We just handed off our letters to Ellen Lubell, attorney for an Algerian detainee in Guantanamo, who has kindly agreed to take them to Washington, where they will be distributed among the rest of the habeas counsel and delivered to the appropriate Congressional offices. We collected almost 600 letters from almost 200 people to Senators and Congressmen from the following 22 states:

Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.

Hopefully these letters will make some members of Congress take heed. As was to be expected, almost exactly half of our letters wil be going to Massachusetts folks. Receiving over 80 letters from his constituents may not have too much of an impact on Representative Capuano of Cambridge and Somerville — who must already be one of the most liberal members of Congress! — but it doesn’t hurt to remind Senators Kennedy and Kerry that this is an issue that their constituents care deeply about. The Democratic leadership has been a big part of the problem, and they, too, need to be pushed.

More than anything, though, this week’s action did wonders for re-energizing and re-mobilizing us (we had about 30 students actively volunteering), for sparking discussion on campus with students, children, and visitors — and giving us the tools and random coincidences that we needed to pull off the impromptu Gonzales protest … which has ended up getting a huge amount of coverage. Here’s to hoping that every little bit helps.

Thank you CCR for the call for action, and for launching this network of students. I hope we can continue to use it for bigger and better actions in the future.

It’s been a pleasure,
The Harvard Crew