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/

Rally Against Continuing Solitary — The Four Prisoner Reps Will Be PRESENT in Court Conference AUG 21, 2018

RALLY at the San Francisco Federal Courthouse while the four CA Prisoner Hunger Strike and Ashker Class Representatives ‘Meet and Confer’ with CDCr to address the continuing solitary conditions that violate the Ashker lawsuit settlement agreement. The four prisoner hunger strike representatives will be present in the courtroom, an historic presence!  

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

RALLY 11:30am

Phillip Burton Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse
450 Golden Gate Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102

Help create a strong show of solidarity with prisoners fighting for human rights!

What’s going on? The prisoner class-led movement and the Ashker v. Gov of CA class action lawsuit resulted in the release of over 1400 people from solitary confinement Security Housing Units (SHUs) to what the CA Department of Corrections (CDCr) calls “General Population.” However, many of those people continue to be subjected to conditions of extreme isolation. With little to no out-of-cell time and no chance for social interaction, they are still in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.

On July 3, 2018, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled:

“The Settlement Agreement was intended to remove Plaintiffs from detention in the SHU, where they were isolated in a cell for 22 ½ to 24 hours a day.… many Plaintiffs [now] spend an average of less than an hour of out-of-cell time each day, which is similar to the conditions they endured in the SHU.  … This demonstrates a violation of the Settlement Agreement.” FULL RULING HERE

and “…a substantial percentage of Plaintiffs in Restricted Custody General Population (RCGP) are …not permitted to exercise in small group yards or engage in group leisure activities. This does not comply with the terms of the Settlement Agreement.” FULL RULING HERE

The Ashker Plaintiff class reps and legal team were ordered to meet and confer* with CDCr lawyers to explore a resolution of these two issues.

The four prisoner hunger strike representatives- Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa (Dewberry), Todd Ashker, Arturo Castellanos, and George Franco- will be present in the SF courtroom.

Please join the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition (PHSS) outside the San Francisco Federal Courthouse to show our solidarity with prisoners who struggle against solitary confinement torture, who organize across racial/geographic lines, and who- through hunger strikes, massive solidarity, formal complaints, the Agreement to End Hostilities, and the Ashker civil rights class action lawsuit- forced CDCR to release people from solitary confinement SHUs.  The organizing prisoners brought international attention

Oct 7, 2017 Seminar: PAROLE AFTER SHU

1-24-18 Update: PAROLE AFTER SHU resources are at: https://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/2018/01/23/parole-after-shu-materials/

Free Seminar for Family Members and Parole Advocates, “Parole After SHU”

Since 2012, 2500 prisoners were released from SHU to general population due to:

• Historic hunger strikes
• CDCR regulation reform
• Ashker v. Brown settlement

NOW WILL THEY BE PAROLED?

The path to parole is difficult and presents unique challenges for lawyers and family members.

Join us for this informative seminar for family members and parole advocates on the steps and strategies to earn parole after spending time in SHU / Solitary Confinement.

Date:         October 7, 2017 
Time:         2:00pm-5:00pm
Location: First Congregational Church, 2501 Harrison St., Oakland, CA 94612

The event is FREE.
Wheelchair Accessible
Hosted by the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition

• Presenters:

• Dr. Terry Kupers, Mental Health Expert
• Carol Strickman, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
• Keith Wattley, Uncommon Law
  Others To Be Announced

• Please RSVP: www.phss_paroleaftershu.eventbrite.com

• FREE CHILD CARE will be provided by Bay Area Childcare Collective!
Please indicate the number and ages of children needing supervision: www.phss_paroleaftershu.eventbrite.com

• Contact: Pam at pjdgriffin@gmail.com or Sharon at 415.647.0921

• Fliers (2-on-a-page) to print and share: Parole-After-SHU Flier_2-on-a-page

Press Release: Folsom Prison Hunger Strike Enters 9th Day – Families, Advocates to Rally in Folsom and L.A. to Support Prisoners’ Demands

