San Quentin News

Written By Inmates - Advancing Social Justice

Cái Giá Của Sự Khám Xét Thiếu Nhân Đạo

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Tác Giả:
Harry C. Goodall, Jr. Hội Đoàn Tác Giả Nhà Báo

Quận Los Angeles đã đồng ý trả $53 triệu tiền bồi thường cho các nữ tù nhân đã nhiều lần bị nhục mạ bằng cách bị khám xét, theo lời tường thuật của tờ báo Los Angeles Times.

Một thỏa thuận được chấp nhận qua một vụ kiện tập thể đã được trình tòa vào năm 2010 với 87,937 phụ nữ đã bị khám xét 421,718 lần vào giữa tháng Ba năm 2008 và tháng Giêng năm 2015 tại trại giam của trung tâm Lyn- wood, Cali., theo lời tường thuật của tờ báo vào ngày 16 tháng Bảy.

Tờ báo này nói thêm là, “Các phụ nữ bị ra lệnh đứng xếp hàng ngoài trời, ép buộc khỏa thân và vất quần áo của

họ xuống nền xi măng. Dưới chân họ, nền xi măng bị ô nhũng bởi xăng dầu và kinh huyết của những nữ tù nhân trước đó.”

Thêm vào những hành vi nhục mạ là các nữ tù nhân đang trong thời kỳ kinh nguyệt. Họ bị ép buộc lột bỏ tất cả băng vệ sinh dùng cho kinh nguyệt, làm cho máu chảy xuống chân họ và đọng lại trên đất. Những vụ khám xét này đều thực hiện bên ngoài của trại giam.

Những việc khám xét này đều làm ngoài trời bất kể thời tiết lạnh hay mưa gió. Không cógìlàkínhđáođểcheđậy ngoài một hàng rào kẻm gai hư hỏng. Những sự kiện này xảy ra theo sự chứng kiến của những nhân công khác phái của trại giam.

Cộng thêm vào là một vụ kiện buộc quận Lynwood

phải trả thêm $4 triệu khi những nữ tù nhân cáo buộc là các nhân viên nam cai quản nhà tù đã lạm dụng tình dục trong lúc khám xét họ.

Sau những vụ kiện cáo này đã làm cho các trại giam ở quận Los Angeles sắp đặt các hệ thống giống như ở phi trường để ngăn chặn đồ bất hợp pháp vào trại giam.

Theo lời tờ báo tường thuật, giống như sự kiện của nữ tù nhân thì các nam tù nhân đang thưa kiện về việc bị áp bức bạo lực tại trại giam quận Los Angeles. Những sự kiện này đang dưới sự điều tra từ nhân chức của liên bang. Sau khi kết thúc điều tra, ít nhất là 12 công nhân cai quản trại giam tại quận Los Angeles bị bắt và khởi tố đưa vào tù, bao gồm cả trưởng cai quản trại giam Lee Baca.

—Dịch giả-Tú Trần

Apagan fuegos y salvan vidas, pero su salario es menor al mínimo

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Más de 3,000 prisioneros ayudan a combatir los incendios en California, pero su salario es mucho menos del mínimo.

Los reclusos que trabajan en los incendios forestales en el estado de California ganan entre $2.90 y $5.12 al día, más un aumento de un $1 durante incendios de emergencia, según un artículo de Fortune. com.

Según el artículo el mayor incentivo para los reclusos que escogen cumplir parte de su condena en unos de los 43 campos de fuego, es la reducción de su sentencia. Una legislación aprobada en el 2014 incluye crédito de dos días de crédito por uno de trabajo para todos los prisioneros. Esta propuesta ha enfrentado mucha oposición.

“La extensión del crédito del dos por uno para todo prisionero (en instituciones de mínima seguridad en California) hará más difícil cubrir las camas accesibles ya que los reos de nivel bajo y que están por crímenes sin violencia preferirán participar en otro tipo de programas (en unidades de seguridad mínima) que les da el mismo

beneficio en lugar de sufrir las agotadoras actividades físicas y el riesgo de lesionarse en los campos de fuego”, dijo la Senadora Kamala Harris (D- Ca.)

El artículo también menciona una declaración jurada de Vimal Singh, un oficial de CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) quien dice que aumentando los créditos de liberación temprana disminuiría la población en los campos de fuego.

