Oct. 23rd Statewide Coordinated Actions To End Solitary Confinement: Locations & Details

Also, on October 23rd, groups nationwide introduce the Together to End Solitary campaign!

Friday, Oct. 23 ACTIONS by Location
(alphabetical order)

Albany, NY –  Brooklyn, NY – Crescent City, CA (Pelican Bay) – Los Angeles, CA (Newbury Park, CA) –  Oakland, CA – Princeton, NJ – San Diego, CA – San Jose, CA – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Cruz, CA

Full post here. If you don’t see your locale, we haven’t received the details or YOU might need to set up a simple action where you are!!  Here are two resources with ideas to mark the day:
→http://www.cjpc.org/2015/CEPS-Action-Packet-final.pdf
→http://www.nrcat.org/torture-in-us-prisons/together-campaign

• Here are fliers and handbills to distribute.
• Check out our updated Universal Handbill to give out at these actions!

Statewide Coordinated Actions To End Solitary Confinement (SCATESC) has a PHSS Facebook Event page.  SCATESC’s growing list of Co-sponsors and Endorsers is below.

Oct. 23 locations & details
below and at Together to End Solitary

ALBANY, NY:
Join a candlelight vigil and speak-out in front of the Governor’s Mansion at 5:30pm.

Every day in New York prisons and jails, there are more than 5,000 people in solitary confinement who spend 23 or more hours a day locked in a cell. In these torturous conditions, people experience intense suffering and, often, severe psychological and physical damage. Join us on the 23rd of each month in the struggle to end solitary confinement.

Together we can HALT solitary confinement and end torture in New York. The Humane Alternatives to Long Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act, A. 4401 / S. 2659, would end the torture of solitary for all people and create more humane and effective alternatives.

On October 23, speak out, stand up, and join us.

Sponsored by New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement. Sign up for periodic updates from NYCAIC at: eepurl.com/CjxOv   Here’s the NY Solitary Fact Sheet
Albany Action Details
Time: 5:30pm – 6:30pm EST
Location:  138 Eagle St, Albany, NY 12202, USA
For more info, email caicny@gmail.com
Website: http://nycaic.org/
#HALTSolitaryConfinement #StopSolitary #Together

 

BROOKLYN, NY:
On this day we will host a speak-out where survivors of solitary will share their stories and where we will provide the community information on the widespread use and damaging effects of solitary confinement in New York state prisons and jails.

We will urge individuals to call the Governor (518-474-8390) and ask him to end the torture of solitary confinement in NY, and to call their Senate and Assembly Reps and ask them co-sponsor the HALT Solitary Confinement Act, A. 4401 / S. 2659 (Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act) which would put major restrictions on the use of solitary confinement in NY state jails and prisons.

We will be asking people to sign our petitions to pass the HALT act as well (http://nycaic.org/legislation/).

We are joining allies around the country on the 23rd of every month – by hosting rallies and speak outs against solitary confinement. The 23rd of each month is symbolic of the minimum 23 hours per day that individuals in solitary confinement must stay in their cell. Check out the national Together to End Solitary movement here: http://www.togethertoendsolitary.org/about/
Here’s the NY Solitary Fact Sheet
Brooklyn Action Details
Time: 6:00pm – 7:00pm EST
Location:  Fulton St & Utica Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11233, USA
in front of the A train
For more info, email caicny@gmail.com
Website: http://nycaic.org/
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/876986475718394/
#HALTSolitaryConfinement #StopSolitary #Together

 

 

CRESCENT CITY, CA (PELICAN BAY)
Sleep Deprivation is Torture
Please join us on Friday, October 23rd to protest the sleep deprivation torture that began on the night of Aug 2nd in Pelican Bay SHU, perpetrated by the guards. People in SHU cannot escape the constant noise, and they can’t sleep. This has been going on for over 2 1/2 months! It’s torture and it’s really hurting them.

We will set up across from Pelican Bay in protest of the 30 minute so-called welfare checks, CA Department of Corrections’ bogus excuse for the sleep deprivation. These “checks” happen 48 times a day, keeping people in SHU sleep-deprived DAY & NIGHT.