For Immediate Release – Friday, June 2, 2017

WHAT:  Rally & Press Conference to Support Folsom Prison Hunger Strike

WHEN:  Sunday, June 4th from 12:00pm-2:00pm | Press Conference @ 1:00pm

WHERE:
Folsom: Folsom State Prison | E Natomas & Folsom Prison Road  (Folsom, CA 95630)

Los Angeles: Twin Towers Jail | 450 Bauchet St  (Los Angeles, CA 90012)

PRESS CONTACTS:

Courtney Hanson
photos.courtneyjade@gmail.com | (916) 316-0625

 Raquel Estrada
rpartida831@gmail.com | (831) 227-7679

Folsom—On Sunday, June 4th, 2017, human rights advocates will hold a rally outside of Folsom State Prison (FSP) to amplify the voices of people incarcerated in the Administrative Segregation Unit (ASU) at FSP, who have been on hunger strike since May 25th. Prisoners in Building 4 of ASU are striking because they are forced in live in conditions that are inhumane and constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the U.S. Constitution. Despite the fact that FSP is aware of the dangerous consequences of prolonged social isolation, they continue to deprive prisoners of basic human needs, including normal human contact, environmental and sensory stimulation, mental and physical health, physical exercise, sleep, access to courts, and meaningful activity.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is aware (Madrid-Ashker-Coleman) that the conditions of extreme isolation will likely inflict some degree of psychological trauma, including but not limited to: chronic insomnia, severe concentration and memory problems, anxiety and other ailments. The CDCR and the general public have a heightened awareness about this issue because of the prisoner hunger strikes that swept California in 2011 and 2013 and involved more than 30,000 prisoners. Those strikes led to Ashker v. Brown, a federal class action lawsuit asserting that prolonged solitary violates the 8th Amendment (cruel and unusual punishment) and putting someone in solitary based on gang association violates the 14th Amendment (no due process). The case reached settlement in September 2015, ending indeterminate solitary confinement terms in Security Housing Units (SHUs), but did not prevent prisoners from being kept in prolonged solitary confinement in Administrative Segregation.

FSP continues to claim that lack of money prevents them from abiding by CDCR’s stated goals, and are content to not only ignore the suffering of men in its care, but to retaliate against them for their peaceful protest.

“On the afternoon of May 27th, someone called on my husband’s behalf relaying his message that Warden Ron Rackley and Ombudsman Sara Smith had a meeting with him where they communicated that they were upset with the hunger strike and threatened to take away his visits, move him to another prison, give him a 115 and revalidate him as a Security Threat Group (STG) gang leader for his role in organizing the hunger strike. On May 28th, I arrived to visit and the Sergeant informed me that my husband is no longer at FSP and was moved to DVI Tracy.” —Raquel Estrada

Folsom prison hunger strikers have the following demands, which are published in greater detail here.

1. PROVIDE ADEQUATE ACCESS TO COURTS AND LEGAL ASSISTANCE

2. PROVIDE MEANINGFUL EDUCATION, SELF-HELP COURSES AND REHABILITATIVE PROGRAMS

3. ALLOW POSSESSION OF TELEVISIONS

4. PROVIDE EXERCISE EQUIPMENT, INCLUDING PULL-UP BARS, FOR MEANINGFUL EXERCISE IN YARD

5. END CRUELTY, NOISE AND SLEEP DEPRIVATION OF WELFARE CHECKS

6. KEEP ORIGINAL PROPER PACKAGING FOR COMMISSARY AND CANTEEN

7. GIVE NON-DISCIPLINARY STATUS TO QUALIFYING PRISONERS

8. PROVIDE ADEQUATE AND APPROPRIATE CLOTHING AND SHOES

9. PROVIDE FOOD BOWL AND CUP

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Endorsed by Sacramento Solidarity Network, California Families Against Solitary Confinement, Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition, Peoples’ Action for Rights and Community, All of Us or None, Legal Services for Prisoners With Children, Democratic Socialists of America Sacramento, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Showing Up for Racial Justice Sacramento, Freedom Outreach, Underground Scholars

April 25 RALLY! Support Detainees on DAY 12 of Hunger Strike in Riverside County, CA

The Hunger Strike going on right now at The Robert Presley Detention Center has now surpassed a week without  jail administration addressing the demands and legitimate core issues of the Hunger Strikers.  Instead, administration is responding by limiting or removing the Hunger Strikers’ commissary/canteen options, access to the phone, and visitation hours. These forms of retaliation are intimidation tactics. It is now more important than ever for us to voice our support for the hunger strike. Our rally will start in front of the jail at 1:00 PM, 4000 Orange St, Riverside, CA 92501. If you are unable to come in person visit https://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/ for more ways to show your support.

