Jeffrey "Free" Luers is a

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...

from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, who served a ten-year prison sentence for an

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

motivated by environmental concerns. On February 14, 2007, the

Oregon Court of Appeals The Oregon Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court in the US state of Oregon. Part of the Oregon Judicial Department, it has thirteen judges and is located in Salem. Except for death penalty cases, which are reserved to the O ...

overturned Luers' sentence, instructing the Lane County circuit court to determine a new sentence. That court reduced the sentence from 22 years, 8 months to 10 years in February 2008, after what ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' described as an "international campaign for a more appropriate sentence for a crime in which no one was hurt."

Background

Luers is a former resident of

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

and helped establish Red Cloud Thunder, a group of activists who organized a

tree sitting Tree sitting is a form of environmentalist civil disobedience in which a protester sits in a tree, usually on a small platform built for the purpose, to protect it from being cut down (speculating that loggers will not endanger human lives by cutt ...

campaign to stop the

clear-cutting Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/ logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of fore ...

old growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

s outside of Fall Creek, Oregon.

Arson and sentencing

The first incident took place in Eugene, Oregon in the United States when Luers and Craig Marshall planted crude delay devices for an attempted arson of trucks at the Tyree Oil Company. The two placed a section of cloth, which was draped over a gallon milk jug filled with a fuel and soap mixture, in the fuel tank of a double-trailer fuel truck. According to authorities, the potential blast could have caused damage over two city blocks. On 16 June 2000, he set fire to three light trucks at Romania Chevrolet dealership suspectedly via the use of bombs, in Eugene as a protest against excessive consumption and

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, along with Craig "Critter" Marshall, who was sentenced to five and a half years in prison. The arson destroyed three pickup trucks including a 2000 Silverado. Luers might have received a comparable sentence if he had not been convicted of an earlier attempted arson as well. Luers was initially sentenced to 22 years, 8 months in prison. Supporters argued that his sentence was excessive, because no one was injured and property damage was estimated at only $40,000 The

overturned the sentence in 2007, remanding the case to the Lane County circuit court for resentencing. In February 2008, the circuit court approved a reduction in his term to 10 years, most of which had already been served.

Reaction to sentence

Luers has at times been a

cause célèbre A cause célèbre (,''Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged'', 12th Edition, 2014. S.v. "cause célèbre". Retrieved November 30, 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre ,''Random House Kernerman Webs ...

among some radicals, anti-prison activists, and individuals associated with the

Earth Liberation Front The Earth Liberation Front (ELF), also known as "Elves" or "The Elves", is the collective name for autonomous individuals or covert cells who, according to the ELF Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitatio ...

(ELF), although Luers has said that he does not consider himself to be an ELF member.

Mistaken release

On October 2, 2009 Luers was released from prison after being granted another 30% term reduction. Department of Corrections officials assumed he was eligible for early release under a bill enacted that year by the state legislature, but he was not. Luers was taken back into custody within hours.

Release in 2009

After serving 9.5 years, Luers was released from prison on December 16, 2009. He was interviewed by

Amy Goodman Amy Goodman (born April 13, 1957) is an American broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, investigative reporter, and author. Her investigative journalism career includes coverage of the East Timor independence movement, Morocco's occupation ...

on ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...

'' about a week later and spoke about his sentencing, time in prison, and environmental attitudes. His attorney, Lauren Regan, was interviewed as well.">EXCLUSIVE: Environmental Activist Jeff "Free" Luers Speaks Out in First Interview After 9.5 Years Behind Bars , Democracy Now!
/ref>

References

External links

*
From Tree-Hugger to Terrorist
2002 New York Times article about Luers.
Documentary about his story, on youtube websiteLuers Speaks Out in First Interview After 9.5 Years Behind Bars
- video report by ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Luers, Jeff American people convicted of arson American environmentalists American prisoners and detainees Living people People from Eugene, Oregon Place of birth missing (living people) Prisoners and detainees of Oregon 1951 births