The hunger strike begins in prisons of CA under prolonged restrictions

From Kayla MihalovichCalmness

This story was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

Nearly two dozen state -owned Last week, they imposed extensive restrictions on their population – including the exclusion of all external communication. It is now reported that hundreds of prisoners are on a hunger strike to protest against the largest limitations of the system after the pandemic.

The correction department “significantly limited” the daily activities and the movement of approximately 34,000 deprived people on June 12 in response to a recent blow to violence, overdose and smuggling, according to its website.

According to restrictions, prisoners are forced to remain mainly in their cage or hostel. All personal visits, programming, access to telephone and tablet communications are stopped. Medical care and other basic services will continue, the department said.

The department did not say when the restrictions would end.

Legal experts and defenders called a drastic move of the department and said the approach was a lonely prison in all but a name.

“This is a very lonely space you have to be in,” said Warren Hands, controlling the defender of the success of conditional release in Undommon Law, a non -profit purpose. “Addiction is real. Problems with mental health are real. And they are exacerbated by these blockages.”

Correction Secretary Jeff Macomber said in a written statement that the department is obliged to guarantee the public safety of staff, persons deprived of liberty and communities.

“We recognize the concerns of the deprived and their families and how it affects participation in rehab and visit programs,” he said.

The department publishes a press release at the end of Tuesday, lists a number of armed attacks against employees, armed battery of deprived people and several riots during the weeks leading to the restrictions, but does not attribute these incidents to specific prisons.

Families of prisoners say that restrictions are cruel and collective penalties. Angel Torres said he felt unbearable not to have contact with his father, who was imprisoned at the Folsom state prison.

“I wonder if it’s safe and healthy,” Torres said. The Department of “Play Propaganda War. They are professionals of abstract, dumb and unclear statements that are generated to keep families in the dark.”

In prisons across the country, Locking is becoming more and more common due to a shortage of staff. In California, the correction department has imposed wide restrictions on people who have been closed twice for three months.

Prison reports “the increase in violence”

The latest restrictions on March 8 were placed on nearly a dozen prisons due to a “jump of violence against staff and prisoners.” They ended on April 11. During this time, at least three deprived people were killed and according to the reports, an officer was attacked.

In recent years, the department has been firing because of its approach to the management of incidents with violence and smuggling. He was criticized by A judge of the Supreme Sacramento County in 2022 to create violence when it united deprived people of the common population with those who had previously been protected as informants, bypassing the established procedures in the process.

Next year Supervisory Agency found that Drugs continued to enter the California prisons During the pandemic, when public health protocols prohibit visits.

“It is a secret that employees are the main vector of smuggling in prison,” says Sharon Dolovic, a law professor at UCLA.

She said that blocking could be a useful tool if it was done in a limited way, but the policy of the ward of the department seems to be difficult to protect.

“It’s a dumb tool when they have to use a scalpel,” she said. “The question is the connection between the patients they are trying to fight, and the strategy they accept to try to deal with it. I remain unconvinated that it is necessary to lock this scale to deal with this problem.”

Hunger

One day after the correction department applies the restrictions deprived of the Salinas Valley State Prison, they have officially announced a hunger strike.

“This action arises in response to permanent and illegal practices by the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, including the use of indiscriminate blocked, deprivation of rehabilitation and constitutional rights and collective punishment of the deprived population,” a letter provided to Calmatters said. “This protest is not rooted in the challenge, but in our firm request (the correction department) to adhere to its obligations under the US Constitution, the California Code of Criminal Code and Title 15 of the California Code of the Regulation.”

Correction spokesman Terry Hardy said the department has procedures for monitoring and evaluating hunger strikes.

Brooke Terplestra, a member of the Oakland Ameilition & Solidarity anti-clot group, estimated that over 500 people participate in the strike. He suspects that deprived people in other prisons will join with restrictions.

“All the hungry strokes are remarkable, but it’s a major phenomenon,” he said. “(The united collective punishment of the department) has led to a united collective response. This is inspiring.”

Kayla Mihalovic is California local news.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.