RIVERSIDE COUNTY JAIL HUNGER STRIKE
 SOLIDARITY RALLY,  TUESDAY 4/25

1 PM @ ROBERT PRESLEY DETENTION CENTER, DOWNTOWN RIVERSIDE

TUESDAY WILL BE THE 12TH DAY OF THE ROBERT PRESLEY JAIL DETAINEES’ HUNGER STRIKE

THE SHERIFF AND THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HAVE BEEN UNRECEPTIVE, AND HAVE RETALIATED BY TAKING AWAY PHONES, VISITS, RECREATION AND COMMISSARY, AND HAVE RESORTED TO USING DISCIPLINARY WRITE-UPS

NOW IS THE TIME TO PUT PRESSURE ON THE COUNTY TO DEMAND CHANGE AND SUPPORT THOSE INSIDE

HELP THE DETAINEES END THEIR HUNGER STRIKE BY ENDING UNJUST AND UNFAIR POLICIES

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: RIVERSIDEALLOFUSORNONE@GMAIL.COM

OR VISIT: www.prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com

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Hunger Strike in Riverside County Jail Needs Your Support
Read post, make calls and share flier

To Read Statement and Demands, see Hunger Strike in Riverside County Jails begins April 13. 2017: Download pdf  or Read post

How To Support Riverside County Detainees On Hunger Strike After 4/13 Rally

This post was updated April 20, 2017 on 6th day of hunger strike.
NEW FLIER HERE!  Spread it far and wide.

The Robert Presley Jail has responded to the hunger strikers by limiting or removing their commissary/canteen options, access to the phone, and visitation hours. These forms of retaliation are intimidation tactics, and it is now more important than ever for us to voice our support for the hunger strike and call on the Riverside Board of Supervisors, the Sheriff’s Department and the Riverside County Robert Presley Jail to address the demands of the hunger strikers. 

CALL TO ACTION: HOW TO SUPPORT
HUNGER STRIKERS AFTER 4/13 RALLY

Until May 1st, make phone calls to Riverside’s Board of Supervisors, the Sheriff’s Department and the Riverside County Robert Presley Jail telling them that you support the hunger strike and that you expect them to address the issues raised by those on the inside.

Here is a sample script:
“Hello, My name is ____ and I am a _____ county resident. I am calling in support of the hunger strikers at Robert Presley Jail.  Their demands and core issues are legitimate. I am asking you to please make serious efforts to address their concerns, and to ensure that the hunger strikers are not further retaliated against in any way. We also ask that there is no further segregation, and that their access to commissary, phone calls and visitation is restored. Thank you.”

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
-First District Supervisor Kevin Jeffries: (951) 955-1010
-Second District Supervisor John Tavaglione: (951) 955-1020
-Third District Supervisor Chuck Washington (951) 955-1030
-Fourth District Acting Supervisor and Fifth District Supervisor Marion Ashley:(951) 955-1050

SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT:
(951) 955-2400 Press Option 4

RIVERSIDE COUNTY ROBERT PRESLEY JAIL:
(951) 955-4500 Press Option 1 then Option 8

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: riversideallofusornone@gmail.com
OR VISIT: www.prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.

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Hunger Strike in Riverside County Jail Needs Your Support
Read post, make calls and share flier

Announcement of Hunger Strike: DETAINEES’ DEMANDS / CORE ISSUES
Download pdf  or Read post

 

PHOTOS and REPORTBACKS from Rally Against the Torture of Prisoners

On February 1, 2016, people from all over California gathered in Sacramento at the headquarters of the CA Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCr) to demand an end to the dangerous and deliberate sleep deprivation being inflicted on the people in solitary in Pelican Bay State Prison SHU, under the guise of “welfare checks”.

