California prison officials say 30,000 inmates refuse meals
I live in the town of Eureka on the California coast, the furthest west you can find a town of much size, (population 25,000 and the seat of Humboldt county), in the contiguous United States. Two hours north of us in Crescent City California is the Pelican Bay State Prison. On the 8th of July 2013 a group of people made that 2 hour trip to stand in Solidarity with striking prisoners and to try and amplify the voices of those crying out for justice within the walls of the California Department of Corrections
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California officials Monday said 30,000 inmates refused meals at the start of what could be the largest prison protest in state history.
Inmates in two-thirds of the state's 33 prisons, and at all four out-of-state private prisons, refused both breakfast and lunch on Monday, said corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton. In addition, 2,300 prisoners failed to go to work or attend their prison classes, either refusing or in some cases saying they were sick.
The corrections department will not acknowledge a hunger strike until inmates have missed nine consecutive meals. Even so, Thornton said, Monday's numbers are far larger than those California saw two years earlier during a series of hunger strikes that drew international attention.
Despite the widespread work stoppages and meal refusals, Thornton said state prisons operated as usual through the day. "Everything has been running smoothly," she said. "It was normal. There were no incidents."
More of that story
There are many stories to be told and I would like to share some links.
"California officials have refused to meaningfully negotiate with us over our reasonable demands," the four inmates said in a statement provided to The Times on Monday by their lawyers. The document includes a list of eight "demands," starting with a five-year limit on the time prisoners can be held in isolation in Segregated Housing Units, and a 90-day limit on the time inmates can be kept in the more temporary Administrative Segregation cells.
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Our small group was one of many out in the community trying to end the torture of long term solitary confinement and demanding humane treatment for all those that the state incarcerates.