Cal Prison Hunger Strike Updates & Phone Nos to Call

Retaliation in various forms is the answer to the prisoners' desperate hunger strike by the California Democratic Governor Jerry Brown and the supermajority Democrats in the State Legislature, all of whom decide the California budget for prisons better known as death camps that would make Hitler proud. California is No 1 in Prison Spending and No 48 in Education Spending.

From:
http://www.prisons.org/
July 19, 2013. Prisoners are reporting more forms of retaliation for participating in a hunger strike to end the torture of decades long solitary confinement. Prisoners from Corcoran State Prison report that their showers have been cancelled and that they are being refused clean laundry, clean bed linen, and access to law library. A prisoner on hunger strike at CCI in Tehachapi reports that he was taken to be weighed by guards "with batons drawn and extended" in a very aggressive posture.

Based on news reports and CDCR press releases, somewhere between 370,000 and 380,000 meals have been refused to date, and nearly 1,500 men continue their hunger strike into the 12th day.

The focus of the protest is putting an end to long term solitary confinement and providing due process to the gang validation process. Hundreds of prisoners have spent more than a decade in solitary confinement--a treatment that can only be correctly described as torture. No matter what prisoners may have done, the state does not have the right to torture them.

From:
http://www.prisons.org/hungerstrike.htm
The hunger strike succeeded so far in:
•moving CDCR to begin an immediate review of their gang validaiton and use of solitary confinement in the Security Housing Units (SHUs).
•bringing the issue of torturous SHUs (supermax/control units) to public attention and to mainstream media.
• mobilizing broad support throughout California, nationally, and internationally for their reasonable demands.

From:
http://solitarywatch.com/
California Prison Officials Retaliating Against Hunger Strikers
July 19, 2013
California prison hunger strikers are entering their twelfth day of refusing state-issued meals in protest of long-term solitary confinement, the controversial gang validation process that has put 3,000 in indefinite isolation, and related issues. According to the latest figures from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), 1,457 individuals in 15 prisons across the state are still officially considered to be on hunger strike, as of Thursday.

CDCR’s press release states “publicizing participation levels at specific prisons could put inmates who are not participating in extreme danger.” Hence, it has been difficult to gather information from California prison facilities. Questions to Public Information Officers at Pelican Bay State Prison and San Quentin unrelated to the number of hunger strikers have been referred to the CDCR press office, which will not release specific information.

However, Solitary Watch was able to confirm last week that California State Prison, Corcoran, had identified leaders of the hunger strike at the facility and had placed them in Administrative Segregation.

A July 16th letter from the state-wide hunger strike leaders at Pelican Bay stated that they had also been removed from their cells and placed in Administrative Segregation, a practice that occurred in previous hunger strikes.

The strike leaders reported that on July 11th, after the third day of the hunger strike and the first official day that CDCR recognized their protest as a hunger strike, “we were placed in Administrative Segregation (Ad-Seg), where we are subjected to more torturous conditions than in the SHU.”

As hunger strike leader Todd Ashker wrote in 2011, describing Ad-Seg placement during the September-October 2011 hunger strike:

We were all isolated on a tier, in strip cells with nothing but a set of clothes and fish kit – spoon, cup, bar of soap etc. – with ice cold air blasting outta the vents! The warden personally told us, “As soon as you eat, you can go back to your SHU (Security Housing Units) cells.” My “mattress” was not even a mattress. It only had lumps of padding in places and was only 50 inches long – on ice cold concrete. This was all intentional, by design. They know that when a person is subject to cold, the body requires more energy. When you’re not eating, the ice will cause your body to feed on muscle and internal organs and the brain etc. much faster. Permanent damage can happen a lot faster.

Consistent with this, the wife of one hunger striker reports that her husband, a hunger striker at Pelican Bay, told her in a letter that “they’ve taken away their canteen, are not doing medical checks on them, have turned on the air conditioner making it cold in the pods, are giving them write ups (115s) and most likely will have visits taken away for a month.”

The retaliation against hunger strikers was expected, as CDCR itself had stated in a press release on July 11th that it would be removing canteen items from the cells of hunger strike participants and that leaders of the “mass disturbance” would be placed in Ad-Seg.

From:
http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Thank you for your support of the hunger strikers. As you may have heard, the hunger strike began on July 8 with California 30,000 imprisoned people refusing to eat. Hundreds of media outlets have been covering this historic event.

The California Department of Corrections and ‘Rehabilitation’ (CDCr) has begun to retaliate against the vocal spokespeople for the hunger strikers, who are located in Pelican Bay and Corcoran State Prisons. Our Pledge of Resistance Alert today will focus on the extreme brutality of prison authorities against the Representatives of the hunger strikers, who are in Pelican Bay State Prison.

