Today, July 8, 2013, prisoners in California’s supermax “SHU” units (for Secured Housing Units), are commencing a hunger strike and work stoppage, their second in two years (read the solidarity statement here). This is tragic. Hunger strikes are an extraordinary act of self deprivation by people who have almost nothing. They can result in the … Continue reading »
supermax
From House of Fear to Home of Care: The future of imprisonment
The future of imprisonment in California, and likely much of the nation, was described in some detail this morning (Aug. 2, 2012) on KQED’s California Report. The California Report’s Julie Small toured the construction site for the new California Health Care Facility near Stockton, where contractors are building a specialized prison for more 1,700 prisoners … Continue reading »
Hunger for hope: Solitary confinement and administrative detention in California and Israel
Cross-national comparisons in penology are notoriously tricky, all the more so when the practices involved are the highly problematic one of holding prisoners in solitary confinement, especially under “administrative” rather than legal judgment (meaning it is up to prison officials if or when the prisoner will be released). Comparing California and Israel is especially problematic … Continue reading »
California penal policy: Realignment and beyond
“Earlier this year, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed Assembly Bill (AB) 109 and AB 117, historic legislation that will enable California to close the revolving door of low-level inmates cycling in and out of state prisons. It is the cornerstone of California’s solution for reducing the number of inmates in the state’s 33 prisons … Continue reading »