Seven Days in Solitary [5/4/13]

May 4, 2013 By Leave a Comment

solitaryThe following roundup features noteworthy news, reports, and opinions on solitary confinement from the past week that have not been covered in other Solitary Watch posts.

•  Media coverage on the urgency of closing Guantanamo was particularly heavy this week, with numerous organizations and groups calling on President Obama to take immediate action. Most recently, The Economist described the prison as “a deeply un-American disgrace” in a story entitled “Guantanamo: Enough to make you gag,” an obvious reference to the unethical force-feeding of hunger strikers by authorities at the prison. The story outlines the U.S. government’s failure to take action to close the prison camp, concluding ”Mr. Obama should think about America’s founding principles, take out his pen and end this stain on its history.”

•  The Los Angeles Times reports that California Gov. Jerry Brown “appealed for relief from court orders over prison conditions” within just 24 hours of unveiling his plan to reduce overcrowding in the state’s prisons, which, according to another Times story, “would free some inmates early to ease crowding, but still miss court’s target.”

•  The Los Angeles Times reports that people held in isolation in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay State Prison are seeking class-action status in their federal lawsuit “alleging the state’s segregation policies equate to cruel and inhumane treatment.” In the motion filed  in U.S. District Court in Oakland, the plaintiffs assert that they have been subjected to prolonged confinement in ”windowless cells… with little meaningful contact with others, restricted food, limited communication and no access to educational or treatment programs.”

•  The Denver Channel reports that Evan Ebel, who is suspected of killing Colorado’s prison chief, filed two grievances in the final days of his incarceration in which he appealed his being kept in isolation up until his release, writing ”Do you have an obligation to the public to reacclimatize ‘dangerous’ inmates to being around other human beings prior to releasing them into society after they have spent years in solitary confinement & if not, why not?”

•  Slate publishes a three-part series of excerpts from the declassified memoirs of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who has been held at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay for almost 11 years. The story describes Slahi’s handwritten 466-page manuscript as “a harrowing account of his detention, interrogation, and abuse.”

•  WHYY Public Media discusses the history of solitary confinement and the contemporary controversies surrounding these isolation practices in a Radio Times program. Guests include Sean Kelley (Senior Vice President and Director of Programming and Public Relations at Eastern State Penitentiary), Jules Lobel (University of Pittsburgh Law Professor and President of the Center for Constitutional Rights) and Shirley Moore (Executive Deputy Secretary of the Pennsylvania DOC).

•  Stars and Stripes reports on “life under lockdown”  for Guantanamo detainees, stating that “[w]ith nearly every one of the 166 Guantanamo prisoners now under lockdown — back in solitary existence after years of communal living — the military has reverted to a battle rhythm reminiscent of the Bush administration.”

•  Sharon Herald reports on the federal lawsuit filed by the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania and the ACLU charging that the use of solitary confinement on mentally ill people in Pennsylvania prisons qualifies as a violation of Constitutional rights. The lawsuit, which is seeking “changes in the way prisons respond to the mentally ill,” describes the state’s use of solitary confinement on mentally ill people as a “Dickensian nightmare.”

• James Ridgeway was named a finalist for an NCCD Media for a Just Society Award for his article on growing old in prison, “The Other Death Sentence.”

 

Filed Under: civil liberties/civil rights, human rights, lawsuits/litigation, mental illness, solitary confinement, torture Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Seven Days in Solitary [4.12.13]

April 12, 2013 By 1 Comment

solitaryThe following roundup features noteworthy news, reports, and opinions on solitary confinement from the past week that have not been covered in other Solitary Watch posts.

• Developments surrounding the systemic failures in California prisons were covered heavily by the media. Most recently, the Los Angeles Times reported on California judges’ threat to find Gov. Jerry Brown in contempt of court if he and the state do not “quickly produce a plan to remove thousands of convicts from California’s packed prisons.”

• In a strongly worded editorial, Bloomberg View denounces on the inhumane practice of solitary confinement in the U.S., stating that its use in “prisons and detention centers has broken the bounds of reason and decency.”

