DOCSLIB.ORG

Pelican Bay, California Prisoner Hunger Strikes, Family Uprisings, and Learning to Listen

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Pelican Bay, California Prisoner Hunger Strikes, Family Uprisings, and Learning to Listen UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Unbroken Spirit: Pelican Bay, California Prisoner Hunger Strikes, Family Uprisings, and Learning to Listen A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnic Studies by Angelica Camacho September 2017 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Dylan Rodríguez, Chairperson Dr. Fred Moten Dr. Andrea Smith Dr. Damien Sojoyner Copyright by Angelica Camacho 2017 The Dissertation of Angelica Camacho is approved: Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: First and foremost, I’d like to thank Creator. While I definitely put in work to get this thesis done, those little miracles along the way came through. A mis padres y familia, que han sido mis mas grandes maestros y ejemplos de fortaleza y perseverancia. Gracias por todo su apoyo. Espero que en mi, con gran alegria, encuentren el fruto de su labor. I especially want to give thanks to one of the first to believe in me and push me to pursue a Ph.D., Dr. Clyde Woods. You are greatly missed, and I have delivered my promise. While you are no longer here physically, I always carry the wisdom you shared with me. Further, Daniel Olmos, who’s been taking my abrupt phonecalls, breaking down theory, and listening to me rant since my youngin days as a freshman at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Thank you for the friendship, endless support, and patience. Others, who before I even embarked on this Ph.D. journey, I looked up to and inspired me to teach Ethnic Studies: Manuel Callahan, Cesar “Che” Rodriguez, Steven Osuna, Chela Sandoval, Teresa Gaye-Johnson, George Lipsitz, Cedric Robinson, Diane Fujino, Matef Harmachis. There is also a long list of people that I hold dear to my heart, and have contributed to my successful completion of this thesis, but remain unlisted. All my danza family, my spiritual guides and mentors. You know I love you. Everyone in California Families Against Solitary Confinement (CFASC), your love and embrace gave me the sustenance and courage to follow through and finish this Ph.D. I am especially grateful to all that have been part of my life in graduate school and helped me make it through the dailies of PhD life: Dora Elia Alvarado, Marlen Rios, Yesica Hernandez, Lizette “Lucha” Arevalo, Arifa Raza, Alejandro Villalpando, David iv Chavez, Kehaulani Vaughn, Charles Sepulveda and all of the Ethnic Studies Graduate Student Collective. All staff and faculty of the Ethnic Studies Department at UCR. Thank you to Gretel Vera-Rosas for reviewing parts of my second chapter. The Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, UCR Presley Center for Crime and Justice Studies, Center for Ideas and Society Humanities Research Grant, Cardenas Scholarship, UCR Chicano/Latino Alumni Scholarship, UCR Chicano Student Programs. Lastly, a million thanks to my dissertation committee. This could not have been done without your mentorship and guidance. Dylan, thank you for seeing this through with me until the end. The way you pushed me as a scholar truly challenged and helped me grow. I could not have asked for a more patient, rigorous, and intellectually stimulating mentor. I feel blessed and lucky to have been your student. Professor Moten, there are no words to express how fortunate I am to have had you on my team. Always on point. You not only inspired me, but also restored my joy for learning and thinking. Your presence and word reassured me that we do not have to embody and emulate these neurotic institutions to persist as scholars. Andy, your incredible feedback made this dissertation possible. In my biggest moments of confusion and self-doubt you were there to help me gain the clarity I needed to move forward. Your approach to teaching and mentorship affirmed that Critical Ethnic Studies could be a praxis not just a theoretical framework. Damien, you have been there with me since day one. Thank you for encouraging me to get out there, and opening doors for me. Your realness was everything. It meant the world to know that no matter what, I always had a friend I could count on. v DEDICATION: Para Felipe, Robert, y Johnny. Gracias por haber compartido su luz, amor, y sabiduria. Para todo los camarad@s detras rejas, que este libro