Dr. Dershowitz-

This is Barrett Brown, author of Flock of Dodos: Behind Modern
Creationism, Intelligent Design, and the Easter Bunny, for which you
kindly provided the cover blurb (thanks again, by the way). I'm
writing to you because there is a crisis developing among the nation's
already-anemic secular activist infrastructure, and I believe that you
may be the only one in a position to prevent this from blowing up.

I have just recently been named as director of communications for the
Godless Americans Political Action Committee, which we have wisely
decided to rename with the less antagonistic moniker Enlighten the
Vote, effective when we relaunch the PAC at the end of this month. The
PAC is lead by Ellen Johnson, with whom you may be familiar and who
quit school in order to take over leadership of American Atheists upon
the murder of the O'Hairs in 1995. Though the organization seems to
have trudged along since then without any further murders, which I
suppose is good, it has been overtaken by all sorts of silly drama
over the past year or so. Much of this stemmed from Johnson's decision
to complete the Freedom March through Alabama this year, a decision
which prompted an ex-boyfriend and AA board member to freak out to a
degree not seen since my mom found a journal of mine back in high
school which detailed my experience in having watched a portion of the
Clinton impeachment hearings on two tabs of LSD. The board member in
question was, it seems, worried about security and thus overreacted;
as detailed in a letter he has since written to the board and which I
can forward to you if you'd like, he has since acknowledged his error
and feels terrible about having catalyzed an incident which has since
led to Johnson's firing by the board for reasons that have not been
disclosed to the public and which Johnson herself does not seem to
understand.

Yesterday, I spoke to Johnson via phone for the first time, and she
mentioned that AA is now suing her. The reason for the lawsuit appears
to be Johnson's possession of Madalyn Murray O'Hair's diaries, which
AA contends belongs to the organization. Additionally, the new
president of AA seems intent on trying to harass and otherwise
intimidate Johnson, as may be seen here:

http://www.atheists.org/nogodblog/index.php/2008/06/28/an_open_letter_to_ellen_johnson#comments

Now, from what I have learned based on my brief communications with
members of the AA board and from my more extensive talks with Johnson,
Johnson's firing and subsequent targeting has more to do with the
unfortunate emotional state of several key board members than it does
with any actual legal case the organization may have against Johnson.
Obviously, I would not ask you to take my word for it; I am confident
that even a brief examination of the available facts would indicate
the same thing to you.

Johnson herself seems to be taking all of this very well, and, being
who she is, does not seem to have thought of seeking out help with
this matter. Although I told her I would try to assist, she does not
know that I am writing to you - which, of course, brings me to the
matter of why it is that I am writing to you. I am very concerned
about the possibility of a fruitless little civil war between two
organizations which ought to be expending their energy on the very
real threat of creeping dominionism and other matters of life and
death, and not on perceived grievances among a gaggle of aging and
immature weirdos of the sort who seem to make up a good portion of,
frankly, everything. I don't want Johnson to be spending her time and
very limited resources dealing with this nonsense when we have things
that need doing. And I believe that you, being among America's most
prominent atheists, might be in a position to tell AA to chill out
with the lawsuits - even a call or a letter from you might convince
them to call off their dogs and get back to, you know, actual
activism. I understand that you're extraordinarily busy, however, and
if you find that this is not something that you will be able to assist
with, I would be very grateful if you could direct me to someone else
who might be able to assist on a pro bono basis.

At any rate, I appreciate you taking the time to listen, and, again, I
thank you for your very swell words on behalf of my work.

Regards,

Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302