CALL FOR URGENT LAST MINUTE ACTION for Ashker v Governor case!

Wed, May 13, 2020, 9am PST*: Please tune in at  San Francisco Courtroom 3 9:00am Wednesday 5/13

THANK YOU AND CALL FOR URGENT LAST MINUTE ACTION! from California Families Against Solitary Confinement (CFASC)

***Please circulate this as broadly as possible

First, thank you for attending our Ashker v. Governor hearing today. It uplifted our spirit to see such wide support.

WE ALSO WRITE TO ASK FOR YOUR SUPPORT IN THIS URGENT LAST MINUTE ACTION! To our surprise, the 9th Circuit Judges have ordered parties to return to court tomorrow, giving our attorneys less than 24 hours to prepare to argue for the extension motion.

PLEASE TUNE AGAIN TOMORROW TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!

CLICK ON: https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/media/view_video.php?pk_vid=0000017350

or

San Francisco Courtroom 3 9:00am Wednesday 5/13

Why is the extension motion important?
We are arguing for an EXTENSION MOTION so the court will continue to monitor that CDCr (CA Dept of Corrections) is in compliance with the Ashker settlement. Given CDCr has continued to violate the terms of the settlement and the constitutional rights of the prisoners represented in the class action lawsuit, it is necessary to have the settlement monitoring period extended. CDC wants the monitoring to end so they cannot be held accountable.

*The Ashker case is 4th for the court on its 9am calendar Wednesday. Please keep checking. It will probably be closer to 10 or 10:30am when our case is heard.

5/12 Watch Court Hearing in Ashker v Gov! Stop Solitary Confinement

No more doublespeak by CDCr. We are in court to reject solitary by another name! #StopSolitary

PLEASE TUNE IN TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020 @9AM PST AND LET CDCr KNOW WE ARE WATCHING!
Link to the livestream available here:
https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/media/live_oral_arguments.php

Men in Solitary Confinement in CA Take Their Case Before 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. CDCR Continues to Violate Settlement Agreement: Men Held Alone in Cells 23 Hours a Day

**See more below about the livestream court arguments, the online after-discussion, and a social media toolkit! **

STOP SOLITARY CONFINEMENT: Tune in to watch oral arguments in Ashker v. Governor of California 

Join the Center for Constitutional Rights on Tuesday, May 12, 2020 as arguments are heard in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal on whether the state of California violated the settlement in our case, Ashker v. Governor, a federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of prisoners held in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison who have spent a decade or more in solitary confinement.

Attorneys with the Center for Constitutional Rights will urge the court to uphold a ruling that California prisons have violated a landmark settlement agreement intended to end indefinite solitary confinement. The district court held that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) violated the 2015 settlement by maintaining prisoners in levels of isolation equal to or even more severe than the isolation they experienced in the Security Housing Units (SHU).

Tune in at 9:00am PST on May 12 to watch first hand and JOIN OUR TWEETSTORM, as we reject #solitarybyanothername.

Feel free to use visuals and sample messaging from our our social media toolkit,

Arguments will likely start between 9:00 and 9:30 am PST, depending on the length and order of arguments. You will find the link to the livestream on the court’s website.

STAY TUNED AFTER THE HEARING FOR A COMMUNITY-CENTERED ONLINE BRIEFING!

Following oral argument in Ashker, join us at 11:30am PST for a community-centered online briefing with attorneys Jules Lobel and Samuel Miller. The legal team will share their thoughts about how the hearing went, you will get the opportunity to ask questions, and we will highlight action items to move forward.

For more information and to receive the Zoom link and passwork, please RSVP on Eventbrite

For questions, contact Dolores Canales, CFASC: (714) 290-9077, dol1canales@gmail.com

Online briefing hosted by California Families Against Solitary Confinement (CFASC) and Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR).

Pages: 1 2

FEB 19 POLITICAL MUSICAL – Promote the Prisoner Human Rights Movement & Honor the Agreement to End Hostilities

Liberate the Caged Voices Coalition presents:
A PREMIER POLITICAL MUSICAL by K.A.G.E. UNIVERSAL:

Gangsta Revolution, Transform, Until, When the Panthers Died

A correlated musical series to highlight the Mass Peaceful Protest Hunger Strikes 2011-2013 & Humanity’s Agreement to End Hostilities!

