Text of the article since the page is loading slowly... To anyone reading this thread-if you want a quicker response to your comments or questions, send th

Text of the article since the page is loading slowly... To anyone reading this thread-if you want a quicker response to your comments or questions, send them to me at: Matthew Bumgardner Santa Rosa County Jail P.O. Box 7129 Milton, FL 32572 Right now it takes about 3 weeks for a post on this forum to get to me, receive an answer, then have the answer sent back to my sister so she can post it here. This is Matthew Bumgardner, the one in jail. I have given this note to my sister so that it can be posted. Obviously I have no access to email, so this is the best I can do. Eventually I will get a copy of the posts in this thread and I will respond when I can. My sister should have already posted the letter I wrote. Every word is true. There are a few things I would like to add. First, this jail could generate some serious money for a decent civil rights attorney. They are already being sued for their mail policy. Inmates can only write on postcards. They can only send letters to attorneys, members of the media and public officials. If you were in here and wanted to write a family member, all you could send was a post card. The jail also denies access to legal materials. Their policy states that "inmates will be afforded reasonable access to the courts. This is accomplished by way of your attorney or public defender." This is a joke, since some inmates wait 6 months or moe to see their public defender. The policy goes on to state that pro se inmates must obtain a court order granting them pro se status in order to get access to the Law Library. I am a pro se inmate. I have obtained a Court Order granting me pro status. I have provided that document to the jail staff, and I am still being denied access. I have filed a new motion requesting an Order to allow me access to the Law Library and I have also written the judge. I am waiting to see what happens there. I also ahe a problem getting copies made. When I give my documents to the person making copies, I inform them that I need them returned immediately. The past two times it has taken several days fro the copies to be made. This is intentional. Since I am a Federal inmate the Government pays the jail or me to be here. They make decent money off of so, so there is no incentive for them to assist in my release. Although it may seem unnecessary to complain about the jail, it is actually important. The US attorney and judge that put me here knew exactly what they were doing. They figured that the constraints imposed by the jail would allow them to maintain their secrecy. They are wrong. It certainly slows things down, but I will not remain silent about this. This issue is more important that you might realize. Right now, this US Attorney and US District Judge think that holding people in contempt is the way to deal with encryption. If you read this and still do nothing, then you are telling them that they are right. You are telling tem that the 5th Amendment is no longer needed, and that they can issue supoenas that compel acts which are oppressive, unreasonable and not possible. I am not asking for my own personal army to help fight this. If you think that you are my army, you misunderstand this situation. I am your army in this battle. If you use encryption, or any password protected file, then this issue affects you. You could be thrown in jail and denied civil rights at the whim of the government. I am fighting this battle on my own, and I am willing to continue to do so. The outcome is going to possibly affect many more people. To me, it seems like more people should be getting involved. At the very least write the attorney and judge and tell them that what they did was wrong. Tell them that True Crypt can use more than just a password. Tell them that a password can be 64 characters long. Tell them they have no right to hold someone in contempt for failing to produce documents they have never seen. Tell them that the precedent in US vs. Hubbell and In Boucher II proves that they are wrong. The addresses are: David L. Goldberg Assistant U.S. Attorney 21 E. Garden Street, Suite 400 Pensacola, FL 32502 Lacey A. Collier Sr. U.S. District Judge United States Courthouse One NOrth Palafax Street Pensacola, FL 32502 If you don't have time to write a letter, at the very least please forward this to everyone you now. E-mail it to any media outlet you can think of. If enough people e-mail tis, a major media outlet might pick up the story. The Government can only do this in secrecy. If more people know about this it never would have happened. Thanks i advance for any assistance you can provide.