• The Toronto Star reports on the high-profile inquest into the death of Ashley Smith, the teen who died in solitary confinement in Canada. Lawyers representing Smith’s family and advocacy groups “want to ensure the inquest leads to significant reductions in the use of segregation in Canadian prisons, and a ban on it for mentally ill offenders.”

• Susan Greene, writing in the Colorado Independent, reports on a recent statement by fellow Colorado State Penitentiary prisoner Troy Anderson, that Evan Ebel’s suicide note shows he was “‘ruined’ by solitary and ‘bent on revenge.’”

• Writing on The Hill’s Congress blog, Ian Kysel, author of Growing Up Locked Down, urges the U.S. government to ban the use of solitary confinement on children in federal custody. While solitary is harmful to adults, Kysel writes, ”the potential damage to children, who do not have the maturity and resilience of an adult and are at a particularly vulnerable, formative stage of life, is much greater.”

• The ACLU of Colorado calls on the state’s Department of Human Services (DHS) to end the solitary confinement of kids in Colorado’s El Pueblo Residential Treatment Center.

• The New York World  reports on the torments experienced by Rasaun Bullock during his 49 months in solitary confinement on Rikers Island.

• The Investigative Writing Workshop reports on the government’s review of solitary confinement practices in immigration centers in the U.S. The article referenced new government data (first revealed by the New York Times) showing that “about 300 immigrant detainees are in solitary in the top centers around the country while they wait for a finding of their legal status.”

[Read more...]

Filed Under: civil liberties/civil rights, human rights, mental illness, psychological effects, solitary confinement, torture Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Voices from Solitary: Isolated for Having a “Gang” Calendar

July 1, 2012 By 1 Comment

We have heard a lot about the gang “validation” in California prisons–the process by which inmates are identified as members of prison gangs. Validation can land a prisoner in solitary for five, ten, even twenty years, and was the main focus of the recent hunger strikes at Pelican Bay and other California supermaxes. We have also heard stories of prisoners who’ve been validated on the basis of tattoos or reading materials, as well as testimony by other prisoners, who are rewarded for “debriefing.” This is the first time, however, that we’ve heard of a prisoner being validated and placed in solitary because for having a calendar that was deemed to be gang-related–proving, once again, that First Amendment rights often end at the prison gates. — James Ridgeway

I am currently in the administrative segregation unit in a California prison. I was not placed in the ASU for any disciplinary reasons-I was placed here for having copies of a 10-12 year old cultural calendar. I’m basically here for having copies of other peoples’s artwork that dates back up to 20 years. Because these individuals were deemed “prison gang members” I am deemed a “threat to the safety and security of the institution’’ for simply admiring their artwork. How trivial is that?

I’ve been ion this situation for 15 months now. It is extremely mind-boggling how the state and courts allow the prison system to take all your little comforts, the things that help you feel like you are doing something positive with your time such as education (I was two classes away from getting a second college degree), AA/NA classes, a job and a few hours of recreation a day over some innocuous copies.

Now I sit here day in and day out wondering if humanity has desensitized itself to the suffering of other human beings. It is incredible when I hear about the anger and moral courage some people feel at how a chicken or any animal is caged up, but don’t bat an eyelash whena human being is treated worse. It simply amazes me.

Filed Under: California, solitary confinement, supermax prisons, Voices from Solitary Tagged With: , , ,

California Prisoners in Solitary Confinement Petition the UN to Intervene

March 21, 2012 By 7 Comments

Comparing their conditions to a “living coffin,” a group of lawyers for hundreds of California prisoners placed in long-term or indefinite solitary confinement petitioned the United Nations yesterday to intervene on their behalf.

The petition, drawn up by the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, names 22 main inmate petitioners and refers to hundreds more held in 23-hour-a-day lockdown in California’s Security Housing Units (SHUs) and Administrative Segregation Units (ASUs). The prisoners have been joined in their petition by a coalition of state and national advocacy groups.