The CDCr is also trying to undermine legal and community support of the hunger strikers. They have just issued ‘banning’ orders to Marilyn McMahon, an attorney for many of the Reps in Pelican Bay, denying her access to her clients.

Most likely, prison officials will not be thrilled to get your phone calls and emails, so please be determined and polite in trying to send your phone and email messages. Whether you get a voice or a voice mail, they will know you are watching them, and want them to Stop the Torture.

RETALIATION AGAINST PELICAN BAY PRISONER REPRESENTATIVES:
On July 11, PBSP prison authorities removed 14 prisoner Representatives from their solitary confinement (SHU) cells and placed them in Administrative Segregation (Ad Seg) cells which are even worse than the SHU. The hunger strikers, many of whom are elder men and have severe chronic illnesses, are dressed in summer clothing, but the CDC has turned on air conditioning full blast, leaving some of the men sick and freezing.

Meanwhile, the prison officials have raided their SHU cells and confiscated their legal materials, including attorney-client protected documents pertaining to their highly publicized federal class action lawsuit against the state of California (Ruiz v. Brown).

RESPONSE OF THE HUNGER STRIKE REPRESENTATIVES:
“On July 11, 2013, we were placed in Administrative Segregation (Ad-Seg), where we are subjected to more tortuous conditions than in the SHU. Despite this diabolical act on the part of CDCR intended to break our resolve and hasten our deaths, we remain strong and united! We are 100% committed to our cause and will end our peaceful action when the CDCR signs a legally binding agreement meeting our demands.”

NON-ACTION OF GOVERNOR BROWN
Governor Brown has been completely silent on the hunger strike while it has gained international news attention. He is now taking a vacation in Europe, visiting, among other places, Dachau concentration camp in Germany, and promoting California’s environmental advancements to selected European audiences. [California still has nuclear power plants; Germany is eliminating them in favor of renewable sources of power. California has nothing to teach Europe, a place where there is socialized medicine and no death penalty, unlike California.]

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP STOP THE TORTURE:
Tell the PBSP prison authorities to return the 14 prisoner Representatives to their cells. (Their names and prison numbers are at the end of this email.)
Return all their property, especially the legal documents guards have confiscated.
Lift the ban on their attorney, Marilyn McMahon, so that she can again access her clients.
Medically monitor the men to ensure that the prison has not destroyed their health!

1. Contact Pelican Bay Warden Gregory Lewis:
*** phone: 707-465-1000 x5001
*** email: Gregory.Lewis [at] cdcr.ca.gov

2. Copy to Dr. Jeffrey Beard, Secretary of CDCR
*** phone: 916-323-6001 (alternatively 916-445-5073)
*** fax: 916-442-2637
*** letter: Dr. Jeffrey Beard, Secretary CDCR, 1515 S Street, 5th Floor;
Sacramento, California 94283

3. Copy to Assistant Warden at Pelican Bay, Rawland Swift
*** phone: 465-1000 x6254
*** email: RSwift [at] cdcr.ca.gov

4. Back up: Public Information Officer at PBSP Christopher Acosta
*** office phone: 707-465-9040
*** cell phone: 707-951-0350

THE 14 PRISONER REPRESENTATIVES:
1. Todd Ashker C58191
2. Arturo Castellanos C17275
3. Sitawa/ R.N Dewberry C35671
4. Antonio Guillen P81948
5. Danny Troxell B76578
6. George Franco D46556
7. Ronnie Yandell V27927
8. Paul Redd, Jr. B72683
9. James Baridi Williamson D34288
10. Alfred Sandoval D61000
11. Louis Powell B59864
12. Alex Yrigollen H32421
13. Gabriel Huerta C80766
14. Frank Clement D07919

Please write to the Reps.* Include one sheet of paper, one envelope and one loose stamp so they can write someone outside the walls. You can address your letter with the person’s name & prison number; Pelican Bay State Prison/SHU; PO Box 7500. Crescent City, 95532.
*Mr. Arturo Castellanos may not be able to receive your letter. He’s on ‘restricted mail,’ by the prison authorities.

Thank you so much for your solidarity,
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition: Pledge of Resistance work group
****
Petition that needs your signatures:
http://www.change.org/petitions/support-pelican-bay-shu-prisoners-five-core-demands-hunger-strike

Another petition to sign:
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/51040/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=11455

*****
Peace & Freedom Party and the Green Party support the hunger strikers. Change your party registration now to these 2 parties as they need your registration to stay on the ballot and only these 2 parties deserve any support. You can register online at:
https://rtv.sos.ca.gov/elections/register-to-vote/

For more information, see:
http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/
http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/about-us/platform/full-platform

http://www.cagreens.org/
http://www.cagreens.org/platform
http://www.gp.org/index.php
http://www.gp.org/index.php/what-we-believe.html