Wed, February 19, 2020
6:30pm – 8:30pm
Freedom & Movement Center, 4408 Market St, Oakland, CA 94608

FREE event, but all donations are deeply appreciated!

Download, print, or publish the above flier: jpg or pdf

This is the first of 12 performances featuring the work of Minister King, that aims to educate the participants and bring to light the issues concerning this particular Class of Tortured Prisoners having suffered decades of Solitary Confinement. We will learn about their extraordinary effort to end CDCr’s tactic of indefinite solitary confinement through peaceful protest hunger strikes, and the authoring of what could be considered the most important document of the past 30 years, the Agreement to End Hostilities.

Liberate the Caged Voices works in partnership with: K.A.G.E. Universal, California Prison Focus, Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition, Bay Area News & Letters, and the San Francisco Bay View newspaper in this campaign to Free All Hunger Strike Representatives and Promote the Prisoners Human Rights Movement.

For questions, contact Nube Brown: nube@prisons.org
www.prisons.org

Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/514252225887846/

1/15 Rally at CDCR Headquarters: CHALLENGE FORCED YARD MERGERS

 

On Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday:
CHALLENGE FORCED YARDS MERGING IN CALIFORNIA STATE PRISONS

Wednesday, January 15th
ACTION AT THE STATE CAPITAL, SACRAMENTO

MEET ON L STREET STEPS AT 9AM
9am-12Noon – Visits with State Legislators
1pm – Rally at CDCR Headquarters

34 UNITED: The coalition uniting people in all 34 state prisons, led by formerly incarcerated, people still incarcerated, and our families to challenge the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation’s (CDCR’s) forced merging of General Population (GP) and Sensitive Needs Yards (SNY). Those who refuse to merge because they fear violence are threatened with 115 disciplinary write-ups, loss of program access, and solitary confinement – all of which impact Parole eligibility and release.

To register or for more information, email 34 UNITED: action@yourthforjustice.org

11/9 Vigil for Vickie Lee Hammonds – No More Preventable Deaths at CIW Prison!

Please come out to support the families & friends who have lost loved ones to the abuse & neglect at the California Institute for Women (CIW) prison in Chino, CA.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/523482625142414/

Join us at a vigil for Vickie Lee Hammonds who died at the California Institution for Women (CIW) in June 2019.  March with Vickie’s family alongside others who have lost loved ones to state-sponsored death at CIW.

Demand that the State of California, the Corrections Department (CDCR) & CIW be held responsible for the ongoing abuse, neglect, and preventable deaths in custody.

Saturday, November 9, 2019
2:00pm – 4:30pm
Gather at 2pm
American Heroes Park, 6608 Hellman Ave
Eastvale CA 92880

Support the survival & release of people currently incarcerated at CIW.
Speak out against isolation, abuse, and state-sanctioned death!

Bring our loved ones home, ALIVE!

#SayHerName #VickieLeeHammonds #ShayleneGraves #ErikaRocha #AliciaThompson #ShadaeSchmidt #StephanieFeliz #MargaritaMurugia #LauraAnnRamos #GuiFeiZhang #NoMoreDeaths #CareNotCages #InvestigateCIW #EndSolitary #Criminalized2Death #BlackLivesMatter

Vigil and rally organized by the family of Vickie Lee Hammonds & the California Coalition for Women Prisoners.

RSVP for details, or to endorse: California Coalition for Women Prisoners, ccwpla@gmail.com

 

LIBERATE THE CAGED VOICES community event — May 22

LIBERATE THE CAGED VOICES
A series by California Prison Focus (CPF)

Wednesday, May 22, 2019
7:00pm-9:00pm

The Octopus Literary Salon
2101 Webster St #170
Oakland, CA 94612

Build solidarity! Engage with imprisoned community members through their stories, letters and poetry.

An interactive event to shift the narrative, and find out what’s really going on in California’s prisons.

Speakers, music and audience participation.

$5-$20 donation appreciated. No one turned away for lack of funds.

For questions, contact@prisons.org
www.prisons.org

---

California Prison Focus (CPF) is a non-profit human rights organization dedicated to exposing the abuse, violation, and neglect of basic human rights concerning our community members behind bars. CPF publishes a quarterly newsletter, providing a platform for otherwise silenced voices of those on the inside and continues to fight for ending solitary confinement torture. Founded in 1991, the all-volunteer group operates entirely on individual donations and small grants.

