For the cost of one stamp - 41 cents - you can help Chip Fitzgerald walk out of prison a free man. That is a little more than a penny for every year he has spent in jail for a crime he did not commit. Act now!

Chip Fitzgerald is the longest held political prisoner in the United States. He is serving a life sentence for the killing of a security guard - a crime for which he claims he is innocent. He is also serving a life sentence for a shoot-out with a CHP officer, who later admitted he had orders to shoot-to-kill members of the Black Panther Party.

Chip's arrest and trial coincided with the arrest of Geronimo Ji-Jaga Pratt, who served 27 years for a crime he did not commit. Both arrests took place during a campaign by the U.S. government to destroy the Black Panther Party by assassination and criminalization of their membership. Like Pratt, Chip is an innocent man, who is only guilty of defending himself when a white cop tried to kill him for being a Black Panther.

On Sept. 26, 2007, Romaine Chip Fitzgerald will stand before the Board of Parole Hearings with a real possibility of being given parole. We are asking for you to make this happen. Below is a sample letter we are asking people to send into the Board of Parole Hearings. We ask that you send the letter and a copy of the letter to the Board of Parole Hearings and to Chip's attorney. Mail all letters to: Ms. Linda Buchalter, Attorney-At-Law, 1011 Fifth St. #6, Santa Monica, CA 90403, (310) 393-7033.

Sample letter

[Date]

James Davis, Chairman, Board of Parole Hearings
Post Office Box 4036
Sacramento, CA 95812-4036

Dear Chairman Davis,

I am writing in support of the release of inmate Romaine Fitzgerald, B27527, who is scheduled for a parole hearing on September 26, 2007. Mr. Fitzgerald is currently incarcerated at Centinela State Prison in Imperial, CA.

Since 1972, Mr. Fitzgerald has been serving a life sentence, with possibility of parole. This means that by California law, Mr. Fitzgerald should have long ago been given a release date. In the nearly 38 years he has been in prison, Mr. Fitzgerald's prison records reflect that he has been and continues to be a model prisoner who has never been involved in any acts of violence or of a criminal nature. In fact, he has participated in a number of rehabilitation activities, including individual and group counseling. He has a record of diligence and commitment in these activities.

While in a previous prison, Mr. Fitzgerald suffered a massive stroke, which has left him significantly disabled. He has also had back surgery for a degenerative spinal condition.

Mr. Fitzgerald has received the support of leaders of his community of Compton, California, to include City Attorney LeGrand Clegg and Compton City Councilwoman Barbara Calhoun. He has also received support from his U.S. Representative Maxine Waters and from the Monterey Peninsula Branch of the NAACP, which accepted Mr. Fitzgerald as a member in 1999 when he was incarcerated at Salinas Valley State Prison.

Mr. Fitzgerald's incarceration has far exceeded the maximum amount of time he should have served given his sentence. As a result, I ask that, in accordance with state law, he be released to return to a supportive community that will assist him with education, employment and health care and to the caring arms of a family that will provide him with love, protection, guidance and a smooth entry back into society.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

A petition for Chip has recently been posted online, at www.petitiononline.com/freechip/petition.html. Sign it today!

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