Occupy Wall Street Takes On U.S. Prison Conditions

By Laird Harrison

SAN QUENTIN, Calif., Feb 20 (Reuters) - Hundreds of anti-Wall Street demonstrators and prison reform activists joined forces outside San Quentin State Prison in California on Monday to protest high incarceration rates and living conditions for inmates.

Speakers said the state's sentencing laws were too strict. They called for an end to solitary confinement and the death penalty and said children should not be tried as adults.

"I myself experienced more than 14 months of solitary confinement," said Sarah Shourd, 33, an American imprisoned in Iran after being arrested while hiking near the Iraq border in 2009. "After only two months, my mind began to slip."

She was joined at the protest by Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, who spent more than two years in prison in Iran after being arrested with Shourd, and by former members of the Black Panthers African-American activist group who spoke of a history of problems at the San Quentin prison.

The prison is California's oldest correctional facility and houses the state's only gas chamber.

Activist Barbara Becnel said prisoners were drawing inspiration from the Occupy movement, which spread across the country last autumn with calls for greater economic equality. The movement has lost ground as many U.S. cities evicted protesters from their tent camps.

"We have merged the prison rights movement with the Occupy movement," Becnel said, quoting a message she said came from San Quentin death row prisoner Kevin Cooper. "The 99 percent has to be concerned about the bottom 1 percent."

Marin County Sheriff's Office Sergeant Keith Boyd estimated the crowd numbered 600 to 700 people at its height.

Demonstrators held a moment of silence for Christian Alexander Gomez, 27, who died on Feb. 2 while on a hunger strike in California's Corcoran State Prison.

Gomez was among thousands of California prisoners who have staged hunger strikes in waves since July, starting with protests against isolation units at Pelican Bay State Prison.

The strikes began after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May that California prison overcrowding was causing "needless suffering and death" and ordered the state to reduce the number of prisoners to 110,000, still well over the maximum capacity, from 140,000.

In an interview with Reuters, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton contradicted speakers who said they had been held in isolation while in prison in the state.

"Inmates held in segregated units are not isolated," she said. "Some inmates are single-celled. But they converse with other inmates. They can get visits and they interact with staff." (Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Peter Cooney)

 

 

Comments

[tall coolone]

02:57 PM on 03/08/2012

Keep in mind that many of those in solitary are extremely violent and fail to follow simple rules.

[Fizzligg]

04:22 PM on 02/28/2012

Exactly why so many in this country posses concealed/carry permits. Sleep well.

[VKoval]

03:59 PM on 02/24/2012

lol no one cares

[Suzy 24]

09:23 PM on 02/22/2012

That is a terrible ordeal for you.I live in Texas the prisons here got so bad the federal
government had to take them out of the states hands.Good luck and may God bless
you.

[wardept11]

11:14 AM on 02/29/2012

It should be that way all over the country. From my limited ( I have never been in jail, But worked at the sheriff's office and saw what little dictators do to people. It's so degrading for them and a lot have done nothing, they are there awaitin g trial.

[G2G]

02:34 PM on 02/22/2012

Unfortunately, there are people in society who have well-developed 'criminal minds' that are extremely difficult to teach to unlearn their destructive and/or manipulative behaviors.

They're neuro-pathways have been hardened.

Given the opportunity, too often, they'll hurt you or a loved one.

How do you know when you've encountered one of those people before they act? Do you catch them or law enforcement? Do you manage them or the courts?

Resources are limited, attention spans are short, so do you start your crusade in City Jails, County Jails, State Prisons, or Federal Prisons? Focus on misdemeanors or felonies.

...although arguably admirable, many have been on this crusade for years!

[napanascarnut]

10:56 AM on 02/22/2012

I myself have been incarcerated and I thought it was a joke the way they cater to prisoners. It would beat living on welfare. welfare doesn't supply TV's or exercise equipment.
When I was incarcerated smoking was still aloud and we were even supplied with roll your own tobacco and rolling papers. As long as you keep to yourself, its really just a not so pleasant vacation. But since the top% of prisoners are Young guys who have no respect for anything at all, there are fights. I say keep the younger prisoners in solitary to break their rediculous pride. then when they are calm let them in general population. I also think prisons should be more like tent camps. they don't deserve buildings that cost tax payers millions to build and maintain.
One part of my stay in Orlando FL's DoC was in what at the time was called the Butler Building and it was just a warehouse building full of bunk beds. We had to take shifts by groups and do all the cleaning. There were 3 tv's , we had a room with free juices and water when ever we wanted them all the coffee we could drink. A pingpong table, all kinds of games. Is that really punishment. not in my opinion.
So please go back to fixing Wall street and the corporations that are running our freedom into the ground at a very high rate.