Before the Rally, more than 15 formerly incarcerated people, family members, pen pals, and other activists visited the offices of Loni Hancock (chair of the CA Senate Public Safety Senate Committee), Bill Quirk (chair of the CA Assembly Public Safety Committee), and reps from various districts to demand the immediate suspension of the sleep deprivation “welfare checks” in the Pelican Bay SHU.  Sleep Deprivation Is Torture.

Reportbacks below are from Martha Esquivel of San Diego, CA and James Decker of Eureka, CA.
Photos are from Liberated Lens Collective, Lucas Guilkey, James Decker, and Urszula Frydman. Please inquire about photo accreditation before using unlabeled photos.

from Martha Esquivel:
I’m so very thankful for having the opportunity to go to Sacramento and stand up with you all in front of CDCr and show them our unity, meet new people and listen to their stories… about how their loved ones are being tortured by CDCr, our employees. Yes, our employees. Because they get paid with our taxes, and instead of rehabilitating our loved ones who make mistakes, they are looking for methods to keep the torture going one way or another.

Photo by Liberated Lens Collective

Almost 5 years ago, we were standing outside CDCr demanding CDCr stop the torture of our loved ones in Indefinite Isolation.  We proved to them that was torture. We Won and now CDCr has found another way of torturing them, by not letting them sleep. It has been 6 months of sleep deprivation and they know that it is torture.

Back in 2011, we didn’t have a clue what to do, we only knew that our loved ones were being Tortured and they needed our support. Our loved ones pushed from the inside and we pushed from the outside, and we got the Victory.  Today, we are more people fighting for our loved ones in prison. Some of them are out of the SHU, but we are still here fighting for the one’s still in the SHU. We are not leaving anyone behind. Together We know We can make a change, and we just want to let CDCr know that regarding this new chapter of torture they have created: We are going to win too, because our movement is a movement of Love, and we believe in rehabilitating humans not destroying them!
Martha Esquivel is active in California Families Against Solitary Confinement and the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition; She is sister to Luis Esquivel, a named Plaintiff in Ashker v Brown, now out of Pelican Bay SHU after 15 years in solitary there.

Photo by Lucas Guilkey

from James Decker:
I was proud to be part of the contingent from far northern California to attend the Rally Against the Torture of Prisoners on February 1, 2016. We gathered just after noon, a group of family members, formerly incarcerated persons, activists, attorneys, and faith leaders. Diverse members of the community gathering with a single purpose: to stop the sleep deprivation torture.

I was moved by the testimony of those folks fighting for the very lives of their loved ones. More then 70 people were there to listen and demand action!  Women, mostly women of color, spoke about a racist system fueled by capitalism that has devastated their families and robbed their communities.

Thanks to the folks that helped create these powerful posters and the Artist Richard Torres.

Carol Strickman gave us an update from the legal team.  The folks from Food Not Bombs in Oakland brought nutritious food.  Sarah Torres provided stirring music and chants went up spontaneously from the crowd demanding “LET THEM SLEEP!”

Cynthia spoke of the callous neglect and medical malpractice that is rampant in the prison system. It resulted in the death of her brother.

We must keep the pressure up to end this abominable behavior by the Department of Corrections and the State of California.

In solidarity,
James Decker works with Peoples’ Action for Rights and Community and the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition.

Photo by Liberated Lens Collective

More Photos!

Mon, Dec 28 Rally in San Francisco: STOP SLEEP DEPRIVATION TORTURE at PELICAN BAY!

RALLY MON. DEC. 28, 2015, 10AM in SAN FRANCISCO,
AND MAKE PHONE CALLS.
Share the Facebook event and invite your friends!

Join the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition on Monday, December 28th outside the San Francisco Federal Courthouse (450 Golden Gate Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102) for a rally against the so-called “welfare checks,“ that since August 2nd, have been waking up men in Pelican Bay SHU (solitary confinement) every 20-30 minutes, 24/7.

As of December 28th, these men will have been tortured with sleep deprivation for 148 days!

