(California) State sees gang ties in prisoners' hunger strike

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(07-13) 17:43 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Hundreds of inmates in five state prisons ended the second week of a hunger strike to protest living conditions Thursday, in what has become the largest coordinated protest by state inmates, officials said.

Prison administrators said the 676 remaining inmates who have refused meals since the strike began July 1 probably synchronized their statewide effort through organized criminal networks.

"This goes to show the power, influence and reach of prison gangs," said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "Some people are doing it because they want to do it and some are being ordered to do it."

Activists who support the strikers dismissed the gang ties, and said the other inmates had rallied to support a group of 150 prisoners who started the protest inside the Secured Housing Unit at Pelican Bay State Prison near the Oregon border.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/13/BASI1KA8ON.DTL

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[ixion]

2. What a horrible sentiment

seriously.

[plumbob]

3. Looks like the gang folk are trying to stay anonymous.

The core inmates described the conditions inside the prison's highest-security special isolation wing as inhumane. Among five key demands, the Pelican Bay strikers called for an end to isolation units and the abolishment of "debriefings" - lengthy interviews that prison officials use to determine inmates' gang member status.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/13/BASI1KA8ON.DTL#ixzz1S5EWiOMz


Isolation units kill communication between gang members, and debriefings identify gang members. The other complaint seems to be 6x10 cells. Not really as small as it sounds - many third bedrooms in private homes are around 8x10, unless someone wants to make the case that children are being treated the same as prisoners in isolation.

They're entitled not to eat. There's not a problem, and no need for negotiations to end it.