sea un orgullo – y que les trasmita esa misma fuerza y esperanza que ustedes me han brindado. “But it is not so easy for neoliberal globalization, because the exploited of each country become discontented, and they will not say well, too bad, instead they rebel. And those who remain and who are in the way resist, and they don't allow themselves to be eliminated. And that is why we see, all over the world, those who are being screwed over making resistances, not putting up with it, in other words, they rebel, and not just in one country but wherever they abound. And so, as there is a neoliberal globalization, there is a globalization of rebellion. And it is not just the workers of the countryside and of the city who appear in this globalization of rebellion, but others also appear who are much persecuted and despised for the same reason, for not letting themselves be dominated, like women, young people, the indigenous, homosexuals, lesbians, transsexual persons, migrants and many other groups who exist all over the world but who we do not see until they shout ya basta of being despised, and they raise up, and then we see them, we hear them, and we learn from them.” -Ejército Zapatista Liberación Nacional, “La Sexta Declaracion de La Selva Lacandona,” June 2005 vi ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Unbroken Spirit: Pelican Bay, California Prisoner Hungers Strikes, Family Uprisings, and Learning to Listen by Angelica Camacho Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in Ethnic Studies University of California, Riverside, September 2017 Dr. Dylan Rodríguez, Chairperson Unbroken Spirit: Pelican Bay, California Prisoner Hunger Strikes, Family Uprisings, and Learning to Listen is a full-length study of the 2011 and 2013 California (CA) prisoner hunger strikes that emerged from Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP), California’s heaviest monitored maximum-security prison. The California prison hunger strikes animated a new criticism of inhumane prison conditions that was articulated through the analytical and critical frameworks of incarcerated people, sparking a new set of public debates about human rights, incarceration and state priorities. Through an interdisciplinary analysis of the Pelican Bay and California prison hunger strikes, An Unbroken Spirit embraces multiple methods to document the socio-political consequences of Security Housing Units (SHU) on both those incarcerated within Pelican Bay and the “free world” communities they come from. This project provides the first sustained engagement with the historical conjunctures, textual archives, film and popular vii cultural contexts, policy implications, oral histories, and ethnographic fieldwork that specifically addresses the emergence of PBSP-SHU and the hunger strikes. Utilizing an expanding body of scholarship in the emerging field of Critical Ethnic Studies, and informed by a radical prison praxis, this dissertation departs from traditional disciplinary approaches to social movement theory by methodologically and theoretically centering the organizational, intellectual, and political labor of incarcerated strikers and their families. My dissertation primarily asks, “How might the actions propelled by the Pelican Bay Hunger Strike help enrich or critically inform existing academic, policy, and community-based discourses of violence, harm reduction, social justice, and community health in communities of color experiencing the effects of mass incarceration?” An Unbroken Spirit examines how the logics of the prison apparatus are uncovered through the contested politics of the prison hunger strike and its support networks. I argue that this prisoner-led movement, and the proposed models of organizing by families, provides direction toward alternative social and cultural relations necessary to recompose power. Importantly, their theorizing around criminalization offers us transformative visions and strategies for anti-prison organizing. As we learn the importance of listening, they disrupt the troubling ways human value is ascribed by a criminalizing national culture, and remind us of the sacredness of life. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction…………………………………………………………………………......... 1 Chapter 1. I’d Rather Starve to Death……………………………………………………………… 47 Chapter 2. The Worst of the Worst: The Rise of Pelican Bay State Prison and the Moral Panic of the Mafioso………………………………………………………... 