[Jean Clelland-Morin]

05:17 AM on 02/22/2012

The U.S. has the highest prison population per capita in the world. Our prisons are stuffed with the oppressed and the vulnerable. As we are finally seeing, the real criminals are in high places and manipulating and exploiting the masses. This is history. The kings and their privileged lackeys have always kept their power this way. Will this change? Will we finally demand a just society? // Jean Clelland-Morin

[James100]

08:29 AM on 02/22/2012

You have got to be kidding. California prisons, Pelican Bay and Corcoran contain the worst of the worst. The murderers, rapists and child killers. Oppressed and vulnerable? Do you have a relative in prison or are you being manipulated by the 1 percent. Because after working in Ca. prison's for over 25 years thats what I have learned they are really good at. It always amazed me how the various gangs inside could hate and go after each other without mercy until a camera arrived. Then they all did a 180 and sounded as one, as though reading from a script, about the inhumane treatment they were receiving. They get better and quicker medical care than we receive, they eat much better than many of our hard working citizens and certainly a lot of our elderly. Occupy and you have fallen prey to the 1 percent. What about the real 1 percent? The victims.

[Shazz Baric]

12:30 AM on 02/22/2012

occupy new york city is officially underway to finally create a real occupy in gotham

http://occupynewyorkcity.wordpress.com/

NYC is about to get Oaklandish with their organizing and get back to the front of the movement they spawned...

[TeeLolly]

11:15 PM on 02/21/2012

Any member of the 99% could someday find himself or herself among the "bottom one percent." And for some who are innocent, like Cameron Todd Willingham, that could be lethal.

[Daniel Calcinari]

10:37 PM on 02/21/2012

I should clarify, my experience was not as an inmate although it was firsthand and it is designed, as a system, to "classify and enslave" a portion of the population. Not based on color or religion but rather financial standing. Basically the "have's and the have not's".

[jel3800]

11:53 PM on 02/21/2012

i always heard it is racial...only blacks get imprisoned

[Daniel Calcinari]

01:11 AM on 02/22/2012

The degree to which justice is doled out is based on how much money you have to pay for said justice. Black or white doesn't matter, if you have money you can buy a justice system favoring your position. And the truth of the matter is that innocent or guilty is irrelevant. The prosecutor’s office has quotas to meet, a certain percentage or guilty findings per filings. And if you use the Public Defender's Office you are should pack your toothbrush because you’re going to do some time. Most people do not realize the lawyers in the Public Defender’s Office draw their paychecks from the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney. So when I say the game is fixed from the get go believe it. These lawyers have established numbers of convictions to meet and it is going to happen whether you did it or not....... unless you have the resources to hire your own JUSTICE. And as to your supposition that "only blacks get imprisoned", you will notice I am not black, nor am I uneducated, yet I had been imprisoned; to be candid.

[Betty Bianca]

02:39 AM on 02/22/2012

exactly!! it is abuse of power by classism... I get so sick of the poor whites who were handed exorbitant sentences, because they are poor and white. The number of white lifers is something that many dont ever talk about, because the "minority race card" always gets played at all "prisoner's rights" discussions, articles and arguments. THe abuse of power is NOT a race thing. it is a human thing.

[Daniel Calcinari]

10:30 PM on 02/21/2012

A correction: 12" flat screen TV = $585 only TV Avail must be purchased from Commissary which is State Run Entity.
Also: Prisons in the US are a "For Profit Enterprise" which is why the majority are now privately owned, corporate enterprises.
Also: The percentage of inmates incarcerated for non-violent felonies is in the area of 95% - 97% , the majority of inmates are convicted on Drug Charges which in essence are a contradiction of the basis on which this country was founded, i.e.: FREEDOM OF CHOICE.
People, the US has more of its citizens locked up in prisons than ANY COUNTRY ON EARTH, Why? Because they, Government and Corporations are making great PROFITS on Prison Enterprises: Food Services, Manufacturing, Agriculture, and so on. What it all boils down to is A NEW FORM OF SLAVERY.
There is no question that a percentage of the inmates belong there; but it is a relatively small percentage.
The last thing I will say is that persons labeled as "Felons" that complete their sentences should NOT BE LABELED AS SUCH, the label is nothing but a continuation of the punishment inflicted by the state. As such a Felon can't vote in elections yet a taxed just like anyone else, non-violent Felons can't own sporting rifles or shotguns, Finding gainful employment is almost impossible as is finding a Rental Home or Apartment because you are a "Felon" for life per the state.