“El medio ambiente en las prisiones pone una presión única”, dijo David Fathi, director del ACLU. “En realidad hay muy poco en las prisiones que es voluntario, hay un diferencia de poder entre los guardias de seguridad y los internos. La relación de captores y empleados crea un riesgo significativo de explotación y abuso, nos debemos de mantener en alerta por eso”. “El programa de Campo de Conservación fue fundado en 1945 y se estima que el estado de California ahorra $100 mil millones cada año”, indicó el artículo de Fortune. com.

Las estadísticas de los últimos 35 años muestran que seis prisioneros bomberos han muerto por heridas obtenidas durante el combate de incendios. Esta noción pone al descubierto de cuál es el precio que los presos están dispuestos a pagar para obtener su libertad.

“Los reclusos no deberían ofrecerse para combatir incendios peligrosos simplemente porque la alternativa es estar encerrado en una celda”, añadió Fathi.

Hubo dos memorándums producidos al respeto del pago a los reclusos. Uno de los memorándums sugiere que el pago a un interno debe incrementarse de $1 dólar, que ha sido el sueldo durante los últimos 40 años, a $2 dólares por hora. El memorándum indicó que aun a ese ritmo el estado ahorraría $24.6 mil millones comparado con lo que le pagan a bomberos contratados. El memorándum también advirtió que “menos cuadrillas de prisioneros bomberos resultara en la dependencia de grupos federales, de condados y privados durante los periodos de actividad en alto riesgo de incendios. El costo de un turno de 24 horas fluctúa de cuatro a ocho veces más alto comparado a un equipo de reclusos”, según el artículo de Fortune.

“Los prisioneros están altamente desprotegidos por las leyes de salud y seguridad que protegen a todo los demás trabajadores de condiciones peligrosas en el trabajo”, dijo Fathi. “No son cubiertos por OSHA, No pueden formar uniones para mejorar sus condiciones de trabajo. Cuando pones todas estas condiciones juntas los prisioneros son más vulnerables comparado a los trabajadores que combaten los fuegos o hace otro trabajo en esta sociedad”.

Cuando los prisioneros son liberados son incapaces de utilizar sus habilidades como bomberos ya que a buen uso. la mayoría de los departamentos de bomberos requiere empleados con experiencia en tecnología médica de emergencia o licencia de paramédico. En California los presos sentenciados por un crimen serio tienen que cumplir 10 años en libertad para así poder obtener este tipo de licencia, según el artículo.

CDCR se asoció recientemente con el condado de Ventura para invertir $26.6 mil millones en un programa de certificación y entrenamiento para reclusos liberados. El programa de 18 meses puede enlistar a 80 personas en libertad condicional pero no dará licencias de EMT después de la graduación. CALFire le ha ofrecido posiciones a dos de los graduados recientes.

La unión de Bomberos Profesionales de California, que cuenta con más de 30,000 miembros, ha luchado contra el plan, dice el artículo de Fortune.

—Traducido por Heriberto Arredondo Reportero

Formerly incarcerated women take their life struggles to the stage

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Members of Persephone Project 2

A play about formerly incarcerated women who are struggling to rebuild their lives is a popular production in Illinois.

“The show is about women coming through the prison system, starting with challenges in their life, then coming out, returning home, and looking to transform their life,” said Mars Caulton, program facilitator for the Still Point program, which sponsors the production.

“There should be a sense (that) there’s something joyous near the end of this,” Caulton said of the short play called “The Visiting Room.”

The show is designed to shed new light and provide insight into the lives of formerly incarcerated women. It was performed at Lewis University in Romoeville, Illinois, according to the July 27 National Catholic Reporter.

Still Point was established in 1993 by Lisa Wagner-Carollo. Its new chapter is the program at Grace House, which is a voluntary transitional program offered for women in Chicago. The program is sponsored by St. Leonard’s Ministries.

“Just to see that they can accomplish things, set a goal and follow through, I think is very empowering,” said Wagner-Carollo.

The goal of Grace House is to allow those who have never been inside a prison to understand that inmates are human. The fact that they’ve made a mistake in life doesn’t define them.

“People have strong emotional responses to that piece because you have someone looking into your eyes, telling you, ‘I was just like you. I cared about these things. I had a loving mother. I liked to date.’” said Hector Alvarez, former manager of Still Point.

