Day 64 - 8/25/21 - Wed.
- mainemoviepirate
- 50 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Journal Entry:
“Up at 5:30 AM. HLR Drink, dose. Dreamed big, elaborate dreams, but they’re only hazy now and disappearing quickly. Leave this space for random recall:
Library still locked, so I’m in the common area doing this journal, working on Walking Distance, calling home, maybe Steve, more legal research. My zero copyright and less than 1% mail fraud restitution has to play more into this sentence than Steve is acknowledging—it has to. I’ve got to find District Court errors, even if it’s building for a second appeal somewhere down the line.
No such luck, [zero restitution] seems to have very little play in other cases. And no big surprise: I can’t find any case similar to mine. I did notice while reading appeals, though, that defendants can bring up things that have never been brought before, especially regarding ineffective representation. That is encouraging. I’ve got to get to it. Prepare for Steve’s exit, if he fails, or his dissertation, which is always a possibility. The Info@EFF.org accepted my email request, but I have to tread carefully.
LUNCH: Ham—well, Turkey Burgers. Roll, Potato Wedges (Big). (I took a Turkey Burger.)
It's hot today, no even tempering outside. I’ll stay right here.
SUPPER: Cheese Pizza, Salad, Green Beans.
Emailed EFF. We’ll see what happens. The person at home attempted PACER again. No success.
Debating the medical thing: I think I should hold tight and keep it going in the camp as long as I can. The hospital is in the low. I’ll be closed in again, and who knows what the conditions will be. I think I’ll hang tight at the camp. For now.
‘You’re in my seat.’ Watching some kind of John Cena. It shouldn’t be hard to figure out; I don’t think he’s made too many. See how long I last. Blockers. Next: Atomic Blonde, I think. I’ve seen it before, or at least part of it, during my drinking-every-night phase back in the old world. I watched a lot of movies but have very little recall of them. For some reason, I think I watched it with MyS. Maybe not.
Letter/email:
EFF:
Thank you for accepting my email. My name is Douglas Gordon, and I was convicted of Criminal Copyright Infringement in 2019. I am currently serving a five-year sentence. I have talked to someone from your foundation before. I think it was Hayley, who told me that perhaps someone (an attorney) from the foundation could help me, but only through my current lawyer. I am now waiting for my appeal. I still have the same personal lawyer, but he is not a copyright lawyer.
Is there anyone at your foundation I could talk to about hypothetical copyright situations? Could even be a paralegal with knowledge of copyright law.
I did not fight this case because I did not want to go to prison; I was unofficially offered home detention by the Prosecutor before the trial. I fought it as a protest and to challenge the current copyright law regarding the Fair Use of Orphan Works. I was inspired by the work of Aaron Swartz and your foundation.
Any assistance you can give me would be appreciated.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you again.”
Notes for Day 64 (Four Years Later)
A couple of things regarding this day’s entry. First, the very vague talk about my Medical Conditions. The reason I didn’t really explain that at the time was because I was very paranoid about the guards reading my journal and then putting me inside the big prison or back in the SHU. The fear, at least in my case, was totally unfounded. To my knowledge, no guard ever went through my legal work, and in fact, when other inmates’ CubiCells were being ransacked and trashed, mine frequently was ignored by staff. But I had heard horror stories of guards finding legal documents and then pouring honey and chocolate syrup on them, etc. And with me trying to fly under the radar, I wanted something in my journal that would remind me later on what I was thinking.
It was around this time when I started considering filing a Compassionate Release (CR), mostly from the encouragement of the other inmates. This was due to my severe medical conditions and the tales of others getting out because of COVID and having far less underlying medical conditions were being sent to home confinement. While I was hesitant at first, eventually I ended up filing not one Compassionate Release but three for myself and who knows how many for other inmates. Once I started filing motions, I was addicted and couldn’t stop. That is one aspect of prison that I miss.
The other thing was the EFF accepting my email request. In federal prison, you can't just email anyone; you have to submit a request for them to approve on the CORRLINKS system. EFF approved my request, and since they had shown a willingness to help with my case before the trial, I sent the above email, trying to get them interested in my appeal. Since my own lawyer wasn't showing much interest in my case anymore, and he obviously wasn't even vaguely interested in Copyright Law beyond the Government’s interpretation, this was a priority. However, I believe my original contact there, Hayley, had left the organization by then. No one else from The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) ever answered my future emails. Goes to show you, it really depends on who the other person is on the other end.
