http://themilitant.com/2015/7933/793305.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 79/No. 33 September 21, 2015
(front page)
Calif. prison suit registers gains
against solitary confinement
BY BETSEY STONE
OAKLAND, Calif. — The fight to end the inhuman conditions faced by
thousands of prisoners held in solitary confinement got a boost with the
settlement of a class action lawsuit filed by prisoners at the Pelican
Bay State Prison in California in 2012.
The settlement, if fully implemented by prison authorities, will
effectively end indefinite long-term solitary confinement in California
and dramatically reduce the number of prisoners in isolation.
“We would not be here without the leadership of the prisoners,” Anne
Weills, an attorney in the case, told a rally and press conference that
announced the settlement outside the State Building here Sept. 1.
The prisoners who brought the suit were leaders of three hunger strikes,
the last of which, in 2013, grew to include more than 30,000 people and
put a national spotlight on the conditions prisoners face in solitary.
As of 2012, more than 500 prisoners had been isolated for more than 10
years in the Security Housing Units in Pelican Bay; 78 for more than 20
years, including some of the plaintiffs.
Prisoners in the SHU are kept in windowless 8-by-10-foot cells 23 hours
a day, allowed out only for solitary exercise periods. They are not
allowed phone calls, except in emergencies. Visits are “non-contact” via
a glass barrier.
The settlement grants a central demand that prisoners no longer be
placed in solitary based on accusations of gang affiliation or their
political ideas and interests. Up to now inmates could be “validated” as
gang members merely on the basis of a supposedly gang-related tattoo,
possession of a book, letter or piece of art or on the word of another
prisoner. Review for possible release to general population took place
only once every six years.
In order to be released from the SHU, they were required to “debrief,”
that is finger others as gang members — a divide-and-rule practice
calculated to increase tension and violence between prisoners.
The settlement stipulates that solitary confinement will be imposed for
specific acts and for a fixed length of time, although existing rules
continue to include riots or strikes as well as violence and weapons
possession as SHU-eligible violations..
Prisoners now in solitary as a result of gang validation will receive a
review within one year. Almost all prisoners who have been in solitary
more than 10 years will be immediately released to general population
facilities, and no more prisoners will be held in the SHUs at Pelican
Bay for more than five years.
When those still in solitary complete their terms, they will be put into
a two-year program of easing restrictions before returning to the
general population, instead of the previous four-year process.
Prisoner representatives and their lawyers will meet with prison
officials and the judge to oversee implementation of the settlement.
Violation of constitutional rights
The Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented the plaintiffs,
argued that solitary confinement is contrary to the Eighth Amendment
that prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and that prisoners were
denied due process when placed in solitary at the discretion of prison
authorities.
At the news conference, Marie Levin, the sister of Sitawa Nantambu
Jamaa, read a statement signed by her brother and nine other
prisoner-plaintiffs that called the settlement “an important step toward
our goal of ending solitary confinement in California, and across the
country.”
The statement pointed to an agreement signed by hunger strike leaders in
2012 to end violence between ethnic groups in the prison as a foundation
of their movement.
“It is our hope that this groundbreaking agreement will inspire not only
state prisoners, but also jail detainees, county prisoners and our
communities on the street, to oppose racial and ethnic violence. From
this foundation, the prisoners’ human rights movement is awakening the
conscience of the nation to recognize that we are fellow human beings.”
“We recognize that achieving our goal of fundamentally transforming the
criminal justice system and stopping the practice of warehousing people
in prison will be a protracted struggle,” they wrote. “We are fully
committed to that effort, and invite you to join us.”
“This is only the beginning,” Dolores Canales, a leader of California
Families Against Solitary Confinement and mother of a prisoner in
Pelican Bay, told those at the rally.
“The prisoners themselves have been impacted by the fight,” Lupe
Reynoso, whose son was recently released from solitary, told the
Militant. “In my son’s case, he told me one day he was no longer a
racist. It shows what can happen when there is unity.”
The Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition continues to organize protests on
the 23rd of each month. For information visit:
prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com
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