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Prisoner Gaunt to keep her job

College extends library assistant's leave of absence till August

by David Montgomery

Writing to her husband Jay, Grinnell library assistant Christine "Chris" Gaunt had good news--she had just been given a full-time job. Gaunt, incarcerated in Pekin Federal Prison Camp for Women, would perform menial labor for $.28 per hour.

Jay Gaunt received another letter about his wife's employment yesterday with even better news. Grinnell College had decided to extend Chris Gaunt's leave of absence until the beginning of the fall 2006 semester. The initial leave she had been granted ran out on Apr. 13, 35 days before she would be released from prison, timing that would have resulted in the loss of her job.

Chris Gaunt had been arrested on Nov. 20, 2005, at a massive protest against the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the School of the Americas (SOA). Along with 40 other protestors, Gaunt had crossed a fence leading onto military property, and had been promptly arrested. Gaunt pled guilty to trespass and was sentenced to six months in jail and a $2000 fine.

Her time in prison would be split among three institutions, beginning with the overcrowded Muscogee County Jail in Georgia. After a stop in the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., Gaunt was taken to the Pekin Camp, from which Gaunt spoke with the S&B by phone.

After being sentenced, Gaunt was sent to the Muscogee jail until she could be moved to a federal prison. "It has a well-deserved reputation for being a hellhole," said Gaunt. She had been imprisoned there before, for 90 days after crossing the SOA fence at a 2002 protest. "I knew that going in. I chose to start my time right away."

It took more than seven weeks for Gaunt to be moved from the Georgia prison to the Pekin Camp, where she would spend the majority of her sentence. Her trip to Pekin took her through several stops, culminating in a plane ride to Terre Haute, Ind. Gaunt and approximately 15 other female prisoners were placed on a plane with over 100 male prisoners and 15-20 marshals. She was placed on a bus for Pekin, Ill., located three hours south of Chicago.

Gaunt has continued her civil disobedience against the SOA because she firmly believes the school is behind waves of torture in Latin America. According to SOA Watch, the group that organizes the annual protests at the school, "hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, ?disappeared,' massacred and forced into refuge" by SOA-trained soldiers.

"My eight-year involvement in the SOA is my real introduction to grass-roots nonviolence," said Gaunt, who has also protested against the Iraq war. "I want to change the U.S. foreign policy as it applies to Latin America, and end the U.S. occupation of Iraq."

When she was jailed in 2002, Gaunt received a 90-day leave from her job as a weekend library assistant at Burling's circulation desk. The letter granting the request also stated, "leaves of this nature may not be granted in the future."

Gaunt said that she saved up her vacation time until she felt she had enough, seven and a half weekends, to cross the line again at the SOA. After getting a six-month sentence, she requested a leave of absence from the college for the remainder of the sentence.

A Dec. 8 letter sent to Gaunt from Kristin Lovig, director of human resources, laid out how Gaunt's vacation time and a 60-day leave would take her to April 13.

Fourteen faculty, staff and town residents submitted a letter to President Osgood last weekend expressing support for Gaunt. Elizabeth Dobbs, English, said Osgood told her that he would write to Gaunt.

The letter Jay Gaunt received yesterday, also sent to Chris Gaunt in Pekin, cited her job performance as a factor meriting an extended leave.

"I think everybody's efforts had something to do with [the extended leave]," said Jay Gaunt. Many fellow activists and interested students had sent e-mails back and forth with news about Gaunt's situation, and met to discuss ways to support her.

Jay Gaunt recently received a booklet on the transition from prison life back into society.

"Three months is one thing, but six months is something else," said Jay Gaunt. "It's gonna be a change for her. She definitely doesn't want a gigantic welcome-home party the first day. She'll probably need some time off to recuperate, I suppose."

Side bar: Supporting Gaunt

Burling library assistant Christine Gaunt is incarcerated at the Pekin Federal Prison Camp for Women until May 20th. Here's how students who wish to support Gaunt while she's in prison can do so:

By letter:

Christine Gaunt #91356-020

FCI Pekin

Satellite Camp

P.O. Box 5000

Pekin, IL 61555

In person:

Gaunt can be visited in Pekin, approximately four hours from Grinnell. To visit her, one has to fill out forms in advance and pass a background check. Gaunt's husband, Jay Gaunt, can provide them to interested students. He can be reached at (641) 236-3355

Financially:According to Bob Cadmus, Physics, a potluck dinner is planned sometime in February to raise money to benefit Gaunt. Dates are still uncertain.

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