Prisons

More Than 25 Cities Light Up The Night Against Prisons & Migrant Detention Camps

January 9, 2020 Staff, Itsgoingdown.org Resist! Detention Centers, Immigration, Prisons

On New Year’s Eve, in over 25 cities across so-called North America, anarchists, abolitionists, and autonomous anti-capitalists took part in noise demonstrations outside of ICE detention facilities, jails, and prisons. Here’s a roundup of all the action we could track down. If we missed something, be sure to message us on Twitter @IGD_News, or send us an action report by email at info [at] itsgoingdown [dot] org.

Groups Protest Companies That Have Invested In Wyatt Prison

November 9, 2019 Kevin G. Andrade, Providencejournal.com Resist! Prisons, Protests

BOSTON — The Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance and allied groups visited the offices of several investors in the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility across the country Monday in an effort to get them to withdraw investments from the quasi-public prison. “We call on all investment firms that serve as bondholders for the Wyatt Detention Center in Rhode Island to divest from this institution and stop profiting off of dehumanization and family separation,” said Arely Diaz, organizing director of AMOR.

The Charter-To-Prison Pipeline

October 28, 2019 By Alexandria Millet, Progressive.org Educate! Charter Schools, Education, Prisons

In late September, headlines flickered across my Twitter timeline about a six-year-old black girl who was arrested at school for a temper tantrum. In outrage and confusion, I opened up the articles to understand how such a thing could happen. It turns out that, actually, two six-year-olds were arrested. Their mugshots were taken. Both were charged with misdemeanors. Meralyn Kirkland came forward to the media to identify her granddaughter, Kaia, as one of the two children arrested. Kaia has sleep apnea and didn’t get enough rest the night prior, the grandmother explained.

Why I Support Closing Rikers Island Without Building New Jails: A Letter From Prisoner Lee Doane

October 19, 2019 Staff, Shadowproof.com Educate! Prisons, Rikers

As New York City lawmakers prepare to cast a critical vote to invest billions of dollars in new jails as part of an effort to close the Rikers Island jail complex, Shadowproof exchanged letters with incarcerated people who are part of the abolitionist No New Jails NYC campaign. These incarcerated people worked alongside outside activists to craft a plan, titled “We Keep Us Safe,” for closing Rikers Island without building new jails. Criminal justice reformers and nonprofits backing Mayor de Blasio’s multi-billion dollar jails plan have responded to No New Jails’ plan, and the legitimate critiques and analysis it...

Meat Is (Ecological) Murder, Greenwashed Deforestation & Fighting Toxic Prisons

October 17, 2019 Eleanor Goldfield, PopularResistance.org Resistance Report Deforestation, greenwashing, Prisons

Meat isn't good for you – even if it's good for you. Next, the charred reality driving deforestation and greenwashed consumer products in your markets. Plus, Fight Toxic Prisons joins us to talk direct action, solidarity with prisoners and the layers of toxicity in the prison industrial complex.

GEO Group Runs Out Of Banks As 100% Of Banking Partners Say ‘No’ To The Private Prison Sector

October 3, 2019 Morgan Simon, Forbes.com Educate! Banks, Prisons, Privatization

All of the existing banking partners to private prison leader GEO Group have now officially committed to ending ties with the private prison and immigrant detention industry. These banks are JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, SunTrust, BNP Paribas, Fifth Third Bancorp, Barclays, and PNC. This exodus comes in the wake of demands by grassroots activists — many under the banner of the #FamiliesBelongTogether coalition — shareholders, policymakers, and investors.

They Survived Solitary Confinement. Now They’re Fighting To End It.

September 12, 2019 By Victoria Law, Truthout.org Create! Prisons, Reform, Solitary Confinement

For nine and a half months, Lydia Thornton was locked into her cell nearly 24 hours a day. All of her meals were slid through a slot in the cell’s steel door. She was allowed outside to shower three times each week. Through cinderblock walls, she could hear women in adjoining cells screaming for hours on end. Sometimes they threatened to kill themselves, a threat often followed by an eerie silence. This was administrative segregation, or “ad seg,” in New Jersey’s prison system. Ad seg is one of the many official terms for solitary confinement; other systems call it punitive segregation, special housing units and keeplock.

