Plaintiffs Anne Weills, Mollie Costello, Allyssa Eisenberg, and Tova Fry were taken to Santa Rita Jail after being arrested for civil disobedience at the Harris State Building in downtown Oakland on February 13, 2014. The four were part of a larger group demanding that State Attorney General Kamala Harris prosecute killer cops across the state, particularly Miguel Masso, the OPD officer who killed young Alan Blueford on May 6, 2012. Harris has yet to prosecute a single killer cop in the state.

Incarcerated following arrest, the Four were taken into a hallway and told to strip to their bras. Outraged at this, the Four protested, and one was forced to walk around in that state in front of male guards and prisoners. Two of them were then locked in isolation cells, and denied access to a toilet for hours.

The Four were then held with other women, including in filthy jail cells. Toilets were overflowing. There were no menstrual pads for women who needed them. There were no garbage containers so used menstrual pads sat on top of left over food. All the women in those cells are “presumed innocent”. The Four and their attorney Yolanda Huang filed this civil rights complaint in order to be a voice for other women and demand they be treated with respect and human dignity.

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Related Feature: Ten Arrested During Protest at California Attorney General Kamala Harris' Oakland Office (2014)