Yesterday we sent an email letting people know that our Director, Dennis Sobin, had been arrested at a public hearing at city hall in Washington, DC and we asked for your help to prevent a repetition of this grave injustice. Here are some of the many responses we received in the past 24 hours. Note: Below appear a small sampling of the email responses we received, without any changes except to conceal the names of the senders. Their names and contact information will be provided only to members of the press who wish to contact them for interviews and obtain their permission to publish their names. (Already, Washington City Paper has interviewed our director.) We also received a large number of positive phone calls. At the bottom of this page appears the original email we sent with details of the arrest, along with the telephone numbers of Washington city officials who can correct this injustice. As per request, we hereby provide the email addresses for those officials: Adrian Fenty, Mayor [email protected] (Mayor) 202-724-8876 [email protected] (Mayor's advisor) Vincent Gray, City Council Chairperson [email protected] (chief of staff) 202-724-8032 Jack Evans, City Councilmember [email protected] 202-724-8023 Phil Mendelson, Chair of Judciary Committee [email protected] 202-724-8064 ***************************************************************** Below are some of the emails we just received: ***************************************************************** I called everyone on the list. Spoke to Heidi at Mr. Mendelson's office (they said they were "aware but not getting involved") and I reminded her that a larger issue is up in the air here, and that is the right of citizens to have a free and open forum in public buildings (especially when invited!). I told her as a resident of the District I was "shocked" that legal guidelines could be manipulated at CITY HALL of all places to silence an invited guest. Everyone else I left messages for.... if we can get a couple dozen people making these calls it might be enough to generate some buzz, which sometimes translates into support. I'll wait and see if Fenty or anyone else calls me back - but at least the message is getting out! ****************************************************************** hi dennis i got the email this morning about your arrest... holy smoke! i'm so sorry to hear about the bad blood between you and your son, whatever it is (i don't need to know), but i want you to know that i made three phone calls this morning, and also to let you know that i was told that others were calling as well. you're doing great work and for the best reasons, and no doubt there will be many other roadblocks and attempts at deterrents along the way, but that's the way it is with god's work. a pastor of mine once likened the phenomena to those beautiful stones and sea glass that find at the beach... they got that way by being tumbled around in the sand and waves. *********************************************** Hello: I called the 202-724-8023 number listed below and got transferred 4 times before finally talking to someone named HEIDI who listened to what I had to say about calling in support of having Darrin transferred so that Dennis can testify at City Hall , to which she simply replied OK and hung up. I do not know what type of response we are expecting to get, but please be sure to let people know that they can be transferred many times and DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED!!! No one will take your name, number or ask any questions. They listen to why you are calling and then transfer you to someone else, to whom you again have to explain why you are calling. BE PATIENT and PERSISTENT! *************************************************** This is an abuse of office by Darrin Sobin. His direct superior, the attorney general, should be pressured to prevent Darrin from taking any such further action. Exactly how the AG does that is not up to Dennis or the PFO staff to determine. If it means Darrin loses his job, so be it. Let the chips fall where they may. He can find employment elsewhere, where he cannot exercise authority that he cannot handle responsibly. Darrin Sobin is a disgrace to the AG, the citizens he supposedly represents, to his father, and his family. Call it like it is. ***************************************************** Wow! I am so shocked to hear this. The prosecutor (his son) has some serious issues. I feel so bad for Dennis and I will make the calls. Any arrest is devastating, but to have your own son do something like this is almost beyond belief. I hope everything works out. Please keep us updated. ****************************************************** We are arranging to have a staff member reach out to each of the officials named in your communication. If there is anything else that we can do to support you, please do not hesitate to let us know. *********************************************************** I'm with you, Dennis (and your Prison Foundation.) We spoke a few times and had planned to meet, but the powers that be prevented this. I spent a total of 30 years in prison, completing a 20-year sentence just recently in Federal Prison, where I was tortured before being released 6/14/2006. Nine guards were removed from duty for what they did to me, however the Buearu of Prisons quietly placed them back on the job six months later, though the investigation is STILL ONGOING. Stay