“But then, of course, to some degree this person is also not like you because their life journey has taken them on a very, very different path… It kind of forces us to realize that some of us are born with privilege, and that means that we don’t have to make certain choices in our lives that could lead to being in prison.”

The performances allow the public to connect with formerly incarcerated women. They also allow formerly incarcerated women to re-connect to society.

Performance for Grace House allows inmates “to feel they have something helpful to contribute to society, and I think that performing for audiences who have not been in jail feels a little bit like that, like contributing to the public conversation about incarceration,” said Alvarez.

“I can connect with part of your story and now I understand a lot more about how people, everyday people, end up in the prison system, said facilitator Caulton.

They risk their lives for as little as $2.90 a day

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California’s prisoners firefighters receive little benefit for their service on the fire lines

More than 3,000 California prisoners help fight the state’s wildfires and are paid well below minimum wages.

Inmates who work on active fires are paid between $2.90 and $5.12 a day, and get an additional $1 an hour during an active emergency, according to Fortune.com.

The major incentive inmates choosing to volunteer to serve their time at one of California’s 43 fire camps is the time off their sentence. When legislation was introduced in 2014 to include two—for—one credit to all inmates in CDCR, it met huge opposition according to a November article by Fortune.com.

“The extension of two-for-one credit to all (minimum security facility) inmates would likely make fire camp beds even more difficult to fill, as low-level, non-violent inmates would choose to participate in the (Minimum Support Facility) program rather than endure strenuous physical activities and risk injury in the fire camps,” said Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)

The article also stated an affidavit from Vimal Singh, CDCR official, in which he points out extending early release credits would deplete the fire population.

“Prison is a uniquely coercive environment,” said David Fathi, director of the ACLU. “There is very little in prison that is truly voluntary. There is a power differential between prisoners and their captors and employers that creates a significant risk of exploitation and abuse. and we need to be alert to that.”

The Conservation Camp Program was established in 1945, and is estimated to save the state of California $100 million dollars each year, according to Fortune.com.

Statistics show that over the past 35 years six inmate firefighters have died from injuries sustained from fighting a fire. This notion beckons the call as to what price is an inmate willing to pay for freedom.

“Prisoners should not volunteer to fight dangerous fires, simply because the alternative is being locked in a prison cell,” added Fathi.

There were two memos produced regarding inmate fire fighters pay. In one memo there was a suggestion that the inmate pay would increase from $1, which has been the pay rate for the last 40 years, to $2 an hour. The memo stated that even at this rate it would still save the state over $24.6 million dollars in lieu of hired firefighters. The memo also cautioned that, “Less inmate fire crews would result in the reliance of federal, county and private fire crews during periods of high fire activity. These costs per 24 hour shift range from four to eight times higher than the cost of a comparable inmate crew,” according to the article.

“Prisoners are largely unprotected by the occupational health and safety laws that protect all other workers from dangerous working conditions,” said Fathi. “They’re not covered by OSHA,They can’t unionize for safer working conditions. When you put all those together it makes a prisoner a uniquely vulnerable workforce compared to everyone else who fights fires or does any other work in this society.”

Prisoners when released are unable to put their skills to use. Most firefighting jobs require employees to obtain an Emergency Medical Technician or paramedic license. In California most convicted felons can’t obtain this type of license until they have been free from custody for 10 years, according to the article.

When you couple the very high risk an inmate assumes it has created a decline in the amount of inmates willing to go to fire camp. A memo obtained by Earther from CALFire and California Department of Corrections

states that, “prisoners working in camps have declined by at least 1,000 people over the past 12 years,” the article stated.

CDCR has recently partnered a $26.6 million dollar firefighter certification and training program in Ventura County. The program will create an 18—month program which provides advance training to former inmates. The program can enroll 80 parolees but doesn’t give EMT licenses upon graduation. CAL FIRE has offered positions to two of the recent graduates.

Reyes introduced a bill in the legislature that would allow former inmates to join the California Firefighter Joint Venture Apprenticeship program. “Reyes believes that a criminal conviction should not be a life sentence, but rather that folks that have made a mistake, and demonstrated commitment and efforts to rehabilitation should have the same opportunities as everyone else,” said an official working for California Assemblywoman Eloise Reyes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eloise_Reyes

California Professional Firefighters, a union of more than 30,000 members, has fought against this plan, according to the article.

