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The Militant (logo)
Vol. 79/No. 47 December 28, 2015
(editorial)
Greetings to workers behind bars
The Militant sends New Year’s greetings to fellow workers behind bars.
More than 2.3 million people in the U.S. are locked up in federal and
state prisons, local jails, juvenile facilities, immigration detention
centers, military brigs and Bureau of Indian Affair prisons.
Some 11 million have spent time in local jails this year, many not
convicted of anything, just unable to afford bail. Another 5 million are
caught up in the capitalist “justice” system on probation or parole.
With only 5 percent of the world’s population, the U.S. is home to 25
percent of the world’s prisoners, and has the largest number of
prisoners in solitary confinement. No other country comes close.
The purpose of the rulers’ cops, courts and prisons is to intimidate and
break workers, especially those who protest capitalism’s injustices and
exploitation.
This year we registered important gains. The release a year ago of the
last three members of the Cuban Five, framed in 1998 for defending the
Cuban Revolution, is a victory for the Cuban people and for workers
here. The Five set an example of human dignity and solidarity with all
their brothers and sisters behind bars.
Their victory inspires all who demand freedom for Puerto Rican
independence fighter Oscar López Rivera, jailed in the U.S. for 34
years. The Militant extends solidarity to all political prisoners,
including Leonard Peltier; Mumia Abu-Jamal; the Omaha Two, Mondo we
Langa and Ed Poindexter; and others.
From Chicago to Idaho, protests against police killings and brutality
have forced the capitalist rulers to place some restraints on their
cops, with more facing firing, indictment and trial for attacks on
African-American and other workers.
In September a court ordered California prison officials to stop
throwing prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison into solitary
indefinitely by labeling them “gang affiliated,” a result of hunger
strikes involving more than 30,000 inmates.
Undocumented workers held in immigration detention centers, including
women forcibly separated from their children in Texas, have stood up to
barbaric prison conditions, organizing hunger strike protests.
Cop frame-ups and the unconstitutional plea-bargain system that
railroads millions to prison are under fire. In 2014, a record number of
133 people won exoneration with close to 90 more so far this year.
Executions and death sentences continue to fall. This year there were
the fewest executions since 1991. Opposition to the death penalty is
rising.
We stand with workers behind bars in the fight for dignity, respect and
democratic rights. The Militant is proud to offer complimentary or
reduced-rate subscriptions to prisoners, and the number requested is
increasing. Readers can help by contributing to the Militant Prisoners’
Fund to help us continue this working-class tradition.
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