E. Forbes Smiley is to be sentenced on September 21, 2006, for his confessed
role in stealing maps from various institutions here in the U.S. Before
that date, it is important that as many people who can and are able write to
the two judges who will be passing sentence and point out to them the
enormity of Smiley's crimes. You do not need to be at one of the libraries
affected to have your voice heard in either case. In the federal case,
especially, he is charged with cultural theft, and that is a crime against
all of us, not just the library from which he stole that map. One reason
that it is important that you let your feelings be known is that Smiley's
defense team is no doubt lining up letters of support and commendation for
this man. Those must be offset by reality.
If you want to write Smiley's judges, they are:
FEDERAL JUDGE
Honorable Janet Bond Arterton
United States District Court Judge
141 Church Street
New Haven, Connecticut 06510 USA
(203) 773-2456
STATE JUDGE
Honorable Richard Damiani
Connecticut District Court Judge
235 Church Street
New Haven, CT 06510 USA
(203) 503-6800
One important aspect of writing letters to those two judges involves their
education. Probably neither one of them have ever tried or sentenced a map
thief. They may not understand the cultural enormity of what Smiley has
done. They no doubt understand the dollar losses, but the other types of
losses may not be so obvious to them. It is vital that we all educate them.
Please write.
Everett Wilkie
2006 Carey Road
Kinston, NC 28501
ewilkie@ix.netcom.com
252-522-0261
Cell: 717-419-9419
"Join us for our groundbraking"
--Sign