Celebrities join prison hunger strikers in protesting isolation

The Los Angeles Times ^ | July 29, 2013 | Paige St. John

[KingofZion]

Gloria Steinem, Jesse Jackson, Bonnie Raitt and Jay Leno have joined prison hunger strikers in calling for an end to California's use of solitary confinement to control prison gang violence.

The civil rights crusaders, singer and late-night comedian are among those who signed a letter sent Monday to Gov. Jerry Brown. The letter calls isolation units "extensions of the same inhumanity practiced at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay."

The letter to Brown, to be followed by a demonstration Tuesday at the Capitol, was arranged by the National Religion Campaign Against Torture and local supporters of the prison protesters.

The organization, based in Washington, is pushing to close solitary confinement units at prisons in 13 states, viewing such isolation as torture, said Executive Director Rev. Richard Killmer.

Brown's spokesman referred a request for comment to the corrections department.

Isolation units "serve a vital role in state prisons, keeping staff and other inmates safe from the same violent gangs leading the hunger strike and terrorizing communities across California," corrections spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman said.

Other notables who signed the letter to Brown include political critic Noam Chomsky, Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman and actor Peter Coyote. *** On Monday, prison officials said 385 inmates have refused meals continuously since July 8, with 176 more now on shorter protests.

Prison medical staff reported that six inmates have required treatment since Saturday, including three who were sent to outside hospitals for care and returned the next day to cells.

More than 50 prisoners have received care since July 18, when the first protest-related medical issues arose, according to representatives of the court-appointed overseer of prison healthcare in California.

[Moltke]

Did anyone actually read even the excerpt?

The celebs aren’t going hungry - all they did was sign a friggin’ letter.

[joethedrummer]

Let these ‘celebrities’ take the prisoners into THEIR homes to serve their punishment instead of solitary.

See how compassionate the celebs would be then!

[JoeProBono]

[Venturer]

Don’t put them in isolation. Take them over to Leno’s house and chain them to his front door.

[CatherineofAragon]

Good, maybe Leno will lose that chin.

Morons

[Tijeras_Slim]

I agree about extended solitary. You isolate a dude for being a badass, and after enough time you have a pyschotic badass instead.

[Colonel_Flagg]

"Gloria Steinem, Jesse Jackson, Bonnie Raitt and Jay Leno have joined prison hunger strikers in calling for an end to California's use of solitary confinement to control prison gang violence."

So much for this 'Jay Leno is a conservative' nonsense that keeps cropping up here from time to time.

[wardaddy]

I don’t care about celebrities

They mean nothing to me

But I do think cool ideas like year after year of no human contact solitary is questionable incarceration and easily abused

The Feds have done this literally for 10 years or more to folks

And not all are violent...just resistant