Communities throughout CA mobilize Statewide Coordinated Actions To End Solitary Confinement on the 23rd of each month in recognition of the 23 or more hours per day people in solitary confinement are confined to their cells. October 23rd is the launch of Together to End Solitary, the nationwide collaboration and call for monthly actions on the 23rd of each month to end solitary confinement in prisons, jails, and detention centers throughout the U.S.

Want to join us on Friday, Oct 23rd? We will have a banner and music and information. The sleep deprivation torture seems to be retaliation for two successful lawsuits settled on behalf of prisoners.∗

The men inside will learn of our solidarity action which, we hope, will lift their spirits. Last month, the men inside Pelican Bay who have access to TV were able to watch the Channel 3 story about our protest outside the prison and felt very supported. There were also articles in the Guardian and the Del Norte Triplicate.

We will leave for Crescent City from Eureka on Friday morning and come back in the evening.
We will continue demonstrating against CA prisons entombing people in solitary confinement until that practice is no more.

* Coleman vs. Brown, and Ashker vs. Brown.
The constant noise and sleep deprivation is CA Dept. of Corrections’ distorted and abusive implementation of improved mental health care required by the Coleman settlement.
Crescent City Action Details
Time:  Carpool from Eureka about 9:00am PST
Protest  1:00pm – 5:00pm PST
Location: across from Pelican Bay, 5905 Lake Earl Dr, Crescent City, CA 95532
For more info, call  707-267-4249
Contact Name: Verbena
Contact Email: phssreachingout@gmail.com
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/184604218545058/
#CAHungerStrike #StopSolitary #Together #SleepDeprivationIsTorture #StopTortureCA

 

 

LOS ANGELES (NEWBURY PARK, CA):
“If the SHU Fits: Voices from Solitary Confinement”
A cast of actors, activists and former prisoners read the voices of prisoners in the ‘SHU’ or Secure Housing Unit. This presentation is part of the outreach actions launched by the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition. Following the performance, a moderated discussion will include information about the recent agreement with California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to limit indeterminate long-term solitary confinement.

Local co-sponsors:
National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT)
Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB)
Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions (C-P-R)
ACLU/SC Ventura County Chapter
California Lutheran University Center for Equality and Justice

Los Angeles (Newbury Park) Action Details
Time: 7:30 pm PST
Location: Conejo Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 3327 Old Conejo Rd, Newbury Park, California 91320
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1693273070884567/
Website: iftheshufits.net
For more info, call 805-498-9401
Contact email: ghclint@yahoo.com

#StopSolitary #Together #StopTortureCA

 

 

OAKLAND, CA:
Join Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity on October 23rd at the National Lawyers Guild Law for the People Conference in Oakland, CA!

Also, we will have a presence inside of the Marriott throughout the conference, which runs from Oct 21st through Sunday, Oct 25th.  And, on the 25th, join us for an 11am workshop, “SHUTTING the SHU: Movement Strategies for Ending Solitary.”

For further details on this workshop, and on the Law for the People conference, please see:
Schedule www.nlg.org/sites/default/files/Convention%20Schedule%202015_1.pdf
Brochure www.nlg.org/sites/default/files/2015%20Convention%20Brochure%20Sept%20Update.pdf
Oakland Action Details
Time:  10am–12pm PST
Location: Oakland City Center Marriott, 1001 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94607
For more info, call  510-426-5322
Contact Name: Penny
Contact Email: phssreachingout@gmail.com
#STOPsolitary #Together #CAHungerStrike #StopTortureCA

 

 

PRINCETON, NJ:
7×9 Solitary Confinement Protest
This month, student reform activists on campuses across the nation will be holding 23-hour performance art vigils in honor of the tens of thousands of juveniles (as young as 13 years old) locked in solitary confinement within our justice system.

Locking kids alone in a cell for 23 hours a day with little to no sensory stimuli or human interaction is child abuse-plain and simple, and that the US government, which is the #1 nation incarcerating children amongst developed nations, is the guilty offender. Solitary poses such dramatic risks to juveniles it can not ever be justified. Please join us in taking a stand.

On October 23rd, activists at Princeton University will construct a 7ft by 9ft electrical tape outline to symbolize a “cell” (as 7×9 is the average size of a solitary confinement unit). Each hour, for 23 hours, a student will hold a vigil in the 7×9 cell. In keeping with the restrictions on people in solitary confinement, they will have no books, music, or other forms of entertainment. They will not interact with the outside world. On the last hour, the cell is left empty, in honor of the hour people held in solitary are allowed to shower or exercise.

