Steve Kurtz Case Dismissed
Not too long ago, the Alternative Film Guide published a q&a with filmmaker Lynn Hershman-Leeson, whose Strange Culture (above) deals with the bizarre case of Steve Kurtz, a professor of Visual Studies at the University of Buffalo and a founding member of the award-winning collective Critical Art Ensemble (CAE), who was accused by the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department of being a bioterrorist. Kurtz and Lucia Sommer, coordinator of the CAE Defense Fund, also took part in the q&a, which discussed both Hershman-Leeson’s film and Kurtz’s legal battle against a justice system blind to the (obvious) facts.
After four years, a U.S. federal judge has finally dismissed all charges against Kurtz. At Inter Press Agency, William Fisher has written a thorough article on the absurdity of the case.
Below are a couple of quotes:
"The then governor of New York, George Pataki, lauded the work of the FBI for disrupting a major bioterrorism threat. And the then U.S. attorney in Buffalo, Michael A. Battle — the lawyer who was later to become the Department of Justice employee who notified eight U.S. attorneys that they were being fired — praised the work of the Buffalo Joint Terrorism Task Force.
"But after a several-month-long investigation, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failed to provide any evidence of ‘bioterrorism.’ On the contrary, FBI tests revealed within a few days of the incident that there were no harmful biological agents in Kurtz’s house and that his wife had died of heart failure.
"Forced to drop its charges of weapons manufacture, the government instead accused Kurtz and [co-defendant Dr. Robert] Ferrell of mail and wire fraud."
FBI Says No Marilyn Monroe Sex Film
Julie Andrews: Sexy, Maternal, Theatrical
Robert De Niro’s CAA Controversy
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro Take the Heat
Disney Animator Ollie Johnston Jr.
Roger Ebert and the Fate of Film Criticism
Comments
One Response to “Steve Kurtz Case Dismissed”
Leave a Reply
NOTE:
All comments are moderated and may take some time before they are posted. Different views and opinions are welcome, but courtesy is imperative. Rude/crass/bigoted comments and name-calling of any sort will be immediately deleted.
Also, please be aware that the Alternative Film Guide has no contact information for the talent mentioned in this blog and no information pertaining to or access to distributors'/producers' film prints.
What a waste of taxpayers’ money. Why am I not surprised?