The best reporting thus far on the inmate hunger strike that originated in the Pelican Bay SHU—or Special Housing Unit—came from California Watch reporter Michael Montgomery, whose latest story ran on Tuesday in his series on the strike—what it meant, who is behind it, and whether it accomplished anything.
One thing you should know is that Montgomery knows this material. In past years, he has reported some deeply disturbing stories on the psychological effects wrought by these isolation units that confine inmates in windowless cells for 23 hours out of every day, separating them from nearly all human contact for years at a time.
In the course of this series, he discovered that many of the strikers’ demands already existed as recommendations that emerged from a year-long internal study commissioned by the CDCR then roundly ignore.
Here are links to Montgomery’s radio broadcasts in order— here and here and here.
His written stories on the strike may be found here and here.
Below there’s a clip to give you a feel:
State corrections officials are moving forward with a major policy initiative that could improve conditions and reduce the length of time some inmates spend in controversial isolation units. The changes are being proposed amid threats of another hunger strike by inmates who spearheaded one last month at Pelican Bay State Prison.
The policy changes, which still are being worked out, are in line with proposals highlighted in an internal study completed in 2007 by a panel of experts appointed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to interviews and documents. The panel’s recommendations included:
***Moving to a conduct-based model that punishes inmates for tangible offenses, rather than for mere affiliation with a gang. This approach is widely used in other states and by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
*** Ending the practice of indefinite detention of alleged prison gang members and associates in the Security Housing Units
***Ending the practice of automatically sending validated prison gang members and associates to the Security Housing Units
***Creating a “step-down” program inside the Security Housing Units to encourage positive behavior by offering incentives, such as special programs
***Ending the distinction between prison gangs and other threat groups to give the department more flexibility in determining inmate placement in the Security Housing Units
WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE JUSTICE GAP (YES, THERE IS A SOLUTION)
This Op Ed from the New York Times not only opines with deservedly righteous indignation, it offers a solution—or at least a good idea.
The clip below is self-explanatory:
Most low-income Americans cannot afford a lawyer to defend their legal interests, no matter how urgent the issue. Unless they are in a criminal case, most have no access to help from government-financed lawyers either.
In civil proceedings like divorces, child support cases, home foreclosures, bankruptcies and landlord-tenant disputes, the number of people representing themselves in court has soared since the economy soured. Experts estimate that four-fifths of low-income people have no access to a lawyer when they need one. Research shows that litigants representing themselves often fare less well than those with lawyers. This “justice gap” falls heavily on the poor, particularly in overburdened state courts.
There is plenty the government, the legal profession and others can do to improve this shameful state of affairs. With the economic downturn, only around two-thirds of law school graduates in 2010 got jobs for which a law degree is required, the lowest rate since 1996. That leaves the other third — close to 15,000 lawyers — who, with financial support from government and the legal profession, could be using their legal expertise to help some of those who need representation.
While the Constitution requires that defendants in criminal cases be provided a lawyer, there is no such guarantee in civil cases. The Legal Services Corporation, created by Congress, gives out federal grants that provide the bulk of support for legal aid to the poor. Over the decades, that budget has shrunk — it was $404 million in 2011, about one-third less than it was 15 years ago, adjusted for inflation. The House Appropriations Committee has proposed reducing that to $300 million for 2012. The cut would be devastating; the budget should, instead, be increased.
Half of the people who seek help from legal aid offices are already turned away…
NOTE: There will be only light blogging today because I’m spending some time with my 25-year-old son who is going to get married over Labor Day weekend (!!!)
As a point of fact, anyone can arrange for legal services at a cost of about $25/month. But this must be pre-paid like Insurance.
http://www.prepaidlegal.com/MemberStories/memberStory.jsp
Here is a link to free educational law video’s on Tenant, Immigration, Family Law, Employment Issues, Healthcare, Banking, Debts, etc.
http://resources.lawinfo.com/fsc/en/Videos/index.html
Cool, thanks Pokey.
Congrats to you & your son!
It’s just fiction, but the latest Grisham novel, The Confession, centers around an inmate in Texas (convicted on a coerced and false confession), who has been on death row for 9 years and driven insane by the isolation. The Joe Arpaio’s of the world like to say that convicts are supposed to be treated without dignity and made to suffer to pay for their crimes, but isn’t the larger picture about what that says about us as a society?
Yeah, it’s fiction, means it’s made up. A far left liberal author skewering the justice system, how odd. You and other soft in the head liberals who paint Arapio and people who think like him as barbaric truly could care less about the victims of the animals you’re so worried about.
Arapio said this, ““I want to make this place so unpleasant that they won’t even think about doing something that could bring them back.” He’s said he plans on doing that within the confines of the law, and I agree with him 100%. People like you and Celeste want it to be nice and pleasant for the worst of our offenders, like the animals in Pelican Bay, not me.
In the real world an L.A. cop was shot today and thank God for his vest or he’d be dead. Third cop shot at in L.A. this week, Beck said cops being shot at in his dept is up 29% this year. I would bet that nation wide numbers are running pretty much the same. Not enough for a story here but if there was a 29% rise in officers killing gang member type suspects you know Celeste would be all over it.
What Arapio and others like him feel doesn’t reflect poorly on us as a society, what is says is that people are tired of the same people getting in and out of jail with nothing to worry them about having to go back in. The death penalty isn’t a deterrent because it’s not used enough due to the efforts of people like Celeste. Make punishment swift and sure and there would be a change. Make jail more akin to chain gangs and actual punishment for their crimes maybe things would be different. I’m not calling for torture but something more akin to Marine Corps Boot Camp.
That too radical for you people?
Surefire, like so many others, does not have the capacity to see issues in anything other than black and white, and paints others who may have divergent views in the same light. Funny, and sad.
And to say that we do not see officers being shot as heartbreaking tragedy is, well, bunker mentality nuts.
You’re out of your mind. When do you ever bring that type of story up, a cop being shot? Never that’s when, and how dare you accuse me of being black and white on any issue with your two and one line responses. I look at all aspects and sides of an issue before ever commenting on it but like the majority of liberals all you can do is come back with a trite non-thinking arrogant response.
Liberals have to search and grasp onto whatever straw they can in an attempt to make a point on how terrible and unfair the system is to the vermin that populates our prisons. The story here on Todd Willingham was one such attempt. This scum murderer is the new poster boy for death penalty opponents and that shows exactly how weak their case is for abolishing it. Looking at the case it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see his guilt and people who work so hard to find the good in people who have none in them makes them nothing but “lip service” types when they get their panties in a twist when the tag of not caring for the victims is thrown at them.
You guys will moan and groan forever about some poor con and forget about the atrocities perpetrated by them on cops and the innocents they slaughter in a flash. You know it and most people who have the “capacity” to think beyond a two sentence response know it.
Nice try, but you’re way over your head Jim.
SureFire,
My cousin’s darling, beautiful, brave and soulful son—a police officer—was murdered in the line of duty earlier this month.
I know you know that.
You know that a few weeks ago I wrote about him, about our family’s terrible heartbreak, and about the many other law enforcement officers who have been killed this year. http://bit.ly/paxcwF
And still you bring your mindless and poisonous bullshit here.
Please go away. I’m done.