Pelican Bay Hunger Strike Anniversary

The nation's most vulnerable citizens, the mentally ill, comprise over 60% of inmates in solitary confinement. In addition, children are often isolated. The next story in this blog is about a retarded sixteen-year-old girl who was sentenced to a juvenile correctional facility in Kansas after taking her mom's car for a joyride that ended in an accident. For SOME STRANGE REASON, the pretty teen was placed on birth control patches. She experienced side-effects that included shortness of breath and chest pains, which she reported to guards. Their response was to put the complaining teen in solitary, where she died within an hour. See "Sex Abuse and Death in a Juvenile Facility?" at this link http://marylovesjustice.blogspot.com/2012/07/sex-abuse-and-death-in-juvenile.html

Below is an excerpt from "One Year Anniversary of Pelican Bay Hunger Strike Against Solitary Confinement," by Sal Rodriguez. I congratulate all inmates who helped bring awareness to your torturous conditions by participating in the hunger strike.

One year ago on July 1, 2011, approximately 6,600 inmates across California launched a hunger strike in protest of conditions at Pelican Bay State Prison. The leaders of the strike were a group of prisoners referred to as the Pelican Bay Short Corridor Collective, a multiracial group of prisoners.

The group issued five demands:


1. End Group Punishment & Administrative Abuse


2. Abolish the Debriefing Policy, and Modify Active/Inactive Gang Status Criteria


3. Comply with the US Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons 2006 Recommendations Regarding an End to Long-Term Solitary Confinement


4. Provide Adequate and Nutritious Food


5. Expand and Provide Constructive Programming and Privileges for Indefinite SHU Status Inmates.


The strike would last three weeks before coming to an end. Several strikers would be hospitalized. The strike brought attention to the widespread use of solitary confinement in California; currently, approximately three thousand inmates are held in one of California's three Security Housing Units, where inmates determined to be gang members are sentenced to indefinite terms in solitary confinement. Those sentenced to the SHU for gang validation must either become an informant and leave the gang, must be inactive for six years, or they must parole from their sentence; the phrase "Parole, Snitch, or Die" captures the means of leaving the SHU. (See the entire article at SolitaryWatch.com at this link http://solitarywatch.com/2012/07/03/one-year-anniversary-of-pelican-bay-hunger-strike-against-solitary-confinement/ )
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I also received an announcement about a July 3rd rally against injustice. Although the announcement came too late to share it with my readers, it had a message that remains timely:

NOW IS THE TIME TO COME TOGETHER . . . AND PICK UP THE WORK TO FREE MUMIA AND ALL THE OTHER POLITICAL PRISONERS, END THE DEATH PENALTY, AND DISMANTLE THE SYSTEM OF MASS INCARCERATION ("THE NEW JIM CROW").

Join Inmates v. CA re Prison Torture

Announcement for Prison Focus: Help Needed re Lawsuit for Human Rights of California Prisoners - Relief from Prolonged Solitary Confinement

from California Prison Focus 
Thu, Jun 21, 2012

[I have volunteered for a night or two at CA Prison Focus and stayed in contact with people there.  It really is bare-boned, no money, all heart, lots of letters all-night work.  Please support them and pass on this message to more people.  Their website, which has their Prison Focus newsletters available electronically, is http://www.prisons.org. 

Forward this message to a friend

At last we are greeting you online! We want to thank you for fighting alongside us against long-term solitary confinement in California.  We greatly appreciate the support you have given us in this struggle, whether in the form of a check or a block of your time.

California Prison Focus has been waging this fight against the SHUs (Security Housing Units) for over 20 years. Since the start of last year’s hunger strike by nearly twelve thousand prisoners, we have worked unceasingly to pressure CDCR to meet the prisoners’ five core demands.

Now we want to share exciting news: California Prison Focus is co-counsel in a class action lawsuit filed on May 31, 2012. On behalf of SHU prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison, the lawsuit alleges that long-term solitary confinement in California violates the federal Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.  It also claims that CDCR violates the constitutional requirement of due process when it throws people into SHU who have done nothing violent or illegal and then keeps them there for decades—or life.
 

You can support this lawsuit by clicking here.

http://cts.vresp.com/c/?CaliforniaPrisonFocu/9d749a93e9/bb521dd5da/152d84485e/cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=V2QZ4ARPVFYU2

 
This legal action requires huge numbers of hours of attorney time—our attorney donates hers completely pro bono. It also involves out-of-pocket expenses. We must travel frequently to Pelican Bay to confer with our plaintiffs about legal strategy and get their histories and other information to prove our case. We travel on the cheap, driving rather than flying, and staying at inexpensive motels, but still each trip costs about $400.