The presence of the 7×9 cell challenges passerby to confront solitary confinement and the horrors of incarceration, and to take action. A signature collection for our joint petition with Fusion (a media conglomerate with a focus on social justice), asking the White House to stop the solitary confinement of juveniles will be available next to the display.
JOIN US IN ENDING THE SILENCE, TAKING A STAND, AND STOPPING YOUTH SOLITARY.
Princeton Action Details
Time: Oct 23-24  7:00pm- 6:00pm EST
Location: Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
Website: http://www.studentprisonalliance.com
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/874671739289716/
#STOPsolitary #Together

 

 

SAN DIEGO, CA:
On October 23rd, join our monthly action with California Families Against Solitary Confinement and the Chicano Mexicano Prison Project. We will be out talking with people and providing information to END SOLITARY CONFINEMENT and promote the AGREEMENT TO END HOSTILITIES. Please come stand (or sit) with us for an hour or two after the work day.
San Diego Action Details
Time: 5:00pm – 7:00pm PST
Location: Rosa Park (park is next to the library) City Heights, San Diego  92105
Contact Person: Martha Esquivel
Contact Email:  emartha42@yahoo.com
#STOPsolitary #Together #StopTortureCA #CAHungerStrike

 

 

SAN JOSE, CA:
We will distribute literature to car drivers and pedestrians. We will put up our banner which links justice for Palestine with justice for prisoners and ENDING SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.
Please join us!
San Jose Action Details
Time: 5:00pm – 6:00pm PST
Location: San Carlos St. at the corner of Market, south end of Cesar Chavez Park in downtown San Jose (Plaza De Cesar Chavez, S Market St, San Jose, CA 95113, USA)
For more info: call 408-569-6608
Contact Person: Donna Wallach
Contact Email: Palestineis@dslextreme.com
#STOPsolitary #Together #StopTortureCA #CAHungerStrike

 

 

SANTA BARBARA, CA:
Solitary Candle Light Vigil  #SHUTDOWNTHESHU
The Catrinas del Barrio will be lighting candles in honor of any inmate currently in solitary confinement or who has experienced solitary confinement. Please join us in this special moment as we light candles, read poems and give out positive vibes to those behind the walls.

If you are interested in having a candle made for your love one, please message us on our facebook page. There is NO Charge $0.00 to have a candle made, each candle is donated by a Catrina for your loved one.  All inmate candles will be lit at all vigils we have.
Santa Barbara Action Details
 Time: 7:00pm – 8:00pm PST
Location: Mission Rose Garden, Plaza Rubio, Santa Barbara, CA 93103, USA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatrinasDelBarrio
#STOPsolitary #Together #StopTortureCA #CAHungerStrike

 

 

SANTA CRUZ, CA:
Join us on Friday October 23rd, 2015 and on the 23rd of every month in the Santa Cruz-Statewide Coordinated Actions To End Solitary Confinement, happening statewide throughout California, and Together to End Solitary, state-by-state nationwide.

• Update on lawsuit Ashker v. Governor Brown to decrease numbers and years in solitary
• Update on guards’ sleep deprivation torture of people in Pelican Bay SHU
• Cynthia Fuentes, CA Families Against Solitary Confinement
• Readers’ Theater: Jalil Muntaqim: “Build unity: Don’t let CDC undermine the Agreement to End Hostilities;” Laura Whitehorn: “Surviving Solitary”
• Lyrical I, hip hop spoken word art, new piece on solitary confinement
• Sing along with “23 Hours” written and sung by Sarah Torres (Audio clip https://app.box.com/s/3h2rvu4wsvvyfqm6hyyx53ko203jtzry)
• Zines and other literature

October 10, 2015 is the 3 year anniversary of the implementation of the historic Agreement to End Hostilities between racial/ethnic and geographic groups in CA lockups and communities.

“…beginning on October 10, 2012, all hostilities between our racial groups…in SHU, Ad-Seg, General Population, and County Jails, will officially cease. … collectively, we are an empowered, mighty force, that can positively change this entire corrupt system into a system that actually benefits prisoners, and thereby, the public as a whole…”   -Agreement to End Hostilities, August 12, 2012, from the entire PBSP-SHU Short Corridor Hunger Strike Representatives, on behalf of all racial groups in the PBSP-SHU Corridor.

