. Way to go, Fr. Louie!

He's living a life to be proud of!

[roody]

13. He is in for trespassing.

For Immediate Release: January 25th, 2010
Contact: Hendrik Voss, SOA Watch, 202-234-3440

Human Rights Advocates Given Maximum Federal Prison Sentences of Six Months for Direct Action Opposing the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC)

Judge Finds SOA Watch Activists Guilty for Carrying Protest against the SOA/WHINSEC onto Fort Benning, Issues Arrest Warrant for Michael Walli for Refusing to Appear for the Trial.

On Monday, January 25, 2010, U.S. Magistrate G. Mallon Faircloth sentenced three human rights advocates to six months in federal prison for carrying a protest against the School of the Americas onto the Fort Benning military base in Georgia. This school, re-named the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, is a controversial U.S. Army training school for Latin American soldiers.

Father Roy Bourgeois, a Roman Catholic priest and the founder of SOA Watch, the organization that works to close the School of the Americas said "Judge Faircloth has sentenced our sister and brothers to 6 months in federal prison for speaking the truth about the SOA/WHINSEC. We are saddened by the court's continued blindness and hardness of heart, but we are stronger than ever in solidarity. These sentences are symbolic of our nation's misdirection, but they are also great steps forward for our resistance movement. It is truer today, than ever before, that although they jail the resisters they have not, and cannot, jail the resistance!"

The "SOA 4" are:

Nancy Gwin, long-time activist from Syracuse, New York - sentenced to six months in prison
Father Louie Vitale, veteran and priest from Oakland, CA - sentenced to six months in prison
Ken Hayes, SOA Watch Council member from Austin, TX - sentenced to six months in prison

Michael Walli, a member of the Catholic Worker movement from Washington, DC refused to appear for the trial in Georgia. Walli had told the court during his November arraignment that he would not pay any bail and that he would not voluntarily return for the trial. "I walk out and it's goodbye" Walli told Judge Mallon Faircloth. Michael Walli made good on his promise and on Monday, Judge Mallon Faircloth issued a warrant for Michael Walli's arrest.

The "SOA 4" were among the tens of thousands who gathered on November 20-22, 2009 outside the gates of Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia to demand a change in U.S. policy in Latin America and the closure of the SOA/WHINSEC. The group peacefully crossed onto Fort Benning while thousands stood vigil at the gates of the base in memory of those killed by graduates of the institution.

The SOA/WHINSEC, a military training facility for Latin American security personnel, made headlines in 1996 when the Pentagon released training manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and execution.