These petitioners accuse California’s prisons of subjecting inmates in its  to “cruel, degrading and extreme punishment prohibited by international human rights norms and obligations of the United States of America, including the State of California.” It describes their conditions as follows:

[N]ot only do California prisoners face cruel and dehumanzing long-term and indefinite confinement in small concrete cells with no windows, no natural light, and no furniture, they also endure frequent episodes of cruelty by guards, inadequate medical care, entirely inadequate mental health services, inadequate access to the outdoors and sunshine, inadequate food, inadequate access to legal counsel, inadequate visitation with friends and family and no opportunities to work or engage in productive activities of any type. They are effectively locked in a concrete small space that becomes a “living coffin” in which many have been confined for many year, even decades.

The prisoners in question, the petition asserts, “are being detained in isolated segregated units for indefinite periods or determinate periods of many years solely because they have been identified as members of gangs or found to have associated with a gang. The policy that has resulted in their prolonged detention does not require that they have actually engaged in any misconduct of illegal activity, or that they even planned to” do so.

The petition calls upon the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to take a number of actions in response, including conducting site visits to California’s SHUs to investigate conditions and interview prisoners. It also suggests visits by the Red Cross and by an independent panel that would review inmates’ medical records and medical care. It wants the UN to issue a report holding that solitary confinement as practiced in California’s SHUs violates international law, and then “call upon the Government of the United States to insure that California terminates its policy of placing prisoners in isolated segregation for periods of several years merely based upon their alleged membership in or association with a gang.”

Describing the genesis of the petition, prisoner advocate Kendra Castaneda writes in the San Francisco Bay View: “After the first Pelican Bay State Prison SHU statewide hunger strike in July 2011, Peter Schey, president and executive director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, reached out to men being held in isolation in solitary confinement units across the state.” The group secured  the collaboration of ”22 main plaintiffs of different races at different California prisons, ranging from one year in segregation up to 39 years in complete isolation based solely on a process of prison gang ‘validation’ by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.”

The petition itself is a notable document for anyone concerned with solitary confinement in the United States. It runs to 63 pages and includes case studies of each of the named plaintiffs, along with extensive discussion and documentation of how their confinement violates both U.S. and international law.

Filed Under: California, civil liberties/civil rights, due process, Eighth Amendment, human rights, international agreements, physical effects, prison health care, psychological effects, race, retaliation, solitary confinement, supermax prisons, torture Tagged With: , , , , , ,

California Announces Reform of Controversial Policies That Led to Prison Hunger Strike

March 9, 2012 By 7 Comments

The Associated Press has reported that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is reforming its policies regarding the controversial Security Housing Units (SHUs), where thousands of inmates are held in solitary confinement for an average of 6.8 years. According to the AP:

Gang members would no longer have to renounce their gang membership. Instead, they could earn more privileges and get out of the isolation units in four years instead of six if they stop engaging in gang activities and participate in anger management and drug rehabilitation programs.

Further,

The old system focused on separating and suppressing gangs. The new system tries to change gang members’ behavior through rewards and punishment, she said.

Under the old policy, gang associates are automatically sent to the Security Housing Units to live alongside gang leaders. Under the proposed policy, many could continue living in the general prison population.

The reforms include the implementation of step down programs defined as follows:

Step Down Program (SDP), Step 1 and 2 Security Housing Unit (SHU): First two of five steps in the step down process with a minimum of 12 months in each step, dependent upon successful completion.  SHU housing unit/program specifically designated for housing of criminal gang affiliates determined to pose a threat to the safety of staff/offenders and security of the  prison based upon intelligence and/or confirmed behaviors. This housing designation is intended to isolate the most dangerous STG affiliates with a high degree of monitoring placed on all avenues of communications.

Step Down Program (SDP), Step 3 and 4 Security Housing Unit (SHU):  Two of five steps in the step down process with a minimum of 12 months in each step dependent upon successful completion.  ASHU housing unit/program specifically designated for housing of criminal affiliates who have completed step 1 and 2 but  have been  determined  based upon intelligence and/or confirmed criminal gang behaviors still to pose a threat to the safety of staff and security of the prisons. This housing designation is intended to begin reintegration of the STG affiliates by offering program and privilege incentives within a controlled setting and monitoring of program progress.