This lawsuit has the potential to make an enormous impact on the lives of thousands of prisoners and their families. But there is no law firm with deep pockets behind it. The costs of pursuing the suit could compromise our chances of success, and a historic opportunity would be lost.
 Will you donate to support this lawsuit?  Each gift of $20 will buy half a tank of gas on our next trip to the Pelican Bay SHU. Any amount will help. Please give what you can.

A movement against prolonged solitary confinement is building fast! With your help, California Prison Focus will hasten the demise of this form of torture in our state.

________________________________
California Prison Focus
1904 Franklin St. #507
Oakland, California 94612
US

Save California Kids from Solitary Confinement

Soaring No More

(photo by Joseph Siroker ) 

Please support SB 1363, a bill that would limit the harmful practice of solitary confinement, which is being used against kids in California’s juvenile facilities. Currently, kids are locked up in isolation, denied education and basic programming. The international community has condemned the use of solitary confinement against youth. Research has shown the traumatic toll and mental health breakdown caused by isolation in healthy adults. Children who are still in their development stages are at an even greater risk of permanent damage. It is unacceptable that our state allows this to happen. Sign the petition at this link, please!  Urge the Senate Public Safety Committee to end the solitary confinement of kids.

WHERE DOES THE CRUELTY END?

Please sign the petition to SAVE THE CHILDREN http://goo.gl/P2l9W 

Open thy mouth for the voiceless in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction [capital punishment].  Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy [victims of racism, poverty, unjust prosecution, excessive sentencing, three-strikes laws, imprisonment for offenses caused by mental illness, and all unrighteousness] ~Proverbs31:8-9. GET UP, STAND UP FOR LOVE. See an excerpt from the petition below:

Solitary confinement is torture. Yet, this harmful practice runs rampant in California’s state and local facilities.
.

Research has shown the traumatic toll and mental health impacts of isolation in healthy adults. Children who are still in their development stages are at an even greater risk of permanent damage. When the state takes custody of our children, parents expect them to get the education and programming they need to lead healthy lives. Instead, their children are isolated and damaged.

Is this what we want for our children? If your child attempted suicide, would you lock her up alone in a cell to “fix” the problem? Our children deserve better. The state has a duty to protect our children in its custody from harmful practices that endanger their lives. SB 1363 (Yee) will limit the use of solitary confinement in juvenile facilities and provide protective guidelines on how and when it is used. Stand with us and urge the Senate Public Safety Committee members to vote “YES” on SB 1363.

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Mary Neal, Child Advocate, director of Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill at http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/aimi Four links are on this page, not counting the ad below. Unfortunately, messages to make the justice system in America more just and compassionate are cyberstalked. Pray for the cruelty and injustice to end. Pray for officials to repent and be righteous. Pray for justice for ALL.

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Complimentary ad for H.U.Y.O.E. 

Hold Up Your Own End - Nonviolence Guide for Today's Youth

IT IS OFFICIALLY ON THE MARKET!!!

The H.U.Y.O.E. Non-Violence Guide for Today's Youth is now available for purchase.  We are excited about our efforts to try to help reduce youth violence in today's society.

The challenges that children face today are not new, but, when left unaddressed, can leave emotional scars that hinder a young person’s true potential. Some of these include peer assault, cyber-bullying, thoughts of suicide, harassment, lack of self-esteem, rejection, anger, rage, fear, failure, gangs, and many other potentially life-changing challenges. The H.U.Y.O.E. Non-Violence Guide for Today’s Youth addresses these challenges that are faced by most—if not all—youth to some degree in school, at home, and in the community. 

The H.U.Y.O.E. Non-Violence Guide for Today’s Youth will be life-changing for today’s youth because it does not focus upon violence, but rather on the victory over any act of destruction committed upon self or upon others, whether it be physical or emotional. The H.U.Y.O.E. Non-Violence Guide for Today’s Youth is uniquely designed to reach and teach the whole child by addressing violence of the body, soul, and spirit through stories and activities that encourage the development of self, rather than through a series of lectures. It will be an invaluable experience for your children, grandchildren, friends, siblings, and relatives. 

To order your book today, please follow this link:

https://www.createspace.com/3999819

Center for Church and Prison Meeting

Thank you, Center for Church and Prison, for the following announcement. I responded via email: Please see my response to BBC in the article at the link below: (Thirteen links are in this article.)