[Daniel Calcinari]

09:57 PM on 02/21/2012

Pardon me "Mensaman" but what prison are you referring too that has HD TV, Internet, Cell phones and conjugal visits? , The TV's that are avail for purchase are "flat screens" yes, but they are 12" and they cost the inmate $385. Internet is only accessible in the Library and it is highly monitored and censored in that much of the content is inaccessible. And as far as those conjugal visits are concerned they are only allowed for inmates that were married 18 or 24 months prior to the charges that landed them in the prison. It is not true that inmates meet "hot babes" online then get married in the joint and have her over for the weekend once a month, that is something some twit dreamed up so he could say "how cushy these guys have it", get a grip, prison sucks, I know from firsthand experience. It isn't as bad as one may think watching Shawshank Redemption, but it isn't "hell on earth" either. What it is: a place where you lose total control of your ability to come and go as you please, the ability to make choices as a man with regard to things as small as what will you be having for breakfast and as large as what course of treatment shall I decide on for life threatening diseases such as cancer. Your ability to choose your destiny is no longer yours to make, sounds pretty "cushy" doesn't it?

[electrosef]

08:10 PM on 02/21/2012

Governance is mandatory for the success of human civilization, and for progress to occur with less rancor and fewer missteps, civilization must find a way to identify and subsequently marginalize all intransigent, backward, fear-based thoughtlessness that seeks to short-circuit every and any advance of human progress.

It is stunning, and telling, about American culture, that with only 5% of the planet's population living in the USA, 25% of all the world's prisoners are in American prisons. So much of this cultural disease is mandated by a fearful, ignorant public. Culture, whether in America or anywhere else on Earth, cannot advance under a stranglehold of ignorance and fear.

[milehimystre]

07:02 PM on 02/21/2012

There's very little criminal, and nothing justice about the 'criminal justice' system in this country. Just like there's very little corrective about any state's 'dept. of corrections'. It's a racket, plain and simple. They use the taxpayers' resources in the name of 'public safety', then put the safety of the public at even more risk because all they do is lock these men and women up. By doing so, not only do they make them worse, but they traumatize them even more by subjecting them to some pretty harsh conditions. And that's if they're lucky. The use of solitary confinement, cell extractions, bad food, being treated like an animal, on and on and on make for the most reactive, counterproductive, sickening 'system' a so called 'free' society has ever seen. How can this country lecture other countrie's on human rights, when it's own approach to people with a condition is nothing less than sickening...

[Shaker47]

07:27 PM on 02/21/2012

Are you saying that people that don't follow the laws should be treated like the rest of us??? Yes there are exceptions but for the most part they are getting what they deserve. How bout being responsible and not breaking the laws so they don't worry about doing time. I follow all the laws cause I don't want to take a chance of getting into a bad prison. How bout you?????

[TeeLolly]

11:22 PM on 02/21/2012

It's not always that simple. What about the indigent mom who is dependent on her kid's dad, who keeps his stash and scales hidden in her house--and she gets busted? What about the totally innocent person who can't afford a lawyer, and gets a court-appointed one whose only interest is in currying favor with the judge, who's looking for convictions? What about the mom ordered by a judge (who won't waste his time actually reviewing the case) to hand her young child over to the child's step-father, who has repeatedly sexually abused the child?

[milehimystre]

09:07 AM on 02/23/2012

I'm not saying there shouldn't be any consequences. What I am saying is that the way this 'system' goes about imposing these consequences doesn't make anyone safer. I mean what's in a name? One would think that any so called 'Dept. of Corrections is there to CORRECT. The reality is the exact opposite, and the numbers just don't lie. Wherever your getting your information isn't telling you the whole story, and sincerely hope you';; educate yourself on t

[Mensaman]

06:47 PM on 02/21/2012

I'll be thinking an helping of the victims families. Criminals shall be last in line - and rightfully so. Prison is not a country club, nor should it be. Let's get back to having prisons as a deterrant to encourage peace, safety and security for all rather than a cushy career path with conjugal visits, HD TV, games, internet and cellphones.
BTW. I was wondering where those three dumbells from the Iran situation were going to end up. Now I know.

[KENAWULF]

05:55 AM on 02/22/2012

Mensaman, I think you are confused. Your discription fits the "White Collar Prisons." A prison that is mostly a Country Club for those rich white guys who did not commit a crime, they merely made a mistake.