The Number Of People Incarcerated In United States Is Far Higher Than 2.5 Million

August 30, 2019 Brian Sonenstein, Shadowproof.com Educate! Mass Incarceration, Prisons, United States

The most popular statistic regarding the United States’ prison system is that there are 2.5 million people incarcerated. However, this figure significantly under-represents the number of people caged in this country each year. According to a new analysis released by the Prison Policy Initiative, at least 4.9 million people are arrested and jailed each year. Those individuals are disproportionately poor, Black, and lack access to education and health care. Researchers say the 4.9 million figure represents a minimum estimate, as data on arrests and incarceration in the U.S. are woefully inadequate at every jurisdictional level.

Hunger Strike In La Tolva Prison In Honduras

August 7, 2019 Staff, Afgj.salsalabs.org Resist! Honduras, Hunger Strikes, Prisons

On Monday August 5, Honduran Political Prisoners Edwin Espinal, Raúl Álvarez and Rommel Herrera started a hunger strike inside of La Tolva maximum-security military run prison in order to protest the unjust, inhumane and dangerous conditions they have been subjected and that have put their lives at risk. The Honduran Political Prisoners have been joined by a broad section of the Honduran social movement led by the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners, who organized a rolling fast outside Honduran Public Prosecutor’s Office from August 5-9.

I Spent 16 Months In Solitary Confinement And Now I’m Fighting To End It

July 9, 2019 By Kiana Calloway, Nationofchange.org Organize! ACLU, Louisiana, Prisons, Solitary Confinement

I was just 17 years old when I was sent to solitary confinement in “Camp J,” one of the most severe lockdown units at one of America’s most brutal prisons, the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. I languished in solitary for 16 months. Back then I didn’t know that Louisiana was the solitary confinement capital of the world. All I knew was that I’d been convicted of a crime I didn’t commit, and I had to maintain my humanity in one of the most dehumanizing places on earth. It’s called “23 and 1” because you spend 23 hours alone in your cell, with one hour to take a shower or make a phone call, if allowed.

When America Had An Open Prison – The Story Of Kenyon Scudder And His ‘Prison Without Walls’

June 19, 2019 Emily Nagisa Keehn and Dana Walters, Theconversation.com Create! Mass Incarceration, Prisons, Reform

In a country with mass incarceration, horrific prison conditions and a penal system suffused with racism, some American prison reform activists wistfully look to Scandinavian institutions as beacons of humane prisons. Many Scandinavian countries even have open prisons – minimum security institutions that rely less on force and more on trust. Some don’t even have a locked perimeter, and they emphasize rehabilitation and preparation for a return to society. Back in the U.S., this might seem like an unattainable ideal. But in California, nearly 80 years ago, there was an open prison.

French State Demands Four Months’ Jail For “Yellow Vest” Protester Eric Drouet

June 12, 2019 Anthony Torres, Wsws.org Resist! France, Prisons, Protests, Repression, Yellow Vest

On Friday, on the eve of the 30th weekend of “yellow vest” protests, French prosecutors demanded a four-month prison sentence against Eric Drouet, one of the leaders of the “yellow vest” movement. He was accused of “grouping with a view to preparing violence or degradation” and “carrying a prohibited category D weapon” during a demonstration. Drouet’s conduct had been entirely peaceful, and the charges are fabricated out of whole cloth. At the end of December, police arrested Drouet, who had organised a rally at the Place de la Concorde to pay tribute to the victims of police violence among “yellow vest” protesters.

First VIDEO Of Julian Assange In Belmarsh Prison

June 10, 2019 Staff, Rt.com Educate! Julian Assange, Prisons, Repression, Whistleblowers, Wikieaks

The timestamp on the video says “2017/07/07” but Ruptly said it believes this discrepancy was due to a faulty setting on the recording device and that the video was indeed shot inside Belmarsh prison, where Assange was taken in April. The camera then shows a small shabby cell, with books and papers strewn around the floor. While RT can’t independently verify if it was Assange’s own cell, the journalist and publisher is seen walking in the room at the beginning of the video. The gloomy video comes a day after a conservative US news outlet the Gateway Pundit published pictures of Assange in prison.

Chiapas: What Is The Cost Of Justice? Update On The Prisoners In Struggle

June 10, 2019 Staff, Itsgoingdown.org Resist! Chiapas, Hunger Strikes, Mexico, Prisons

It has been more than eighty days since the beginning of this process of struggle for justice and freedom. Hours, days, weeks and months; a succession of events that have ranged from resistance to exhaustion; from dignity to ignominy; of the commitment to life and freedom, even at the cost of a willingness to surrender life itself in order to achieve it. What is the cost of justice?—What does it cost? Can you imagine being imprisoned for 15 years, 14 of which you serve without a sentence, having lost your family, not counting on a single peso of income during this time, because the prison has you kidnapped.

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