{"id":468710,"date":"2025-06-19T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/?p=468710"},"modified":"2025-06-20T16:20:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T23:20:20","slug":"prisons-hunger-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/_ko\/justice\/2025\/06\/prisons-hunger-strike\/","title":{"rendered":"Hunger strike begins as California prisons hand down biggest restrictions since COVID"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More than 20 California prisons shut off outside communication for their incarcerated populations under expansive restrictions that took effect this month. Some prisoners commenced a hunger strike in protest.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n

Nearly two dozen state prisons<\/a> last week imposed sweeping restrictions on their incarcerated population \u2014 including shutting off all outside communication. Now, hundreds of prisoners are reported to be on a hunger strike to protest the system\u2019s largest restrictions since the pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The corrections department \u201csignificantly limited\u201d the daily activities and movement of roughly 34,000 incarcerated people on June 12 in response to a recent uptick in violence, overdoses and contraband, according to its website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the restrictions, incarcerated people are forced to remain primarily in their cell or dormitory. All in-person visitation, programming, phone access and tablet communications has been suspended. Medical care and other essential services will continue, the department said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department did not say when the restrictions will end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal experts and advocates called the department\u2019s move drastic and said the approach is solitary confinement in all but name. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very lonely space to be in,\u201d said Warren Hands, supervising parole success advocate at UnCommon Law, a nonprofit. \u201cAddiction is real. Mental health issues are real. And they are exacerbated by these lockdowns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corrections Secretary Jeff Macomber said in a written statement that the department has an obligation to ensure public safety for staff, incarcerated individuals and the communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe recognize the concerns of the incarcerated and their families and how this impacts participation in rehabilitation programs and visiting,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department published a press release late Tuesday that listed a number of armed assaults on staff members, armed battery on incarcerated people, and several riots in the weeks leading up to the restrictions, but did not attribute those incidents to specific prisons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Families of incarcerated people say the restrictions are cruel and collective punishment. Angel Torrez said it feels unbearable to have no contact with his father, who is incarcerated at Folsom State Prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wonder if he\u2019s safe and sound,\u201d said Torrez. The department \u201cis playing propaganda warfare. They are professionals of abstract, obtuse, and vague statements that are generated to keep families in the dark.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At prisons across the country, lockdowns have become increasingly common<\/a> due to staffing shortages. In California, the corrections department has imposed broad restrictions on incarcerated people twice in the span of three months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prisons report ‘surge in violence’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The last restrictions on March 8 were placed on nearly a dozen prisons due to a \u201csurge in violence against staff and incarcerated people.\u201d They ended on April 11. During that time, at least three incarcerated people were killed and one officer reportedly was attacked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, the department has come under fire for its approach to managing violent incidents and contraband. It was criticized by<\/a> a Sacramento County Superior Court Judge in 2022 for creating violence when it merged incarcerated people from the general population with those who were previously protected, such as informants, bypassing established procedures in the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following year, an oversight agency found that drugs continued to get inside California prisons<\/a> during the pandemic when public health protocols prohibited visits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an open secret that staff are the primary vector of contraband into the prison,\u201d said Sharon Dolovich, a law professor at UCLA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said a lockdown may be a useful tool if it\u2019s done in a limited way, but the department\u2019s blanket policy appears to be hard to defend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a blunt instrument when they should be using a scalpel,\u201d she said. \u201cThe question is the relationship between the ill that they are trying to wrestle with and the strategy that they are adopting to try to address it. I remain unconvinced that a lockdown of this scale is necessary to address this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunger strike in Salinas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One day after the corrections department implemented the restrictions, incarcerated people at Salinas Valley State Prison formally declared a hunger strike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis action arises in response to persistent and unlawful practices by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, including the use of indiscriminate lockdowns, deprivation of rehabilitative and constitutional rights, and collective punishment of the incarcerated population,\u201d they wrote in a letter provided to CalMatters. \u201cThis protest is not rooted in defiance but in our firm demand that (the corrections department) adhere to its obligations under the U.S. Constitution, California Penal Code, and Title 15 of the California Code of Regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corrections spokesperson Terri Hardy said the department has procedures to monitor and evaluate hunger strikes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brooke Terpstra, a member of the anti-prison group Oakland Abolition & Solidarity, estimated that upwards of 500 people are participating in the strike. He suspects incarcerated people at other prisons with restrictions will join. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll hunger strikes are notable, but this is a major occurrence,\u201d he said. \u201c(The department\u2019s) unified collective punishment has produced a unified collective response. It\u2019s inspiring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cayla Mihalovich is a California Local News fellow. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tmore on california prisons<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t
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California prison union strikes $600 million contract with Newsom that includes furloughs<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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California released 15,000 prisoners early during COVID. New data reveals what happened to many of them<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Newsom moves to close another state prison. That makes 5 since he took office<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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