California Prison Hunger Strike

p Prisoners in a third of California prisons have been on a hunger strike to protest solitary confinement rules and other inhumane treatment.nbsp; The protest began on July 1 when prisoners in the Pelican Bay Secured Housing Unit (span data-scayt_word="SHU" data-scaytid="4"SHU/span) began refusing meals./p p The protesting prisoners grew in number to include other institutions, apparently becoming most active in Pelican Bay, Corcoran State Prison, and the California Correctional Institute at Tehachapi./p p There are upwards of 6,000 people on strike (numbers vary according to different media reports). At least 2,000 are on medical watch. Unfortunately, the statersquo;s Department of Corrections has denied journalists access to the striking prisoners, undermining the free flow of information to really know whatrsquo;s going on./p p One official statement claimed gang leaders were behind the strikemdash;span data-scayt_word="SHUs" data-scaytid="5"SHUs/span were created to undermine and stop prison gang violence on various yards and span data-scayt_word="cellblocks" data-scaytid="7"cellblocks/span by targeting so-called ldquo;shot span data-scayt_word="callers.”" data-scaytid="1"callers.rdquo;/span But this statement doesnrsquo;t address the confinement in the various span data-scayt_word="SHUs" data-scaytid="6"SHUs/span that isolate prisoners behind tiny cells for around 23 hours a day, with only one hour a day allowed in a small area with high concrete walls./p p This doesnrsquo;t explain the growing number of prisoners in general population also taking part./p p California has increased its prison population from 15,000 in fifteen prisons during the early span data-scayt_word="1970s" data-scaytid="9"1970s/span to around 160,000 in thirty-three prisons today (there are also several thousand prisoners shipped outside the state to private institutions). While state officials largely separated prisoners by race and so-called prison gangs, in three decades street gang violence, drug sales, and crime has escalated throughout the state, but also across the country./p p The number one gang problem in the United States is the growing number of California-based gangs, particularly from Los Angeles, that have now taken hold in almost every state in the union. In three decades gang associations like span data-scayt_word="Crips" data-scaytid="10"Crips/span and Bloods, span data-scayt_word="Surenos" data-scaytid="11"Surenos/span and span data-scayt_word="Nortenos" data-scaytid="12"Nortenos/span, 18th Street and Mara span data-scayt_word="Salvatrucha" data-scaytid="13"Salvatrucha/span as well as Hellrsquo;s Angels and other Bikers, Skinheads and Aryans, among others, have spread exponentially./p p In twenty years this has become global when California gangs, largely through massive deportations, became scattered throughout Mexico, Central America, and places like Cambodia and Armenia./p p In effect, this policy of isolation, inhumanity, and more span data-scayt_word="cellblocks" data-scaytid="8"cellblocks/span hasnrsquo;t reduced crime or gang violencemdash;it has only made things worse and penetrated international borders./p p I support the main demands of the striking prisoners and ask that others do so as well. Most prisoners are incarcerated from drug-related charges in a war on drugs that has not stopped drugs yet continues to siphon billions of our tax dollars./p p There is also a 70 percent return rate for most parolees, who often lack job and life skills to pull themselves out of the crime-and-drug matrix that now covers most poor areas./p p The fact is the present overcrowded and inhumane treatment of California prisonersmdash;including with three-strikes-and-yoursquo;re-out sentencing, trying juveniles as adults, and so-called gang enhancementsmdash;has only made our lives more dangerous, not less./p p The California prison system is in need of fundamental and humane transformation. The striking prisonersrsquo; nonviolent protest demonstrates this is a serious and long-range thinking action. We need to heed the voices against any injustices, regardless of where they come from. These prisoners are often our fathers, sons, brothers, sisters, mothers, daughters, and neighbors./p p nbsp;/p p emLuis J. Rodriguez, the author of Always Running: La Vida span data-scayt_word="Loca" data-scaytid="14"Loca/span, Gang Days in span data-scayt_word="L.A" data-scaytid="2"L.A/span. and several other books in short fiction, children#39;s literature, nonfiction, and poetry. Onnbsp;his web log henbsp;posts all the latest news concerningnbsp;his work as a writer, along with news and opinions on the many political, social, spiritual and cultural activities that henbsp;finds interesting.nbsp; Check out his blog at a href="http://luisjrodriguez.com/blog/"http://span data-scayt_word="luisjrodriguez.com" data-scaytid="3"luisjrodriguez.com/span/blog//a/em/p