97 Chapter 3. The 5 Core Demands and Pelican Bay’s Torture Chambers………………………….. 156 Chapter 4. Unbroken Spirit: SHU Prisoner Hunger Strikes and the Promise of Rebirth……….… 217 Chapter 5. Hungry for Justice and Full of Spirit: California Families Against Solitary Confinement……………………………………………………………….. 227 Chapter 6: Sacred Connections: Social Transformation and the Reshaping of Life and Value Through Listening…………………………………………………. 271 Conclusion. …………………………………………………………………………… 284 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………... 298 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Pelican Bay Express Prisoner Drawing……….…………………………… 129 Figure 2. Still Images of Operation Pelican Drop…………………………..................136 Figure 3. Still Images of Operation Pelican Drop…………………………..................137 Figure 4. Still Images of Operation Pelican Drop…………………………..................137 Figure 5. Families March to LA County Jail…………………………………………. 235 Figure 6. Dolores
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Building a New Identity: Race, Gangs, and Violence in California Prisons
    \\jciprod01\productn\M\MIA\66-3\MIA301.txt unknown Seq: 1 23-APR-12 13:53 Building a New Identity: Race, Gangs, and Violence in California Prisons DALE NOLL* TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .............................................................. 847 R II. BACKGROUND ....................................................... 850 R A. California Prison Populations...................................... 850 R B. Pre-Johnson Housing Process ...................................... 851 R C. Prison Gangs and Racial Makeup .................................. 852 R D. Racial Identification in Prison as a Social Construct .................. 853 R E. Race-Related Violence in California Prisons ......................... 855 R F. Johnson v. California ............................................. 856 R G. Duty to Inmates ................................................. 857 R H. CDC Reaction to Johnson – The Updated Housing Policy .............. 858 R I. The Texas Experience – Equal Status Contact Theory ................. 859 R III. DISCUSSION ......................................................... 860 R A. Use of Race as a Category Flawed ................................. 860 R B. Gang Identities Used to Promote White Supremacy .................... 862 R C. The Concept of Racially Motivated Violence is Skewed ................ 864 R D. Using Segregation to Prevent Violence is Illogical .................... 866 R E. Impact of Segregation in Prisons ................................... 870 R F. Was Johnson v. California a Liberal Victory? .......................
    [Show full text]
  • Rethinking the Rise of Carceral States Through the Lens of the Prisoners’ Rights Movement
    We Are Not Slaves: Rethinking the Rise of Carceral States through the Lens of the Prisoners’ Rights Movement Robert T. Chase In November 1966 Fred Arispe Cruz sat naked in a darkened cell in the solitary confine- Downloaded from ment wing of the O. B. Ellis Unit in the Texas state prison system. Cruz was a frequent visitor to solitary, but this particular stay seemed to him truly unjust, as the cause was the guards’ discovery of a copy of the U.S. Constitution in his cell. Cruz had been a prisoner in Texas since 1961, when he arrived at the Harlem Prison Farm on thirty-five-year- and http://jah.oxfordjournals.org/ fifteen-year convictions for aggravated robbery. Within his first year as a prisoner within the Texas Department of Corrections, Cruz continued legal work on his appeal and be- came one of the earliest inmate pioneers to learn law and act as a jailhouse lawyer. Texas prisoners who acted as their own attorneys wrote appeals and writs of habeas corpus for court-ordered intervention, seeking relief from what they argued were unjust and illegal detentions.1 Among his fellow prisoners, Cruz was known as one of those “writ writers,” but among prison administrators he was simply called an “agitator.” He became an avid student of the by guest on November 20, 2016 law, mastering legal precedents, rules, and procedures, and his reputation among other in- mates, particularly among Chicano prisoners and black Muslim prisoners, became such that they sought him out for help on their appeals processes. As Cruz’s fame grew between 1962 and 1966, so did the animosity of his captors, who increasingly viewed him as a threat to the prison system’s otherwise-comprehensive control and power.
