Listening to the television and reading the newspapers about prisoners protesting solitary confinement conditions inside California prisons was most unusual to understand. Prisoners, most of them in segregation or isolation units were taking drastic methods of protesting these conditions identified as being harsh and torturous in nature. I first fell into disbelieve and rolled my eyes in a most mockingly fashion. Prisoners protesting living conditions inside prisons would only result with their words falling on deaf ears and blind eyes thus bypassing or disregarding this foolishness as usual. Almost, certain that history would look at this event as ridiculous event in nature. Then all of a sudden, the media joined by national and international advocacy groups escalates the information regarding the Pelican Bay hunger strike as more than four thousand other prisoners began to join their cause. It was becoming more obvious that something bad was happening as the prison system went into a state of emergency to deal with this mayhem designed and orchestrated to disrupt the entire prison system. Segregation prisoners attempting to commit a coup of the California Corrections Department was a most unusual feat to accomplish. Certainly, the citizenry of this state knew that they would lose face if they were to give in to all demands made by felonious criminals labeled as the “worst of the worst” inside special security housing units (SHU). All attempts by the strikers to negotiate or convince the agency to change its policies or practices inside isolation units was certainly a moot point as these prisoners deserved nothing extra for being criminals and gang members inside their prisons. Their starvation rebellion was scoffed at as there was almost a zero chance of getting the agency to change their policies inside these most restrictive housing units.
The hunger strike, filled with moments of emotions and desperations concluded with a vague promise by the agency to look at their policies and procedures inside their prisons. Fast forwarding from the last hunger strike that was conducted back in July, there appears to be a break through where actual conversations were taking place to resolve this matter of reviewing the five core demands of the strikers. Stunned, the public was shocked at the swiftness the agency acted to give into these strikers. It was with most certainty that the union for correctional officers advocated stronger and stricter living conditions to “teach them a lesson” as the majority of prisoners were behaving in united fashion and speaking with one voice to be heard. Briefly, the five core demands of the prisoners are: 1. Eliminate group punishments. Instead, practice individual accountability. When an individual prisoner breaks a rule, the prison often punishes a whole group of prisoners of the same race. This policy has been applied to keep prisoners in the SHU indefinitely and to make conditions increasingly harsh. 2. Abolish the debriefing policy and modify active/inactive gang status criteria. Prisoners are accused of being active or inactive participants of prison gangs using false or highly dubious evidence, and are then sent to long-term isolation (SHU). They can escape these tortuous conditions only if they "debrief," that is, provide information on gang activity. Debriefing produces false information (wrongly landing other prisoners in SHU, in an endless cycle) and can endanger the lives of debriefing prisoners and their families. 3. Comply with the recommendations of the US Commission on Safety and Abuse in Prisons (2006) regarding an end to long-term solitary confinement. This bipartisan commission specifically recommended to "make segregation a last resort" and "end conditions of isolation." Yet as of May 18, 2011, California kept 3,259 prisoners in SHUs and hundreds more in Administrative Segregation waiting for a SHU cell to open up. Some prisoners have been kept in isolation for more than thirty years. 4. Provide adequate food. Prisoners report unsanitary conditions and small quantities of food that do not conform to prison regulations. There is no accountability or independent quality control of meals. 5. Expand and provide constructive programs and privileges for indefinite SHU inmates. The hunger strikers are pressing for opportunities “to engage in self-help treatment, education, religious and other productive activities..." Currently these opportunities are routinely denied, even if the prisoners want to pay for correspondence courses themselves. Examples of privileges the prisoners want are: one phone call per week, and permission to have sweatsuits and watch caps. (Often warm clothing is denied, though the cells and exercise cage can be bitterly cold.) All of the privileges mentioned in the demands are already allowed at other SuperMax prisons (in the federal prison system and other states).(1)
Nobody ever expected the rapid spreading of this epidemic of strikers in one way or another last July. It caught the agency complete off guard and created quite a stir within the agency itself. Declaring a state of emergency and gathering their regiment of medical and tactical responders to the units affected this cost that taxpayers a hefty sum of overtime funding. Daunting a similarity of strikes of the past, this hunger strike was well organized and well planned by those incarcerated and having impaired communication methods to say the least. While their intent was to have the agency meet their five core demands, the outcome may have been much different than anticipated. Making a public statement to the effect that the agency had the intent to consider these demands and review their internal policies within the next few months the first strike was over within three weeks of the day it started. Then disappointment and frustration set in as the agency dragged its feet on conditions agreed upon and a second strike commenced with the same five core demands as listed before.
Lasting shorter than the first, the agency came to the rescue by making a written statement that satisfied the strikers in Pelican Bay but not in other segregation units who are determined to continue striking until their voices were heard as well. “The hunger strike succeeded so far in: moving CDCR to begin an immediate review of their gang validation 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; and mobilizing broad support throughout California, nationally, and internationally for their reasonable demands”(1)
The reality of the striker’s effectiveness is barely coming to a realistic conclusion as those who are listed by society as public enemy number one seemed to have gained the sympathy and support of thousands around the country including Amnesty International, a very large advocate group. What is clear today is that strikers were successful in getting the attention required to legitimize their complaints and get someone to listen to them once and for all. In the end it was also clear that all parties agreed that something needs to be done.
Source:
(1) http://www.prisons.org/hungerstrike.htm
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