Lawyers and CDCr officials will be meeting inside SF Federal Court at 11:00am. We want to show them that these checks are TORTURE and that they need to STOP NOW!

We know that interrupted sleep can cause serious mental and physical health problems. John R. Martinez, who has been in Pelican Bay SHU for over a decade, …wrote: “…there is a reasonable probability that life-threatening injuries and/or even death is inevitable, as medical symptoms are only worsening but not being treated.”  CDCr claims the checks are to prevent suicide, but knowing these detrimental effects of sleep deprivation, we’re worried the checks could actually lead to someone committing suicide or developing permanent disabling, and potentially terminal illnesses and conditions.

OTHER ACTIONS you can take (without leaving your home!):

1. Call to advocate for the 30 minute checks to stop, stating that sleep deprivation is torture. Some offices may require your name, city, and zip code.

•CDCR Secretary’s Office: 916-323-6001
•CDCR Director of Adult Divisions, Kelly Harrington (he): 916-445-7688
•Senator Loni Hancock, Chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee: 916-651-4009
•Assembly Member Bill Quirk, Chair of the Assembly Public Safety Committee: 916-319-2020

2. Forward this information to your networks to make it known widely that this torture may continue unless we, along with allied lawyers, put pressure to stop it!

California Solitary Confinement Prisoner Faces Retaliation, Takes Guards to Court

For Immediate Release – Friday, November 20, 2015

Press Contact:
Mohamed Shehk,
408.910.2618, mohamed@criticalresistance.org
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition

SAN FRANCISCO – Pelican Bay State Prison guards are being tried for civil rights violations and retaliation against Jesse Perez, a prisoner who was held in the prison’s notorious solitary confinement units for 10 years. The civil lawsuit  hearings began Monday in San Francisco federal district court.

In opening statements, Perez’s legal team accused the prison guards of retaliating against him – stripping him, trashing his cell, destroying his property, filing a false rule violation against him that would have extended his time in solitary, and illegally confiscating his writings critical of his conditions of confinement.

In 2005, Perez filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for his placement in solitary, challenging the process by which he was labeled a “gang affiliate.” His case was settled in 2012, and Perez received a monetary award as well as the right to have his gang affiliation reevaluated.

Perez’s suit claims the guards attacked him and destroyed his property just days after his 2012 settlement. His attorneys are arguing that guards retaliated against Perez for exercising his right to file a lawsuit. Perez has also been politically outspoken and participated in the historic California hunger strikes that started inside of Pelican Bay’s solitary units, another reason Perez claims prison guards targeted him.

In a written account published by the San Francisco Bay View newspaper, Perez states “As prisoner activists seeking to make positive contributions to the interest and human dignity of prisoners, we understand that the trappings of power enjoyed by guards represent the biggest obstacle to significant and lasting progress.” By filing the lawsuit, Perez writes that he seeks the “opportunity to shine a public light at trial and rein in what prisoner activists often endure in exercising their constitutional rights: the retaliatory abuse of the department’s disciplinary process by prison guards.”

Perez’s case is not the only instance of guards’ retaliation against prisoners for their basic expression of civil rights and political activism. Since August 2 of this year, just as a landmark victory settlement for prisoners in civil rights case Ashker v. Brown was being finalized (which significantly reduces California’s ability to keep people in solitary confinement), guards began depriving prisoners in solitary of sleep.  Guards continue this sleep deprivation, now for 109 days.

Perez’s trial, presided over by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, will resume today, with closing statements expected.

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Sleep Deprivation for Almost Three Months! Help STOP It

Last month, California prisoners locked in isolation achieved a groundbreaking legal victory in their ongoing struggle against the use of solitary confinement. 

This is a huge victory and there is still work to do.

The win effectively ended indefinite long-term solitary confinement, and greatly limited the prison administration’s ability to use the practice, widely seen as a form of torture.

Now, there is a dangerous practice in California prisons of guards doing so-called “security/welfare” checks every 30 minutes, 48 times a day. These checks are only being done in the isolation units, causing ongoing sleep deprivation for those prisoners.

We call for you to continue to stand with us and support the prisoners inside of solitary.