Nghị Sĩ Bass Dẫn Đầu Sửa Đổi Hiến Pháp

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Tờ báo Los Angeles Senti- nel tường thuật là bà nghị sĩ Karen Bass đang dẫn đầu để thành lập một pháp luật mới gọi là chương trình “One-

Stop Reentry”, và thay đổi hình luật tư pháp.

“Chúng ta nên có một nơi có thể đưa ra thẻ tùy thân, để đăng ký cho trợ cấp, và liên hệ với dịch vụ y khoa, phương tiện giao thông—một nơi mà người có thể làm lại cuộc đời mau chóng,” bà Bass trả lời tại một cuộc họp vào ngày 13 tháng 7 tại Los An- geles về đề tài thay đổi hình luật tư pháp.

Bà Bass thuộc đảng dân chủ của quận Los Angeles, tập trung vào thay đổi hình luật kể từ khi tham gia vào chính trị, theo lời tường thuật của tờ báo Sentinel. Bà ta nói thêm hiện tại bà đang tìm cách sửa đổi luật pháp.

“Rất nhiều chính sách hình luật thật tốt; nó bảo vệ người thân của chúng ta và cộng đồng,” bà Bass nói. “Cùng một lúc, rất nhiều luật pháp của

chúng ta không có hiệu nghiệm hoặc là làm hại nhiều hơn làm tốt. Tôi cố gắng hết mình để thay đổi pháp luật này cho nó hợp lý và hiệu quả hơn để được công bằng và bình đẳng.”

Thêm vào đó, chúng ta cần đảm bảo rằng những người đãtrảnợchoxãhộixongsẽ tham gia vào một chương trình để làm lại cuộc đời đàng hoàng.”

Một trong những người có mặt tại cuộc họp là Susan Burton, người thành lập hội “Tìm Một Cuộc Sống Mới (A New Way of Life).

“Tôi rất là cám ơn bà Bass đã mở ra cuộc họp này, để chúng ta có thể bàn luận về những gì các nữ tù nhân và sự cần thiết của họ khi gia nhập về với xã hội,” bà Burton nói với ký giả Jennifer Bihm. “Tôi rất hiểu những gì sẽ xảy rakhiratùvàkhôngcósự đảm bảo.”

Chương trình gia nhập của bà Burton hướng về giúp đỡ các nữ tù nhân khi được về.

“Tôi đi qua 40 tiểu bang và thăm 36 nhà tù. Khi chúng tôi

thảo luận về những việc mà nữ tù nhân cần khi họ được thả về; hoàn toàn, tôi thấy họ đều mong muốn giữ gìn quyền làm phụ huynh,” bà Burton nói. “Tôi cũng thấy thêm rất nhiều nữ cựu tù nhân mong muốn tìm được việc làm nhưng họ lo ngại tìm được việc.”

Đề tài của việc làm, cư trú và gia nhập là những đề tài được bà Bass nhắc đến.

Thành viên John Harriel của Hội Hòa Nhập thứ hai cho biết, “Tôi không biết tôi là một người thiếu tự tin cho bản than khi lớn lên. Tôi không biết là mình muốn tự vận. Và tôi không muốn chính tay mình làm việc đó. Tôi muốn người khác giết tôi. Khi suy nghĩ lại, tôi không có người đàn ông nào dìu dắt, mang giày và đi làm mỗi ngày. Tôi thấy trước được mình sẽ vào tù khi còn là đứa trẻ bởi vì trong cộng đồng của tôi đi tù là một phần thưởng.”

Harriel cũng nói thêm ông ta đã làm lại cuộc đời với sự

giúp đỡ của phần tử trong hội. Ông ta đã thành công tìm được việc làm và hiện tại đã có nhà riêng, và làm người đỡ đầu cho các bạn trẻ theo lời tường thuật của tờ báo.

Một thành viên khác, Stanley Bailey, nói rằng ông ta lúc trước nghiện ngậm ma túy và đã ngồi tù 36 năm. Ông nói những tù nhân có tâm trạng bất thường là một vấn đề rất lớn trong tù và họ không nhận được bất cứ sự giúp đỡ nào.