Step Down Program (SDP), Step 5 General Population Housing:  Upon successful completion of all four steps, as determined by  Institutional Classification Committee (ICC) and based on individual offender behavior, the offender will be referred to the Classification Staff Representative (CSR) for endorsement to a Level IV, 180 design facility (male offenders only) for a 12 month observation period, regardless of the offender’s placement score unless otherwise directed by a Department Review Board (DRB) action.  After completion of the 12 month observation period with no evidence of continued gang involvement, the offender may be placed in a facility consistent with their placement score and case factors.

There are currently over 3000 inmates in the Security Housing Units, located at Pelican Bay State Prison, California State Prison, Corcoran, and California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi. Most inmates in the SHU are there due to a controversial gang validation process, during which inmates have been sentenced to six year SHU terms for reasons ranging from explicit gang activity to inferred gang activity based on potentially erroneous grounds like tattoos, stray comments, and possession of certain books.

According to the recently released policy announcement,

This proposal incorporates the current CDCR gang identification and validation procedures per CCR, Title 15, Division 3, Section 3378 and DOM, Article 22, Section 52070.1, Gang Management, which will remain in effect with added language intended to improve application of policy. These additions will include but are not limited to: Introduction of a new STG category and a weighted point system for validation as identified in this proposal. Due process rights in accordance with CCR, Title 15, Division 3, Section 3378, will remain in place.

CDCR currently validates gang affiliates into two categories, Gang Members and Gang Associates. This proposal incorporates the STG designations as referenced and adds two additional STG affiliation categories. The new category of Suspect will not be officially validated, but tracked for intelligence purposes and decisions that impact the institution’s daily program needs. The new category of Monitored represents any offender who has successfully completed Steps 1-4 in the SDP and has been returned to a general population or SNY setting. Additionally, the introduction of these new STG management strategies will serve to reduce CDCR’s current reliance upon segregation for managing STG members, associates and suspects.

Pages 17-25 of the document cover the categories and the validation criteria. Implemented is a reformed point system for prison officials to use in determining gang activity status. In order for an inmate to be labeled a gang Associate, at least three source items with a value of at least 10 points must be identified. Examples of source items include hand signs (2 points), being named in a debriefing reports (3 points), and legal documents (7 points). According to the AP, over 2000 SHU inmates are Associates.

Regarding changes of classifications,

A validated STG Associate can have their validation status upgraded to Member with the validation of 1 additional source item, any point value, containing intelligence indicative of a Member. The status of a validated Subject will remain unless updated, changed or deleted with final approval by OCS.

After the initial validation, gang behavior of validated offenders will be addressed based on this  proposal. The current “INACTIVE” category will be revised to incorporate the term “MONITORED”. A monitored offender is one who has successfully completed Steps 1-4 in the SDP and has been returned to a general population or sensitive needs yard setting. This period of monitoring will include continuous and ongoing cell searches, mail and phone call monitoring, and periodic interviews with investigative unit staff. After the initial validation, a monitored offender’s confirmed gang behavior will be addressed through housing placement by the decision of the ICC.

The desolate conditions of the SHU, coupled with higher recidivism rates (nearly 70%)  among inmates released from them, prompted two large scale hunger strikes across California in protest of the SHU in the summer and fall of 2011.The strikes prompted the California Assembly’s Public Safety Committee to hold a historic hearing on the Security Housing Units in August 2011.  The widespread use of solitary confinement in California, which totals 11,000 when the Administrative Segregation Units are included, currently costs California taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually. What effect these reforms will actually have remains to be seen. Activists urging reforms appear to be taking a cautious attitude toward the announced changes.

Solitary Watch will provide updates as information becomes available.

Filed Under: California, due process, solitary confinement, supermax prisons Tagged With: , , ,

“Occupy” Prison Protests in California Oppose Use of Solitary Confinement

February 21, 2012 By 4 Comments
Protestors outside the LA County Jail

Solitary confinement was very much on the agenda during yesterday’s “Occupy for Prisoners”protests at more than a dozen sites around the country. This was particularly true in California, where recent prisoner hunger strikes have called attention to conditons in the state’s all-solitary Security Housing Units (SHUs) and Administrative Segregation Units (ASUs).

