[Frameworks] Lawrence Brose at the end of 2013

[defensefund at lawrencebrose.com]

Dear Friends and Supporters of Lawrence Brose,

At this year’s end it is a good time to thank everyone who has helped with
their generous financial support and their invaluable moral support.  
Support comes to Lawrence in many ways, and all of it is important.  We
offer the noble words of supporters quoted below as a reminder of who
Lawrence’s supporters are and what this case means to them.  Please take a
moment to read and reflect upon these powerful statements.

NEWS:  On January 10th the Burchfield Penny Art Center in Buffalo is
screening The Censorship Show:  media artists respond to the federal
investigation against Lawrence Brose.  Part personal, part meditation on
queer art, and part rumination on the nature of censorship, this
compilation includes work by Laurie MacDonald from the Electron Movers,
Meg Knowles and Ron Ehmke, Bill Brown, Anula Shetty and Mike Kuetemeyer,
Carolee Schneemann, Barbara Hammer and Kathy High.  Coordinating
producers:  Dorothea Braemer and Joanna Raczynska.  If you are unable to
attend, you can view the entire program (30 minutes) on the defense fund
website:  www.lawrencebroselegaldefensefund.com.


As always, and now at the end of the year, we encourage financial support
by sending your tax deductible donations to the National Center for Reason
and Justice www.NCRJ.org/ and stipulate your donation for the Artist’s
Fund which will directly support NCRJ’s advocacy for Lawrence.  We cannot
stress enough the importance of NCRJ which works for child-protective laws
based on science, fairness, and good sense, and supports people who are
falsely accused or convicted of crimes against children.  NCRJ has a page
specifically dedicated to Lawrence’s case: www.ncrj.org/lawrence-brose/,
while their main address above illustrates recent extraordinary successes
in advocating for people unjustly accused.

Thank you for your continued support.


•	“This is a time when Lawrence requires the support of his many
friends
..It is critical that Lawrence continue to aggressively fight the
charges and maintain his innocence.”  Nils Olsen, Professor of Law and
former Dean, University at Buffalo Law School
Sandra Olsen, PhD, Director of the University at Buffalo Art Galleries


•	“I urge all my colleagues in the arts, and all who care about personal
privacy rights, artistic freedom, and civil liberties, to support Lawrence
Brose, financially and otherwise, in his own brave battle to hold out
against this unmerited and relentless prosecution, which has already taken
an enormous toll on him and those near and dear to him professionally,
personally, and financially.”  Edmund Cardoni ,Executive Director
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center


•	“The charges that Mr. Brose is facing, in my opinion, are unfounded and
violate freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and artistic freedom -
all critical cornerstones of our society. Lawrence Brose has the complete
support of the artistic community in Buffalo, who know and respect him and
his work.” Louis Grachos  Director, Albright-Knox Art Gallery


•	“I am outraged that Buffalo, with its proud tradition of innovative,
cutting edge art, a city that supports more arts organizations per capita
than any other in the US and has made art and culture the foundation of
its revival is now increasingly viewed elsewhere as a cultural
backwater--all because of these high profile persecutions of our artists.
Enough is enough. Please contribute to Lawrence's defense and send a
message that we will not submit our arts to their cynical political
calculus.”  Jonathan D, Katz, Director, Visual Studies Doctoral Program,
University at Buffalo

•	“More and more exculpatory information has been made public, and it is
becoming clear that Lawrence was singled out for prosecution because of
his art and his status in the arts community. Lawrence has always
maintained his innocence, and his substantive and procedural defenses look
strong
.The exoneration of an innocent man is as worthy a cause as there
is, and any contribution would be gratefully received.” William C.
Altreuter, Partner, Altreuter Berlin; Past President, Squeaky
Wheel/Buffalo Media Resources

•	“One magistrate judge has recommended dismissing the entire case,
stating that here is not enough evidence. Yet the nightmare
continues
.Lawrence was never a threat to our community. Quite the
opposite, he is a friend and tremendous asset for so many of us. He
deserves our full support while he is fighting the case that will
determine the rest of his life.” Dorothea Braemer, Executive Director,
Squeaky Wheel

•	“An impressive list of Feminist artists, writers and intellectuals have
signed on to support the Lawrence Brose Defense Fund
.As you can imagine
Lawrence has been dragged through years of life destroying legal expenses,
restrictions on his travel, unemployability and severe psychological
stress as he fights a potential prison sentence on these dubious charges.”
Sarah Schulman, Distinguished Professor of the Humanities, City University
of New York, College of Staten Island