Bà Bass nói thêm, “Tôi tin rằng chúng ta có thể giảm được việc đông dân số trong tù bằng cách hủy bỏ những luật lệ khắt khe cho tiểu án và hãy dành những luật lệ đó cho các nghi phạm với tội án nghiêm trọng và những người đe dọa sự an ninh cho cộng động. Chúng ta nên đầu tư vào việc ngăn ngừa tội án và can thiệp vào những hàng xóm và các trẻ em đang gặp nhiều khó khăn.

— Dịch giả-Tú Trần

Challenge to Oregon's treatment of trans prisoners may pave way for change

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Brady Hall is a transgender inmate in Oregon who petitioned the court to transfer from male housing to a female facility. (Transgender people do not identify with the gender with which they were born.) She wanted to move from Two Rivers Correctional Institution —a male facility in Umatilla County, Oregon—to a women’s prison. In her petition, she also sought medical care to receive gender reassignment surgery, according to an article in the Oregonian.

According to attorney Tara Herivel, Hall is a woman in a male prison and that is understood as being extremely dangerous and problematic. “This is an area where, as we’re expanding our ideas as a culture of what gender identity is, it’s also expanding in the legal arena,” Herivel said. “I think it is a very important first step.”

In May, Circuit Judge J. Burdette Pratt in Umatilla County ruled in favor of Hall’s petition and ordered that she should be housed in either a single cell or in a cell with another transgender inmate. The judge agreed that Hall had proved that the Corrections Department had showcased “deliberate indifference” to her safety by housing her with male inmates, according to the Oregonian article.

The judge also said that correctional officials “must do everything within their ability” to stop inmates and correctional officers from verbally or sexually harassing Hall. She was also approved for gender reassignment surgery and is awaiting the procedure.

Hall, however, did not get everything she requested. The judge denied her request to transfer to Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, the only female prison in Oregon. This was partly because the judge felt that she would be safe within her new living arrangement and partly because of her criminal conviction. In 2007, she was charged with sex crimes, which included sexual abuse of girls. Hall can still request a transfer at a later date, according to the article.

Nevertheless, Hall’s case may pave the way for transgender inmates around the country to be granted safer housing conditions. Transgender prisoners are often forced to live with people of the opposite gender.

“When I first got here I had a couple of inmates that didn’t want me to live with me because I’m transgender,” said S. Gustafson, a transgender inmate at San Quentin State Prison. “It wasn’t until I met my current cellmate that things got a little easier.”

“I feel that the guards here at SQ treat me with respect,” said Gustafson. “The only hang-up was that it took me several weeks to get my female clothing.” She also said that she believes that transgender people should be housed alone or with other transgender individuals.

“I feel the transgender policy can be a little bit better, as far as cell living,” said E. Herrara, who prefers the name Sage, adding that she thought that transgender inmates in a male prison should be provided shower curtains for privacy. (San Quentin recently added curtains.)

Herrara said she feels safe at San Quentin.

“I don’t feel it would be any easier at a female prison, personally,” she said. “For LGBTQ women, it’s the same way.”

Inmates housed in CDCR may be asked standard questions by their correctional counselors, such as how they identify (i.e. straight, gay, transgender, etc.).

These questions result from Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) policy, enacted to ensure inmates’ housing and safety concerns are met. When asked these questions by counselors, inmates are encouraged to be open and honest.

Louisiana taking steps to keep families connected

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A new program is helping Louisiana girls keep in touch with their incarcerated fathers.

“Not being able to see my father has been traumatizing,” said Dominque Jones, whose father has been in prison since before she was born. She organized a program that helps girls cope with the strain of life without their incarcerated dads.

“When I was 16, my paternal grandfather passed away, and that was the first time I saw my biological father outside of prison bars — shackled and chained and escorted by two correctional officers at his dad’s funeral,” Jones, 36, said in an interview with TheAdvocate.com.

The program is called Daughters Beyond Incarceration (DBI). One of its events was a Father’s Day gathering June 15 in New Orleans called a “crawfish boil” for young girls of incarcerated dads. The program relies strictly on fundraising. It currently has 30 members.

DBI was created to advocate for policy changes and removal of the barriers that make it difficult for daughters to communicate with their fathers, according to the June 16 article.

“I get frustrated and angry,” said Sun’Shyne Mathieu, 16. Father’s Day is “going to be a real tough day for me. Everybody’s going to be posting pictures with their father’s gifts and everything, and I have to send my graduation pictures and diploma in an envelope, and that’s not right,” Mathieu added.