The largest rally was staged at the east gate of San Quentin, north of San Francisco, which is the state’s oldest prison and the home of its death row. At least 700 people gathered there on Monday afternoon for a peaceful demonstration. As the Guardian reports:

The call to protest was issued by activists with the Occupy Oakland movement and was co-ordinated to coincide with waves of prison hunger strikes that began at California’s Pelican Bay prison in July. Demonstrators denounced the use of restrictive isolation units as infringement upon fundamental human rights…

Sarah Shourd, Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer – the American hikers who were held for over a year by Iranian authorities – took part in demonstrations outside San Quentin prison in Marin County, California. Addressing the crowd, Shourd described the psychological impact of solitary confinement, saying her 14 and a half months without human contact drove her to beat the walls of her cell until her knuckles bled. Shourd noted that Nelson Mandela described the two weeks he spent in solitary confinement as the most dehumanising experience he had ever been through.

“In Iran the first thing they do is put you in solitary,” Fattal added.

Bauer said “a prisoner’s greatest fear is being forgotten.” He described how hunger strikes became the hikers’ own “greatest weapon” in pushing their captors to heed their demands. According to Bauer, however, the most influential force for changing their quality of life while being held in Iran was the result of pressure applied by those outside the prison. It was for that fact, Bauer argued, that “this movement, this Occupy movement, needs to permeate the prisons.”…

Demonstrators are broadly calling for the abolition of inhumane prison conditions, and the elimination of policies such as capital punishment, life sentences without the possibility of parole and so-called “three strikes, you’re out” laws.

Ironically–but perhaps predictably–prison officials responded to news of the impending protest by increasing restrictions on prisoners. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “San Quentin was placed on lockdown, meaning prisoners were kept in their cells,  in anticipation of the protest.”

While the rally was taking place at San Quentin, another group of about 100 advocates was demonstrating in front of the Los Angeles County Jail. Members of the National Religious Campaign Against  Torture (NRCAT), ACLU of Southern California, and California Families to Abolish Solitary Confinement were there “to protest  long-term solitary confinement in American prisons, show support for  prisoners, and advocate for legislation that would limit the use of  solitary confinement,” according to a statement from NRCAT.

One attendee, NRCAT board member Virginia Classick, said that the event was “an opportunity to be in solidarity with family members” inside California’s prisons and jails, and to be “visible as part of the witness” to a practice that the religious coalition considers a form of torture. The group’s executive director, Rev. Richard Killmer, stated: “Long-term solitary confinement denigrates a person’s inherent dignity and hinders genuine rehabilitation.  As people of faith, we have been deeply concerned about prison conditions in California that led to the recent prisoner hunger strikes.”

Filed Under: California, death row, life without parole, sentencing, solitary confinement, supermax prisons Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Voices from Solitary: “We Will Not Stop Until We Are Heard”

October 14, 2011 By 6 Comments

Yesterday, mediators who met with representatives of hunger striking prisoners in the Security Housing Unit at Pelican Bay State Prison confirmed that the prisoners in the unit have decided to end their three-week-old strike. According to the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity coalition, “The prisoners have cited a memo from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) detailing a comprehensive review of every Security Housing Unit (SHU) prisoner in California whose SHU sentence is related to gang validation. The review will evaluate the prisoners’ gang validation under new criteria and could start as early as the beginning of next year.” Carol Strickman, a lawyer with Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, said, “This is something the prisoners have been asking for and it is the first significant step we’ve seen from the CDCR to address the hunger strikers’ demands. But as you know, the proof is in the pudding. We’ll see if the CDCR keeps its word regarding this new process.”

The Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity coalition also reports: “The mediation team stated that while the memo indicates statewide changes in the gang validation process for SHU prisoners, the CDCR did not address the status of hunger strikers at Calipatria or Salinas Valley prisons, who are not SHU prisoners. All sources say that at this point, these prisoners will continue to refuse food and stand behind the 5 core demands for all prisoners in California.”

Written on the 11th day of the hunger strike, October 6th, the following letter is from a Calipatria State Prison hunger striker. Hundreds of inmates at Calipatria have taken part in this hunger strike, including a significant number of general population inmates. Many of those in Calipatria’s segregation unit are awaiting transfer to Corcoran or Pelican Bay State Prison to serve terms in the Security Housing Units. An Administrative Segregation inmate, the writer reaffirms his commitment to the fulfillment of the hunger strike demands and laments the indifference of the prison staff to the plight of the hunger strikers.