“Our movement rests on a foundation of unity: our Agreement to End Hostilities. It is our hope that this groundbreaking agreement to end the violence between the various ethnic groups in California prisons will inspire not only state prisoners, but also jail detainees, county prisoners and our communities on the street, to oppose ethnic and racial violence. From this foundation, the prisoners’ human rights movement is awakening the conscience of the nation to recognize that we are fellow human beings.” * – Statement of plaintiffs on settlement of Ashker v. Governor of California, Dated Aug. 31, 2015

* We recognize incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people of all genders as human beings deserving of respect and dignity.
Santa Cruz Action Details
Time: 4:00pm Set up
4:30-5:00pm Leaflet & Talk with passersby
            5:00 – 6:30pm Rally
Location: corner of Pacific Ave. and Cooper St., next to O’Neill’s, 110 Cooper St., Santa Cruz 95060
For more info, call  831-325-3251
Contact email: phssreachingout@gmail.com
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1685905584966193/
#STOPsolitary #Together #CAHungerStrike #StopTortureCA

 

Co-sponsors

• Abolitionist Law Center
• ACLU of Northern California
• American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
• Anti-Racist Action-LA
• California Families Against Solitary Confinement (CFASC)
• California Prison Focus
• Coalition for Effective Public Safety (CEPS)
• Critical Resistance- Oakland
• Direct Action Monterey Network
• Dramastage Qumran
• Fight for Lifers West, Inc.
• Food Not Bombs
• Freedom Outreach Ministries
• Global Women’s Strike
• Human Rights Coalition Philly/Pittsburgh
• Human Rights Pen Pals
• Incarcerated Nation Corp.
• Justice for the Dallas 6 Support Campaign
• LA Laborfest
• Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC)
• National Lawyers Guild – SF Bay Area Chapter
• New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC)
• Oakland Alliance (OA)
• Prison Activist Resource Center (PARC- Oakland)
• Payday Men’s Network
• Peoples’ Action for Rights and Community (PARC- Eureka)
• Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition (PHSS)
• Project: Pollinate
• Santa Cruz County Peace and Freedom Party
• Santa Cruz Resistance Against Militarization (SCRAM!)
• Sin Barras
• Student Alliance for Prison Reform (SAPR)
• Women and Trans Prisoner Defense Committee
• Women of Color/Global Women’s Strike
• Youth Justice Coalition

Endorsers

• ACLU – Pasadena/Foothills
• ACLU of Southern California
• American Friends Service Committee- LA
• Ramona Africa and The MOVE Organization
• Dr. Nancy Arvold, PhD, MFT, member Psychologists for Social Responsibility
• Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC)
• Black and Pink – San Diego
• Cabrillo College Justice League
• Cafe Intifada
• Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB)
• California Peace and Freedom Party
• Center for Constitutional Rights
• Children’s Defense Fund of California
• Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action (COPA) Restorative Justice Institutions
• Critical Resistance –LA
• Darrell and Karen Darling
• Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
• FACTS Education Fund
• Fair Chance Project
• Family of Frank Alvarado Jr., killed by Salinas Police, July 10, 2014
• Freedom Archives
• Free Our Minds, Free Radio Santa Cruz
• Rabbi Borukh Goldberg
• Rabbi Philip Posner
• Haiti Action Committee
• Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace
• Justice for Palestinians, San Jose
• LA No More Jails (No Mas Carceles)
• MLK Coalition of Greater LA
• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)-Santa Cruz County
• National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT)
• Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church-Pasadena
• Dylcia Pagán, former Puerto Rican Political Prisoner held in US prison
• Leonard Peltier Support Group Silicon Valley
• Progressive Christians Uniting (PCU)
• Public Works Improvisational Theater
• Queer Strike
• Redwood Curtain CopWatch
• San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper
• Santa Cruz County Community Coalition to Overcome Racism (SCCCCOR)
• Sharon Kyle
• South Bay Committee Against Political Repression (SBCAPR)
• The WE Empowerment Center
• T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
• United Against Police Terror – San Diego
• US PROStitutes Collective
• Donna Wallach
• Women’s Council, California Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers