Grant “Strategic Release” to Abdul Olugbala Shakur

SIGN THE PETITION: Grant “Strategic Release” to Abdul Olugbala Shakur

The concept of “Strategic Release” has been developed by the New Afrikan Independence Movement (NAIM). As opposed to “compassionate release” which can occur for reasons of terminal illness or disability, so that the person poses no threat to society, “Strategic Release” refers to parole, pardon or clemency based on the positive impact the prisoner has already had on their community and society, and will continue to have upon release. It is based on a prisoner’s work and proven record of service to the community and society as a whole from within the prison. Petition for such release is based on a prisoner’s demonstrated commitment to solving the ills of society by working directly with the people and community. Experience has shown that success flows from working with the People rather than the government and law-enforcement, building restorative justice among the people. For the past 25 years, Brotha Abdul has consistently served the Afrikan-Amerikan community, and has been at the forefront in combatting gang violence and other criminality in the Black community.

Feb 12, 2015: Important Hearing in SHU Lawsuit

From prisonabolition.org

From Hunger Strike Solidarity

In Ashker v. Brown, we will prove that ten years in solitary confinement in the Pelican Bay SHU is cruel and unusual punishment (violating the 8th Amendment).

In an end-run around our lawsuit, CDCR has been transferring hundreds of prisoners out of that SHU.  This is good news for some, but many prisoners are simply being transferred to other SHUs, most notably to Tehachapi.  Four of our ten named plaintiffs have been moved there.  Because the judge previously defined our 8th Amendment class as prisoners presently at Pelican Bay SHU for ten years or more, these plaintiffs and others are no longer considered part of the class.

In response, we recently filed a motion to expand the reach of the solitary confinement lawsuit to include prisoners who have spent 10 years or more at Pelican Bay SHU but have recently been transferred to other California SHUs.
As we wrote:

“the cruel and unusual treatment they experienced, and its debilitating effects, have not abated, but instead continue under a different name in a different prison.”

CDCR should not be able to thwart our 8th Amendment claim by transferring these long-suffering prisoners to a different SHU.  These prisoners should be released from SHU, not moved to a different SHU.  Granting our motion will give the court jurisdiction over these prisoners so that, when we succeed at trial, they will be included in the relief that the court orders.

Please attend the hearing on Plaintiffs’ (Prisoners’) Motion to Amend the Complaint.  Your presence in the courtroom shows the judge that we care and are paying attention to decisions made about the torture in the SHU.

DATE: Thursday,  Feb. 12, 2015
TIME: 2:00 p.m.
ADDRESS: U.S. District Court in Oakland, 1301 Clay Street(federal courthouse)
COURTROOM: Dept. #2,  4th Floor, Hon. Claudia Wilken, presiding

Note:  The judge could take the hearing off calendar or postpone it.  We will post any changes on this site immediately.

Information explaining the motion came from Carol Strickman,Staff Attorney, Legal Services for Prisoners With Children and Co-Counsel for Plaintiffs in Ashker v. Brown

CA Prison Hunger Strike Suspended: Prisoner And Family Statements, Call To Action

California

After sixty days of hunger striking, torture, and coercion, the leaders of California’s Prison Hunger Strike have voted to suspend their strike. The prisoners released a statement at a press conference this morning, and were followed by a statement from their family members and the hunger strike coalition mediation team.

The statements are posted below, followed by a call to action, because the fight isn’t completely over yet.

Statement from the Prisoners

Greetings of Solidarity and Respect!

The PBSP-SHU, Short Corridor Collective Representatives hereby serve notice upon all concerned parties of interest that after nine weeks we have collectively decided to suspend our third hunger strike action on September 5, 2013.

How the CDCR is Coercing Hunger Strikers

from Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity

California

Today is the twenty-fifth day of the California prisoners’ hunger strike. Already one striker, who spent the last five years in solitary confinement, has died. The state said Billy “Guero” Sell’s death was a suicide. Prisoners say he was refusing food since 11 July (3 days after the strike began). Whether a person in solitary confinement allows his body to grow weak by refusing food or takes his life abruptly, either of these acts of resistance point to a horrific existence plagued with tortorous conditions. By hunger strike or by hanging, death in the context of solitary confinement cannot be de-politicized. (Suicides in California prisons disproportionately happen in solitary confinement compared to general population.) It took days for strike supporters on the outside to hear about Guero’s death inside Corcoran State Prison Secure Housing Unit (the SHU). One thing is known: Guero had been requesting medical attention for several days before his death, and did not receive it.

From the Sonoran Desert to San Quentin: Solitary Confinement, White Supremacy and a recent mass murder by the US Border Patrol

Posted by Carla Hays. Nogales, Mexico

In Nogales Sonora I met a man who had just been deported from the United States.  Before his deportation he was held in solitary confinement for three months.  He was arrested after the van he was traveling in was rammed off a cliff by Border Patrol agents in the hills of the Sonoran desert, in southern Arizona.  The van rolled down the side of the cliff and six of its passengers were killed.  15 people survived the crash, all of whom were arrested and taken into border patrol custody.  The man I met had also been held in solitary confinement up until his deportation – a period of three months.  He told me that another man arrested with him was stiill being held in solitary after being accused of being a guide for the group.

Action: Solidarity with CA Hunger Strikers

In 2011, over 12,000 prisoners, their family and other community members participated in statewide hunger strikes protesting the inhumane conditions in California’s Security Housing Units (SHU or solitary confinement). [See Amnesty International’s investigative report. [PDF]] California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation promised meaningful reform as a result of those protests, but nothing meaningful has reached the people living in these cages. Prisoners have announced another hunger strike will begin July 8th because of CDCR’s failure to fulfill that promise.

On July 8, prisoners living in the SHUs at Pelican Bay and other prisons will resume their hunger strike and work stoppages if decisive action is not taken by the State before then.

On July 13, we will mobilize from around California to Corcoran State Prison—which isolates over 1,600 people in solitary confinement—to stand in solidarity with striking prisoners across the state. We must take this movement to the prison gates and show the Governor and the Department of Corrections that we support the prisoners and demand that the Governor meet with prisoner representatives immediately to negotiate their demands!

California currently holds nearly 12,000 people in extreme isolation. The state spends over $60 million per year on maintaining prisoners in isolation.

Demand the State of California stop the torture!

Show your support for the hunger strikers!

Organize to help win their demands!

Rally at Corcoran State Prison on July 13th!

Join the event and find more information on the Facebook event page here.

 

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