Gov. Brown to face nat'l anti-torture religious group as inmates lay dying

[annm4peace]

http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/gov-brown-to-face-nat-l-anti-torture-religious-group-as-inmates-lay-dying

NRCAT to deliver End Torture Statement endorsers to Gov. Jerry Brown whose prison hospital is now filled with dying prisoners

As California inmate health declines, with at least one prison hospital now full of starving to death prisoners entering fourth week of a historical mass hunger strike to protest torture and cruel and unusual punishment, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is gearing up to meet with Governor Brown next week with a list of endorsers to a statement calling to end the state's human rights abuses in its prisons. The conditions at Pelican Bay Prison are so bad, federal judges ruled they violate the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

As LA Times reported Wednesday, "Conditions in California prisons are so bad that a panel of federal judges ruled that they violate the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, but until recently the ensuing protests came mainly from lawyers rather than the inmates themselves."

That changed on July 1, following careful planning by prisoners determined to peacefully protest the ongoing atrocities, even if it meant dying for human rights. On July 1, "thousands of inmates at one-third of the state's prisons started a hunger strike," according to LA Times.

NRCAT is gathering endorsements of a statement, "End Prolonged Solitary Confinement Now," from people of all faiths and has committed to deliver the California endorsements to Governor Jerry Brown the last week of July in light of the historical prisoners' peaceful resistance to torture at Pelican Bay Prison that it and twelve other California prisons are participating in the form of a mass hunger strike.

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[annm4peace]

1. The Gov Brown from the old days might have helped

it is sad what age does to a person. I expected more from Gov Brown


Continue reading on Examiner.com Gov. Brown to face nat'l anti-torture religious group as inmates lay dying - National Human Rights | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/gov-brown-to-face-nat-l-anti-torture-religious-group-as-inmates-lay-dying#ixzz1SqOMpFX9



The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is a membership organization of religious organizations committed to ending torture sponsored or enabled by the United States.


Please Sign the Statement

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2162/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=7373


Recognizing that prolonged solitary confinement can cause serious harm to prisoners, it has long been considered a form of torture. As a person of faith, I oppose the use of prolonged solitary confinement.

Experts estimate that at least 25,000 people in the U.S. criminal justice system are currently being held in solitary confinement. The vast majority of these inmates are detained in state prison facilities. Prisoners held in solitary confinement are often detained in a cell by themselves for 23 hours a day. Some prisoners are kept in these conditions for months, years, or even decades. Medical experts have stated that prisoners held in isolation for extended periods experience symptoms akin to delirium, and the impact on mentally ill prisoners is especially damaging. Alarmingly, these prisoners are sometimes released from solitary confinement units directly to their communities when they complete their prison sentence.

We need to invest in humane alternatives that address the mental health needs of prisoners in a way that effectively contributes both to their rehabilitation and to their successful transition back into society. Because holding prisoners in solitary confinement units is significantly more expensive than keeping them in the general prison population, instituting humane alternatives makes sense, both financially and morally.

We must end the use of prolonged solitary confinement in all 50 states and the federal prison system. It is costly, inhumane and ineffective; it harms prisoners and our communities. I call upon state legislators and departments of corrections to begin now to take steps to end prolonged solitary confinement.