What does the hunger strike in two-thirds of California prisons indicate about prison conditions? Apparently nothing at all, if you’re Governor Jerry Brown.
On Wednesday, as the protest entered its third day, the state of California continued to insist the prisons are fixed, as officials petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to release California from the order to reduce its prison population by the end of this year.
According to Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris, “California has now...eliminated any need to use gymnasiums and day rooms for anything other than their intended purposes." When did using a room for its intended purpose become an impressive feat? It is not a point of pride that a gym is used as a gym – it is a point of shame that it ever had to be used otherwise. Conditions being “not as bad” is not the same thing as them being “good,” and Brown needs to learn the difference.
California inmates certainly know the difference. On July 8th nearly 30,000 inmates began refusing meals, primarily protesting conditions in solitary confinement. Inmates in solitary confinement may spend a full 23 hours per day in their small, windowless cells, and some people are held for decades. A few have been in isolation for more than 30 years. They can be kept there indefinitely.
Protesters’ eminently reasonable demands include a five-year limit to solitary confinement, beefed up standards for determining who needs to be isolated, and increased education and rehabilitation programs for those kept in isolation.
Over the years, inmates have increasingly protested inhumane conditions. Two years ago they coordinated a similar but smaller protest, and in March of 2012, 400 California inmates in solitary confinement petitioned the U.N. to intervene. Now, for the first time, due to growing evidence about solitary confinement causing mental breakdowns, the Federal Bureau of Prisons is reviewing its policies on solitary confinement.
Protests, however, have not been well received by those in power. Corrections officers plan to discipline participating inmates, who have grievances about prison food, rehabilitation programs, and other policies, in addition to their objections to conditions in solitary confinement. The state “does not condone” protests and apparently it is illegal for inmates to “participate in a mass disturbance” – even if it is a peaceful one. These are already some of the most powerless, disenfranchised members of society – we wouldn’t want them actually finding a way to have their voices heard, now would we?
Ironically, protesters may be placed in solitary confinement.