    [Show full text]
  • Covid Public Health & Safety Budget
    CALIFORNIA COVID PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY BUDGET A BUDGET TO SAVE LIVES 75 2020-2021 Fiscal Year Table Of Contents PAGE 3 Executive Summary PAGE 4 COVID-19 Threatens Public Health and Safety in California Page 4........ COVID-19 is already inside California’s carceral facilities Page 5........ Inhumane conditions put our entire state at risk Page 6........ Immediate action through five key proposals is necessary PAGE 9 Proposal 1: California must reduce its jail population Page 9........ Counties must reduce pretrial incarceration Page 10........ Counties must conduct post-conviction re-sentencing and vacations of judgment Page 11........ Counties must reduce harm inside of jails PAGE 12 Proposal 2: California must reduce its prison population PAGE 14 Proposal 3: California must reduce its immigrant detention population Page 14........ California can and must adopt a moratorium on all transfers to ICE Page 15........ California can and must halt the expansion of immigration detention facilities PAGE 16 Proposal 4: California must decriminalize and decarcerate its youth Page 16........ Youth can’t get well in a cell Page 17........ California must collect better data Page 18........ California must prioritize youth diversion Page 18........ California must divest from youth incarceration Page 20........ California must advance decriminalization Page 20........ California must decarcerate our youth Page 21........ Students need college preparation, not prison preparation Page 22........ Youth deserve cash assistance and other access to income PAGE 24 Proposal 5: Create and Fund Opportunities for Local Governments to Implement Community-Based Systems of Health, Reentry, and Alternatives to Incarceration Page 24........ Less People in the Jails Equals a Cost Savings Page 25.......
    [Show full text]
  • A Legacy of Supremacy: Prison, Power, and the Carceral Nation
    Western Washington University Western CEDAR WWU Graduate School Collection WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship Winter 2017 A Legacy of Supremacy: Prison, Power, and the Carceral Nation Luke J. Hickey Western Washington University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Hickey, Luke J., "A Legacy of Supremacy: Prison, Power, and the Carceral Nation" (2017). WWU Graduate School Collection. 554. https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/554 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in WWU Graduate School Collection by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A LEGACY OF SUPREMACY: PRISON, POWER, AND THE CARCERAL NATION By Luke J. Hickey Accepted in Partial Completion of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Kathleen L. Kitto, Dean of the Graduate School ADVISORY COMMITTEE Chair, Dr. Kathleen Young Dr. Sean Bruna Dr. Shurla Thibou MASTER’S THESIS In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s degree at Western Washington University, I grant to Western Washington University the non- exclusive royalty-free right to archive, reproduce, distribute, and display the thesis in any and all forms, including electronic format, via any digital library mechanisms maintained by WWU. I represent and warrant this is my original work, and does not infringe or violate any rights of others. I warrant that I have obtained written permissions from the owner of any third party copyrighted material included in these files.
    [Show full text]
  • Gangs Beyond Borders
    Gangs Beyond Borders California and the Fight Against Transnational Organized Crime March 2014 Kamala D. Harris California Attorney General Gangs Beyond Borders California and the Fight Against Transnational Organized Crime March 2014 Kamala D. Harris California Attorney General Message from the Attorney General California is a leader for international commerce. In close proximity to Latin America and Canada, we are a state laced with large ports and a vast interstate system. California is also leading the way in economic development and job creation. And the Golden State is home to the digital and innovation economies reshaping how the world does business. But these same features that benefit California also make the state a coveted place of operation for transnational criminal organizations. As an international hub, more narcotics, weapons and humans are trafficked in and out of California than any other state. The size and strength of California’s economy make our businesses, financial institutions and communities lucrative targets for transnational criminal activity. Finally, transnational criminal organizations are relying increasingly on cybercrime as a source of funds – which means they are frequently targeting, and illicitly using, the digital tools and content developed in our state. The term “transnational organized crime” refers to a range of criminal activity perpetrated by groups whose origins often lie outside of the United States but whose operations cross international borders. Whether it is a drug cartel originating from Mexico or a cybercrime group out of Eastern Europe, the operations of transnational criminal organizations threaten the safety, health and economic wellbeing of all Americans, and particularly Californians.