CPF is a founding member of the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition.

 

LIFER FAMILY SEMINARS (March 16 & April 6, 2019)

Hope you can attend one of the first 2 seminars this year, March 16 in Sacramento and April 6 in Yorba Linda. We’re doing some new things this year; for a start, at our Sacramento event both Jennifer Shaffer of the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) and CDCR Secretary Ralph Diaz will be speaking in person, providing insight and answering questions.  For Yorba Linda and other events in coming months, we’ll have a video of both Diaz and Shaffer–the best we can do, absent cloning.

Also, for those who have an understanding of the basics of the parole policy, we’re offering a deeper dive into some of those areas, via small groups in the afternoon, concentrating on several areas, from new laws (commutation 1437 and 1391), to how to prepare a parole plan, to what to expect and do after the hearing, whichever way it goes.  And–for those newer to the journey, we’ll also provide a small group to outline how the whole system works.

Be sure to sign up, the easiest way is via our new and improved website, on the Events page, which, for the first time will allow you to register with a credit card.  We’re finally in the 21st Century!

Staff,
Life Support Alliance
Together we can do this, one step at a time.

Updates on 2019 laws, policies & procedures.

Lifer Family Seminar
Have Hope*Get Help*Come Home

Saturday, March 16, 2019
8 am-3:30 pm
Capital Christian Center, 9470 Micron Ave, Sacramento, CA 95827

Parking on site, directions and maps provided prior to the event. Registration and check in begins at 8 am.

This is a pivotal time for lifers; get the latest, most accurate and complete news on parole outlook, challenges of release and re-entry.

A Day of LEARNING and SUPPORT. Your Lifer CAN Come Home
Learn from officials, attorneys, advocates and successfully paroled lifers

What you and your inmate need to know

• Insight & Causative Factors
• Comprehensive Risk Assessment
• Parole plans & re-entry

$35 up to 3 days prior; $40 at the door
Pre-Registration Requested
Seminar fee includes lunch & materials

Send Check or Money Order to

• LSA, P.O.Box 277, Rancho Cordova, CA 95741 (sorry, no credit or debit cards)
• Payment may be made also via PayPal; See EVENTS page at lifesupportalliance.org

LIFE SUPPORT ALLIANCE  Promoting Public Safety & Fiscal Responsibility
Publisher of CALIFORNIA LIFER NEWSLETTER & Lifer-Line newsletter
staff@lifesupportalliance.org  (916) 402-3750

First Southern California Seminar of 2019

Support Hunger Strikers in Corcoran State Prison – SOLIDARITY PROTESTS 2/16 & 2/17

Prisoners are hunger striking against indefinite lockdown and group punishment.

 Corcoran State Prison Protest outside
→ in solidarity with people inside who are peacefully protesting against torture ←

Sat & Sun/Feb 16 and 17
11:00am – 2:30pm (both days)
in front of Corcoran State Prison entrance
Corcoran, CA 93212

Families are mobilizing for this weekend’s protests.
Please participate if you can!!
Contact number:  562.537.7068.

On Jan. 9, 2019, an estimated 250 prisoners went on hunger strike within Corcoran State Prison’s 3C facility in response to an indefinite lockdown. They have asked that this info be made public and that their DEMANDS BE HEARD.

Corcoran State Prison (3C Yrd)
SIX CORE DEMANDS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. Lift Lock-Down.
2. Allow Visits.
3. Allow Us To Attend Educational, Vocational & Rehabilitation Programs That We’re Enrolled In.
4. Allow Us To Receive Commissary & Packages.
5. That We Be Given Our Weekly 10 Hrs Of Mandated Outdoor Exercise Yard.
6. That We Are Treated Fairly.

***WE’VE BEEN ON THIS PEACEFUL HUNGER STRIKE SINCE JANUARY 9TH, 2019 AND HAVE YET TO SEE CHANGE… WE WILL CONTINUE THIS HUNGER STRIKE UNTIL OUR VOICES ARE HEARD.