•	“Does the concept of justice as a form of fairness only belong to the
rich? I believe in the concept of innocent until proven guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt, but Lawrence Brose’s case reminds me that justice often
belongs to those who can afford it
.These charges stack the deck against
Brose and the only way for him to get justice is to be equally powerful to
the Federal prosecutors, which requires extensive resources.” Robert
Hirsch, Director of Light Research, CEPA Executive Director (1993 – 1999)

•	“The continued prosecution of Buffalo-based artist Lawrence Brose is
unnecessary, cruel, and completely unjustified
I have seen and respected
the work of Lawrence Brose for almost 30 years. I have also known, liked,
and respected Lawrence as a person for every one of those years.”
Elizabeth Licata, Past President, Squeaky Wheel/Buffalo Media Resources

•	“For many months I have been aware of the current effort to—what else
can one call it?—besmirch the reputation and destroy the career of a man
who is one of the artistic treasures of Western New York State
.It is time
to free Brose from the stress and fear of being convicted of the "crime"
of being a man of integrity and morality and a powerful artist.” Scott
MacDonald, Professor of Film History, Hamilton College, Harvard University

•	“The struggle of filmmaker and non-profit arts leader Lawrence Brose to
defend himself against allegations by the federal government on "child
pornography possession" continues despite the flimsiness of the
prosecution’s case and the recommendation in June 2011 of United States
Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy to dismiss the indictment
.Now is
the moment to support Lawrence Brose!” Caroline Koebel, Faculty, Transart
Institute (New York & Berlin)

•	“We believe that the case of Lawrence Brose is an instance of child
pornography laws destroying an innocent person’s life without the remotest
possibility of protecting any child. Supporting him affords the NCRJ an
opportunity to educate the public about the irrationality and injustice
written into existing child-pornography law.” National Center for Reason
and Justice (NCRJ)

•	‘From what I’ve been able to learn, as a journalist of four decades
experience I believe Brose to be the victim of a tragic miscarriage of
justice. I feel so strongly about this case and the threat Brose’s
indictment poses to civil liberties and artistic freedom,
 His indictment
and defense have left Brose penniless, and he told this reporter his life
had been “shattered” by “this awful travesty of justice that has come
crashing down on me for no reason.” Today, he told me, “I’m being kept
alive by my friends.”’Doug Ireland in Gay City News, November 2011

•	“The current accusation deforms and distorts the cultural benefits Brose
single-handedly brought to Buffalo. 
It's very important that we artists
feel that we can contribute to his defense, which is in essence, a defense
of our own work and process.”  Carolee Schneemann

•	“This nightmare false charge against Brose has deprived him of his job
and life savings and deprived the public and fellow artists of his
distinguished, inspiring and helpful work as an artist and administrator.
As a fellow artist I strongly support Lawrence Brose.” Pauline Oliveros,
Professor of Practice, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

•	“While it is clearly important for a civil society to protect minor
children, it is wrong of us to prosecute artists who speak to ideas which
may be challenging or even explosive, but which must be freely
investigated in a free society. Many of us in the art community and in the
larger society are indebted to Lawrence, his intelligence and his
creativity.” Sherry Miller Hocking, Assistant Director, Experimental
Television Center

•	“It is truly tragic to see him attacked with the blunt, and misguided,
legalistic weapon of pornography prosecution. It is also ironic, given his
long interest in the plight of Oscar Wilde. Buffalo’s art community has
already been through one misguided, destructive, and costly, prosecution
of an artist (Steve Kurtz) and it is unconscionable that the judicial
system there has learned nothing from this miscarriage of justice.” Grant
Kester, Chair, Visual Arts Department, Associate Professor, Art History,
University of California, San Diego

•	“Lawrence Brose is not a criminal; he is an artist, doing what artists
do best, asking difficult questions about our life and times in order to
illuminate a new perspective as we struggle to move forward as a culture.
Let’s use the laws to protect us from evil, not persecute the voices that
help us examine our demons.” Jeffrey Hoone, Executive Director, Light
Work, Syracuse, NY

•	“Lawrence Brose exemplifies an ethos of collegiality, generosity,
intellectual rigor, and respect---in short, what is so often lacking in
our institutional leadership and in our public culture writ large. As the
director of one of this country’s most venerated spaces for investigative
and progressive artistic inquiry, Lawrence Brose provided opportunities
for critical debate and intellectual community among a diverse group of
emerging artists, critics, poets, and musicians. Those of us indebted to
his foresight and munificence are legion.” Roberto Tejada, Distinguished
Endowed Chair, Professor of Art History, Meadows School of the Arts,
Southern Methodist University


Warm regards and with gratitude,

The Lawrence Brose Defense Fund Team

www.lawrencebroselegaldefensefund.com

www.ncrj.org/lawrence-brose/