DBI has also teamed up with Navigate Nola, which is a New Orleans based activist group, which made this occasion and photo shot possible. They displayed a photo exhibit of portraits of the members, soon to be displayed at all New Orleans Recreation Development Commission’s (NORD) programs and all NORD sites.

Jones pointed out it costs around $100 to visit her father at the Angola prison. That includes gas, money on the phone for their conversations, and feeding her two children. When you are a single mother this can be particularly stressful, according to the article.

“Could you imagine your father being transported to University Hospital or Tulane Hospital and you not know?” asked Jones on the fact that the prison has no notification responsibilities on her father’s medical treatment.

DBI is currently working with Southern Poverty Law Center advocating for prison policy changes to create a free phone call system and even become involved with schools’ PTAs, according to the article.

Another organization working to highlight some of the stresses girls with incarcerated fathers may face is Navigate Nola, founded by Danielle Wright. Wright said these daughters face anxiety, sadness and fear. These factors can contribute to the girl having problems in school. Wright said she is working to highlight these issues instead of letting the girls be subjected to school discipline.

Jones said she hopes to purchase a home for her organization where girls could have recreational activities like art, yoga and dance. This would help the girls gain a sense of normalcy, she said.

Federal judge slams prosecutors for mishandling evidence

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A federal judge has held prosecutors in contempt for failing to preserve evidence in a case involving recorded conversations between prisoners and attorneys.

Some 110 defendants alleged the recordings violated 6th Amendment protections. Three defendants had their sentences vacated or indictments dismissed, the ABA Journal reported in August.

Judge Julie Robinson of Kansas City, Kan., ruled in favor of the defendants, citing a special master’s investigation of recordings made by inmates attorney-client phone calls. She said the investigation proved the Attorney General’s Office’s failed to cooperate in preserving evidence.

Contempt

“Under his discretion, management defied the court’s order and directives, continued to fail to preserve such that years of documents were potentially lost, and then only produced what they (Attorney’s General Office) chose to produce,” Robinson ruled.

The judge declined to rule in favor of a per se 6th Amendment violation of right to counsel for the defendants in the case but cautioned that the individual defendants named in the suit whose calls were recorded at the Leavenworth Detention Center, could raise prosecutorial misconduct claims individually based upon her findings, according to the article.

The center is operated by CoreCivic Inc., formerly the Corrections Corporation of America.

It was estimated that over 1,429 attorney-client calls were received by the U.S. Attorney’s Office upon request by the federal prosecutors between 2010 and 2017, according to findings by Judge Robinson.

She noted that when requests were made to the prison for recorded phone calls by federal prosecutors, there was at least a 28 percent chance the calls contained attorney-client privileged calls, the article stated.

Removal

Two attorneys for the U.S. Attorney General’s Office were released from their official position. The judge found that they had “knowingly and intentionally” listened to recorded attorney-client calls in one or more of their cases, the judge noted.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that those lawyers were “rogue” attorneys.

The judge also found that the U.S. Attorney’s Office “willfully misconstrued” a preservation order, avoiding the preservation of some evidence. The office did not act on the formal litigation hold order until May 2017. Some of the computers’ hard drives were wiped clean. These facts were determined by David Cohen, special master in the case.

The article said a former attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s office testimony of a lunchtime discussion on record disclosed the following:

“Their conclusion was that phone calls placed by detainees to their lawyers weren’t privileged because they were on notice the call was being recorded. The group also concluded that if the lawyers were ‘stupid enough’ to talk to their clients over the phone, prosecutors had no obligation to disclose the recorded calls.”

The case is United States v. Carter.

Conditions unsafe for the incarcerated in some southern prisons

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Many prisons in the South lack air conditioning and this creates life-threatening conditions in heat spells, the Prison Policy Initiative reports.

“The lack of air conditioning in Southern prisons creates unsafe — even lethal –conditions,” the report stated. “Prolonged exposure to extreme heat can cause dehydration and heat stroke, both of which can be fatal.”

Some courts have ruled that prison standards on incarcerating people in extreme cold or heat violates prisoners’ constitutional 8th Amendment rights. Those states include Arizona, Mississippi and Wisconsin.

Ninety-five percent of households in the South have air conditioning, but almost none of southern state prisons do.