BBC Asks: How Bad Are U.S. Supermax Prisons?

  http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/bbc-asks-how-bad-are-us-supermax.html

The Center for Church and Prison

in collaboration with

The Trotter Institute at the Univ. of Mass,

The NAACP/Boston &

Other Organizations

Invite You to an

Important Public Forum on

Stand Your Ground, 3-Strikes You're Out &

Private Prisons

The  Future of Minority Communities in Massachusetts

Expert Panelists: 

Rahsaan Hall, Esq.  

Coun. Charles Yancey 

Dr. Marie McIlwrath 

Mr. Bob Marshall  

Ms. Alejandra St. Guillen: Director: Oiste 

Ms. Helen Credle 

Andrea Goode-James, Esq. 

Rep. Gloria Fox 

Hispanics are 9.7% of Massachusetts general  population but 28% of those behind bars in Massachusetts. Blacks are 6.6% of Massachusetts general population but  approximately 32% of those behind bars including juveniles. Hispanics and Blacks are less than 17% of Massachusetts general population but over 55% of those incarcerated in Massachusetts.

(Thirteen links are in this article. Cell phone users, select "go to page 1" to see what stalkers hid) 

Date: Friday April 20th 

Time: 5:45pm-6:15pm:Networking/Refreshment, 6:15pm: Forum

Venue: Anthony Perkins Community Center, 155 Talbot Ave. Dorchester 

This is a strategic solution development discussion that looks at sentencing/incarceration, Mental health/incarceration, Education/Incarceration, Poverty/Incarceration,  Minority families/ Incarceration etc.  

If you need a table to display your organization's materials,

please RSVP by: Wednesday April 18th.

Email: churchandprison@gmail.com 

This message was sent to marylovesjustice@gmail.com from: The Center For Church and Prison | 101 Nightingale Street | Dorchester, Massachusetts 02124

Note: When I received this message via email, it said "Center for Church and Church" in its title, not "Church and Prison." Maybe a typo. On the other hand, stalkers are hired to interrupt Christian messages and any messages related to incarceration. Cell phone users, always select "go to page 1" when reading my articles to see what prison investors' cyberstalkers hid.


RECOMMENDATION 1)    I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT ALL PRISON MEETINGS INCLUDE DISCUSSIONS ON INDEFINITE MILITARY DETENTION IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS WHICH CAN BE IMPOSED ON AMERICANS AND VISITORS HERE WITHOUT THE NEED FOR THE WHITE HOUSE TO GIVE ANY CAUSE AND WITHOUT ALLOWING DETAINEES ANY OPPORTUNITY FOR DEFENSE. ALSO, PLEASE DISCUSS H.R.3785, THE CONGRESSIONAL BILL INTRODUCED BY REP. RON PAUL IN JANUARY 2012 TO REPEAL THAT UNJUST LAW - National Defense Authorization Act, Section 1021. 


RECOMMENDATION 2)  I WOULD ALSO SUGGEST THAT CHURCHES AND OTHERS WHO CARE ABOUT FAIRNESS TO MINORITIES MAKE SURE THEY ARE NOT DISCUSSING SOLUTIONS WITH PRISON INVESTORS WHO BENEFIT BY HIGH INCARCERATION NUMBERS. SEE "MARY NEAL'S BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2011" AND PLEASE SEE "NAACP v. BLACK CIGARETTE SMOKERS" AT HUB PAGES.

Mary Neal, director Human Rights for Prisoners March across the Internet and of Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/aimi (CoIntelPro took over my advocacy group and refuse to allow me to input data about recent deaths and abuses of mentally ill Americans or the fact that the USDOJ recently certified Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) programs; twelve links are in this article); Dog Justice for Mentally Ill http://DogJusticeforMentallyIll.blogspot.com . Please see my Google Profile - http://www.google.com/profiles/MaryLovesJustice - Follow me at Twitter @koffietime - http://twitter.com/koffietime - Current, urgent justice issues from a laywoman's viewpoint at my primary blog http://FreeSpeakBlog.blogspot.com (the name is a joke, believe me). See also Justice Gagged blog http://justicegagged.blogspot.com and MaryLovesJustice blog at: http://MaryLovesJustice.blogspot.com and Mary Neal at HubPages. Recommended articles - http://topsy.com/site/freespeakblog.blogspot.com - Address: MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com (I am censored, but some emails reach my box)