 I joined my second hunger strike on September 26th 2011. I am proud to say that today, October 6th 2011 I have successfully completed 11 days without ingesting any food. I have to admit this hunger strike has not been anything nice. 11 days without eating is very difficult but nonetheless it is worth it. To some this is not only a sacrifice but a burden, a nightmare they wish to escape from.

Not ME! Men of respect, men of honor, have committed their lives to the struggle. Literally placed their lives on the line in order to put a stoppage to all these injustices we are subjected to day in an day out. People would rather die than continue living under their current conditions. That why to me, it is a privilege, an honor to be apart of the struggle, to be apart of history for the betterment of not only “me” but for all those inside these cement walls… I have joined this second hunger strike once again full heartedly with a smile on my face. I will go as far as my body allows me to go.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: California, prison health care, solitary confinement, supermax prisons, Voices from Solitary Tagged With: , , , ,

Voices from Solitary: Letter from Calipatria Prison Hunger Strikers

October 8, 2011 By 4 Comments

The following letter is from inmates at Calipatria State Prison’s Administrative Segregation Unit, who are taking part in the hunger strike that began September 26. It is believed that 200 inmates in the prisons segregation units have participated in the strike so far. According to the hunger strikers, the majority of prisoners in administrative segregation have been given indefinite terms in Security Housing Units, and are currently awaiting transfer to other institutions, most commonly Pelican Bay State Prison. Inmates awaiting transfer have been in segregation for an average of 3-4 years.

This letter particularly addresses the gang validation and debriefing processes, which place and keep many inmates in isolation units for an average of 6.8 years at Pelican Bay.

We are currently housed in Calipatria State Prison, in Southern California, where hundreds of men are going on day 8 of a “solid food hunger strike” in protest of the cruel and unusual punishment and the abuse of authority this prison has been doing.

For over 20 years CDCR (California Department of Corrections and — “so called” – Rehabilitation) has been targeting all races amongst its prison population and handing out “indeterminate sentences” in segregation like it’s the thing to do. This means that we’re being placed in solitary confinement against our will secluded from the world; isolation. We are labeled as validated gang members who are alleged to have ties with prison gangs.

CDCR has their institutional gang investigators (I.G.I.) determine whether a person’s a “validated gang member” or not. They have been known to be conspiring with one another and fabricating evidence to falsely prove a validation. Their main sources are debriefers (snitches) who will sale out their own mother if they had to once validated, one can only find their way out of this “torturous and inhumane” act of punishment by breaking people down by giving us three options – “Parole, Debrief, or DIE”.

It costs tax payers $56,000 to house an individual in segregation annually and there’s over 3,000 “clients” confined in isolation., do the math. What we have here is CDCR’s vague and misconstrued justification of their interpretation to their policies. Their objective to validating us as “prison gang members” isn’t to protect the General Population, rather to insure and guarantee that Hotel California’s Segregation Units have no vacancies so CDCR can keep those fat checks rolling in.

Like we mentioned in the beginning, we write this with inspiration from reading about the men and women standing up in unity to peacefully protest for what they believe in. As the world revolves so does the generation of human rights. It doesn’t always take war to get your point across, which is why we stand strong in solidarity on this hunger strike.

We have three options… and if our voices aren’t heard the third option will be the likely one.

Respectfully,
Fellow hunger strikers at Calipatria State Prison ASU unit, 10/2/11

Filed Under: California, civil liberties/civil rights, cost/budget issues, due process, solitary confinement, supermax prisons, torture Tagged With: , , ,

California Department of Corrections Threatens Prison Hunger Strikers, Bans Lawyers

October 3, 2011 By 14 Comments

In response to a renewed inmate hunger strike to protest conditions in the California prison system, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has taken a hard line, threatening participants with disciplinary action and banning two lawyers who represent the strikers. According to the Contra Costa Times:

Prison officials are investigating the two lawyers for “alleged misconduct,” said Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Letters faxed Friday to San Francisco lawyer Carol Strickman of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and Berkeley lawyer Marilyn McMahon of California Prison Focus said they were banned from inmate visits as the department investigated whether they had “jeopardized the safety and security” of the prisons.