UPDATE: On January 9, 2019, an estimated 250 prisoners initiated a hunger strike within California State Prison – Corcoran’s 3C facility in response to an indefinite lockdown. On Jan 28, after three weeks of refusing food trays, the warden met with representatives, granted full canteen privileges and promised to work out a separate yard schedule. The strikers suspended their hunger strike and were ready to continue negotiations in good faith.

Over the last two weeks there has been NO PROGRESS on receiving full canteen or separate yard time. The warden has reneged on all pledges so the strikers of 3C refused breakfast trays on Monday, Feb 11 and held a day long noise demo banging on doors and windows. The initial demands remain and strikers insist that they be dealt with in good faith.

BACKGROUND: All units within Corcoran’s 3C facility have been on “modified program” for four months now. This essentially means a “lockdown” in all meaningful aspects – no visitation, no canteen, no packages, no educational, rehab or vocational programming, and little yard time.

The pretext for this indefinite lockdown by CDCr of hundreds of prisoners for months on end is an altercation on Sept. 28 which saw three prisoners from their unit attacked and put into the infirmary. Group punishments and indefinite isolation are standard practices by CDCr and must stop.

These practices only escalate trauma and conflict and ultimately only promote violence and destabilization within facilities. The effects are not an accident or “regrettable by-products.” This is how CDCr interprets its mission: control by brutalization and division.

The above info is from the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee.
See more articles and interviews about the strike below.

PLEASE MAKE PHONE CALLS!

The hunger strike representatives have requested phone calls be made to officials in Sacramento to amplify the demands.

Feb 24 California Prison Focus event: STEEL BARS AND REAL SCARS – Watani Stiner

SPOKEN WORD & PERFORMANCE
Sunday, February 24, 2019
2 – 4 pm
Sherith Israel – 2266 California St. San Francisco, CA 94115

 

California Prison Focus presents Watani Stiner and Children of the Revolutionary: Larry Stiner Jr., Latanya Stiner, and Lige Stiner.

Witness the devastating impact of imprisonment on families as seen through the eyes of a formerly incarcerated father who successfully escaped from San Quentin before he voluntarily returned, and the son and daughter left to grow up without him.

Join us to hear the poignant reflections and stories of this family trio as they recount their journey through those long years of separation. Through spoken word and performance, they will share their stories of childhood, imprisonment, escape, exile, and political activism while offering their perspectives on how incarceration and family separation affected each one of them personally.

Support an end to mass incarceration.

Free event hosted by California Prison Focus
For questions: contact@prisons.org
http://www.prisons.org

---

California Prison Focus (CPF) is a non-profit human rights organization dedicated to exposing the abuse, violation, and neglect of basic human rights concerning our community members behind bars. CPF publishes a quarterly newsletter, providing a platform for otherwise silenced voices of those on the inside and continues to fight for ending solitary confinement torture. Founded in 1991, the all-volunteer group operates entirely on individual donations and small grants.

CPF is a founding member of the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition.

SIGN PETITION & RALLY Against CDCR’s Merging of General Population & Sensitive Needs Yards

NO NDPF*
STOP MERGED YARDS!

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE TO CHALLENGE CDCR’S
MERGING OF GENERAL POPULATION (GP) AND
SENSITIVE NEEDS YARDS (SNY):

1. SIGN THE PETITION AND GET OTHER PEOPLE TO SIGN IT.
   bit.ly/cdcraction

2. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1PM
   SMACK DOWN ON SACTOWN
   RALLY IN FRONT OF CDCR (California Dept of Corrections & Rehabilitation)
   1515 S STREET
   SACRAMENTO, CA 95811

3. SEND A SURVEY TO YOUR PEOPLE INSIDE CA STATE PRISON TO GET THEIR OPINIONS AND EXPERIENCES.
   E-MAIL YARI TO GET IT MAILED IN yari@youth4justice.org

4. SIGN YOUR GROUP, SCHOOL, ORGANIZATION ON TO THE LETTER TO CDCR SECRETARY RALPH DIAZ.
   e-mail us at action@youth4justice.org to sign on

THANK YOU!!!

* NO NDPF = NO Non-Designated Programming Facilities
A Non-Designated Programming Facility is where SNY (Sensitive Needs Yards) and GP (General Population) inmates are forced to cohabitate and program on a Non-Designated Yard together.

Follow NONDPF Cainmates on Facebook

Read this NDPF information document