“The lack of air conditioning in Southern prisons creates unsafe — even lethal –conditions”

“People outside of prison who experience extreme heat have the options that prisoners lack — they can take a cool shower, drink water, move into the shade, or go to a place that is air conditioned,” quoted Prison Legal News in a 2018 article. “For prisoners, those options are generally unavailable.”

Heat related illnesses can be exacerbated by certain prescribed medications. These are but not limited to Zoloft, Cymbalta, Prozac, and Lexapro, (do not stop taking any medication with- out your doctors permission). There are also certain medical conditions that can lead to heat related illnesses such as diabetes, and obesity. Heat has a greater effect on those that are older. This demographic has an increased risk of cardiovascular, and respiratory illnesses.

“Everyone understands that if you leave a child in a car on a hot day, there’s a serious risk this child could be injured or die,” said ACLU Director David Fathi to The Intercept. “And that’s exactly what we’re doing when we leave a prisoner locked in cells when the heat and humidity climb beyond a certain level.”

Most prisons are constructed from heat retaining materials such as concrete and rebar. This can contribute to higher temperatures inside prison cells.

A fan could possible make a difference in regulating heat, but a fan in a Texas prison commissary costs $20, an astronomical fee when prisoners in Texas are not paid for their labor.

“It routinely feels as if one’s sitting in a convection oven being slowly cooked alive,” said Benny Hernandez, a Texas prisoner. “There is no respite from the agony that the heat in Texas prisons inflicts.”

Prison Policy Initiative believes air conditioning should be a human right and not an amenity or privilege. When it’s withheld, it can subject people to conditions that can constitute cruel and unusual punishment. In some cases, death sentences, according to the article.

California legislators want to streamline re-entry

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New “one-stop” program would acknowledge many hurdles for returning citizens

Congresswoman Karen Bass

Congresswoman Karen Bass is spearheading legislation to create a one-stop reentry program, as well as criminal justice reform, according to the Los Angeles Sentinel.

“There should be a place where you can get your ID, sign up for benefits, get connected to medical services, get transportation — a place where people can get their lives on track quickly,” Bass said at a July 13 legislative hearing in Los Angeles on criminal justice changes.

Bass, a Los Angeles Democrat, has concentrated on criminal justice reform most of her political career, according to the Sentinel. She said she is currently working on reform legislation.

“Many of our criminal justice policies are good; they protect our loved ones and communities,” said Bass. “At the same time, far too many of our laws are ineffective or do more harm than good. I am committed to reforming criminal justice so that it is sensible, effective and consistent with our notions of equality and fairness.

“In addition, we need to ensure that those who have paid their debt to society have reentry services and opportunities to live productive lives.”

Among those attending the hearing were Susan Burton, founder of A New Way of Life.

“I’m really thankful to Karen Bass for holding this hearing, so that we can dis- cuss women and their need (upon reentry to society),” Burton told reporter Jennifer Bihm. “I know what it could mean to leave prison and not have safety.”

Burton’s reentry program is geared towards helping women function after prison.

“I’ve visited 40 states and 36 prisons. When we talked about what women need when they are leaving; overwhelmingly, I saw women who were desperately trying to maintain their parental rights,” said Burton. “I saw women who wanted a job but were worried about how they would be employed.”

The topic of jobs, housing and reunification were topics that Bass mentioned.

Witness John Harriel of reentry program 2nd Call said, “I did not know that I had low self-esteem grow- ing up. I had no idea that I wanted to commit suicide. I didn’t want to do it by my own hands. I wanted some- one else to do it. When I think back, there were no men leading the way, putting on their boots and going to work every day. I envisioned going to prison as a young man because in my community going to prison was rewarded.”

Harriel said he pulled his life back from the edge with the help of two support members. He has successfully gained a union job and is now a homeowner and a mentor to the youth, accord- ing to the article.

Another witness, Stanley Bailey, said he is a former drug addict who spent 36 years in prison. He said people with mental health issues make up a large part of the prison population and don’t receive the help they need.

Bass commented, “I believe we could drastically reduce prison overcrowding by repealing harsh mandatory minimums and reserving the toughest sentences for serious criminals who threaten public safety. We should invest in community-oriented crime prevention and intervention efforts for struggling neighborhoods and at-risk youth.”


Source: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Spring 2018, Population Projections.

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