Both women have been active advocates for the rights of prisoners at Pelican State Bay Prison, the Crescent City supermax facility at the epicenter of the hunger strike this week and another one in July.

“It’s under investigation. I really can’t comment any further on that,” Thornton said.

California Watch reports that the attorneys were banned under “temporary exclusion orders” that were signed by Corrections Undersecretary Scott Kernan on September 29. The order states that an investigation is underway to determine whether the lawyers “violated the laws and policies governing the safe operations of institutions within the CDCR.” While not providing specific allegations, the document cites a section of the California Code of Regulations: “Committing an act that jeopardizes the life of a person, violates the security of the facility, constitutes a misdemeanor or a felony, or is a reoccurrence of previous violations shall result in a one-year to lifetime exclusion depending on the severity of the offense in question.”

According to California Watch, Department of Corrections spokesperson Terry Thornton “confirmed the department had banned ‘some specific attorneys’ from one facility for alleged misconduct. She declined further comment, citing an ongoing investigation.”

Shortly after it banned the lawyers, the CDCR issued a memo to all striking prisoners, informing them that “the department will not condone organized inmate  disturbances.” The memo indicated that disciplinary action could be taken against inmates participating in the hunger strike, and that those identified as leaders could be placed in isolation in a Security Housing Unit. The memo did not state what might be done to those strike leaders already locked in solitary in the Pelican Bay SHU, where the strike originated.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: California, civil liberties/civil rights, solitary confinement, supermax prisons Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

“A Form of Torture”: Testimony of Laura Magnani on Solitary Confinement

September 8, 2011 By 2 Comments

Laura Magnani, Interim Regional Director of the American Friends Service Committee in San Francisco, testified before the California Assembly’s Public Safety Committee on the issue of solitary confinement. Magnani speaks about the findings of the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons, the circumstances of women in solitary confinement, and argues that prolonged solitary confinement is an act of torture in violation of international standards. She ends her remarks by recommending an end to the ban on media access to California Security Housing Units (SHUs) and for setting limits on how long someone can be in isolation.

A Word Document of this testimony can be downloaded here: http://solitarywatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/laura-magnani.docx

Statement of  Laura Magnani at Hearing of California Assembly Public Safety Committee, August 23, 2011.

I’ve been asked to address the issue of torture related to security housing units.  I also brought with me, for distribution,  the American Friends Service Committee study:  Buried Alive: Long Term Isolation in Youth and Adult Prisons which I wrote in 2008. Although I have been working on these issues since the 1970s, I was shocked when I began to gather these statistics:

The Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons, co-chaired by John Gibbons and Nicholas Katzenbach, found that there were 80,000 prisoners in long term isolation around the country (in 2000),  a 40% increase from just five years earlier. Most experts today are putting the number at 100,000 nationwide.  Our research found that California houses close to 4,000 prisoners in security housing units and close to 14,500 in some form of segregation – administrative, psychiatric, protective custody etc.  You’ll find these figures broken down on page 6 of our report.  These are shocking statistics, especially given the fact that the state is very hard up for money and it costs twice as much, or more, to hold people in these settings.

Over 240 of the people in isolation are women.  They face particular hardships because women have special needs, and because of the extreme lack of privacy.  When male correctional personnel have 24 hour access to women’s most intimate functions, it creates an extreme form of oppression, and often trauma, that is made all the more acute because of the number of women in prison with long histories of abuse at the hands of men. This may seem contradictory, in that we are talking about isolation and then at the same time we are talking about lack of privacy.  But you can see what I am saying, that even in their isolation they can never escape the surveillance cameras or the slots in cell doors that give full view of women’s every move. Covering up these slots results in disciplinary measures.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: California, civil liberties/civil rights, gender/sexual orientation, human rights, international agreements, legislation, physical effects, psychological effects, solitary confinement, supermax prisons, torture Tagged With: , , , , , ,
« Older Posts