strong, my brother!!!! We are calling the Mayor's office now!!!!!!!!!!!! ********************************************** I am very shocked that such a thing could happen to such a nice person. I'm sorry that my telephoning ability doesn't allow me to make calls. If you decide to send some sort of an e-mail or letter let me know. ************************************************************ I am president of a non-profit organization that focuses on "prison to community transition." Somehow, I was fortunate enough to have been placed on your E-List, for which thanks. Today's announcement - Arrest of our Director, Dennis Sobin . . . - is a great snapshot of the way ex-cons are treated after they have "paid for their misdeeds" and the situations within which we find ourselves far too often after release. I am more than pleased to make a few phone calls to register my displeasure. It is bad enough that my tax dollars go to pay Mr. Darrin Sobin's salary, but when he (and other community servants) misuse their power, it is unbearable. ************************************************************* Below is the original email that the Prisons Foundation sent on June 18 with details of the arrest, along with the telephone numbers of Washington city officials who can correct this injustice. Dennis Sobin, Director of the Prisons Foundation, went to City Hall to testify at a budget hearing on the priorities of the Attorney General's Office. This is routine for our director as these hearings represent important opportunities to advocate for alternatives to incarceration and the need for prosecutors to focus on serious crimes rather than non-violent offenses. One of those prosecutors happens to be Dennis Sobin's son, Darrin Sobin. He and his father have not seen eye to eye for some time. Last year the younger Sobin, Darrin, flexed his muscle as a government attorney by getting a stay away order to keep his father a set number of feet from him. Now he has gone the next step by having his father arrested for stepping foot in City Hall because Darrin has moved into an office in that building. When Dennis arrived for the hearing, his son knew of his presence because Dennis was on the witness list to testify. Dennis never got to testify because his son had him wisked out of the building in handcuffs and put in jail before a judge could release Dennis. By then the hearing was over. The building security officers who arrested Dennis have acknowledged that they were pressured to take this action by Darrin. They even went so far to try to appease Darrin, short of arresting his father, by offering to accompany Dennis to the City Council Chambers where the hearing was taking place and stay with him throughout his testimony. But Darrin rejected this. Darrin has let it be known that if his father returns to city hall for any reason, the same fate awaits him. It is therefore URGENT that the following officials at city hall be called TODAY to let our outrage be known. Says Dennis, "I don't want my son fired. That would be too extreme and a particular hardship for his children, my grandsons Alexander and Tristan." We are requesting that Darrin Sobin be relocated to the Attorney General's headqurters a few blocks away. That way our director Dennis can conduct Prisons Foundation business at city hall. Here are the names and phone numbers of officials at city hall who can make this happen. Please call them TODAY to get their assurance that this will indeed occur without delay. Even if you are not a resident of Washington you can demand action as a visitor who is shocked that such a thing could happen in the nation's capital. Adrian Fenty, Mayor, 202-724-8876 (This is Adrian's private number so please be brief when talking to him and please do not retain this number for any other purpose. He has been a supporter of the Prisons Foundation ever since his childhood friend Donald Thomas ended up in prison and needed our help.) Vincent Gray, City Council Chairperson, 202-724-8032 (Next to the mayor, Vincent is the most powerful person in city hall and has a reputation as a no-nonsense official. Dennis worked for his campaign and helped get him elected in 2006.) Jack Evans, City Councilmember, 202-724-8023 (As chair pro temp, Jack is number three in power at city hall. He also happens to be the councilmember representing Dennis in Ward 2. Still, Dennis cannot visit him at city hall as long as Darrin Sobin is there.) Phil Mendelson, Chair of Judciary Committee, 202-724-8064 (Phil is an at-large councilmember who chaired the hearing at which Dennis was set to testify and is reportedly upset at what happened there. He can bring about Darrin Sobin's transfer in the interest of justice and democracy.) On a personal note, Dennis is in good spirits and continues to meet his responsibilities daily as our director. He will be on hand at our fundraising prison art auction and reception being held at the Prisons Art Gallery this Friday, June 20 at 6 to 8 pm, and will also serve the next day, Saturday, June 21, 10 am to 4 pm, as one of the presenters at our Prison Artist Mentoring Workshop taking place at the Prison Art Gallery, 1600 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20006. Thank you for calling the above city hall officials and demanding that action be taken TODAY. Please call us at 202-393-1511 or email [email protected] if you need further information. Thank you for your help and support in this crisis.