    [Show full text]
  • Case 4:94-Cv-02307-CW Document 2996-2 Filed 07/14/20 Page 1 of 360
    Case 4:94-cv-02307-CW Document 2996-2 Filed 07/14/20 Page 1 of 360 1 DONALD SPECTER – 083925 RITA K. LOMIO – 254501 2 MARGOT MENDELSON – 268583 PRISON LAW OFFICE 3 1917 Fifth Street Berkeley, California 94710-1916 4 Telephone: (510) 280-2621 Facsimile: (510) 280-2704 5 MICHAEL W. BIEN – 096891 6 GAY C. GRUNFELD – 121944 THOMAS NOLAN – 169692 7 PENNY GODBOLD – 226925 MICHAEL FREEDMAN – 262850 8 ROSEN BIEN GALVAN & GRUNFELD LLP 9 101 Mission Street, Sixth Floor San Francisco, California 94105-1738 10 Telephone: (415) 433-6830 Facsimile: (415) 433-7104 11 LINDA D. KILB – 136101 12 DISABILITY RIGHTS EDUCATION & DEFENSE FUND, INC. 13 3075 Adeline Street, Suite 201 Berkeley, California 94703 14 Telephone: (510) 644-2555 Facsimile: (510) 841-8645 15 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 16 17 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 18 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 19 20 JOHN ARMSTRONG, et al., Case No. C94 2307 CW 21 Plaintiffs, [REDACTED] DECLARATION OF PATRICK BOOTH IN SUPPORT OF 22 v. PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO PROTECT ARMSTRONG CLASS 23 GAVIN NEWSOM, et al., MEMBERS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC 24 Defendants. Judge: Claudia Wilken 25 26 27 28 Case No. C94 2307 CW DECLARATION OF PATRICK BOOTH IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO PROTECT ARMSTRONG [3577254.1] CLASS MEMBERS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC Case 4:94-cv-02307-CW Document 2996-2 Filed 07/14/20 Page 2 of 360 1 I, Patrick Booth, declare: 2 1. I am an attorney licensed to practice before the courts of the State of 3 California. I am also an attorney at the Prison Law Office, counsel of record in Armstrong 4 v.
    [Show full text]
  • Naming Problems and Filing Grievances in California Prisons
    Inside the Pyramid of Disputes: Naming Problems and Filing Grievances in California Prisons Kitty Calavita, University of California, Irvine Valerie Jenness, University of California, Irvine Previous literature on disputing and legal mobilization suggests that stigmatized, self-blaming, and/or vulnerable populations often face insurmountable barriers to naming a situation as injurious and claiming redress. Contrary to what one would expect from this literature, prisoners in the United States—among the most stigmatized and vulnerable of populations—file tens of thousands of grievances annually. To explore this apparent paradox, we draw on an unprecedented data set comprised of interviews with a random sample of 120 men in three California prisons. Our data reveal that these prisoners are willing and able to name problems, and most of them have filed at least one grievance. While some expressed self-blame and most said there was retaliation for filing a grievance, the majority overcame these impediments to filing. We argue that the context of prison—a total institution in which law is a hypervisible force—enhances this form of legal mobilization by prisoners, trumping the social and psychological factors that the context otherwise produces and that in other populations tamp down claims making. The pattern of these prisoners’ claims, however, reveals that they are by no means immune to the countervailing pressures. While staff disrespect was named frequently as a problem in prison, grievances against staff were relatively rare. In conclud- ing, we note that the U.S. Supreme Court recently found California prisons violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, a finding that reveals the inadequacy of the inmate appeals system despite prisoners’ repeated efforts to hold the state accountable.
    [Show full text]
  • Sept. 13, 2018, Vol. 60, No. 37
    Trump bajo fuego 12 Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 60, No. 37 Sept. 13, 2018 $1 Jailers lock down striking prisoners By Ted Kelly Philadelphia Chicago hotel workers strike for health Thousands of prisoners across Pennsylvania have been confined to their cells since Aug. 29. That’s when the state’s Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel declared an indefinite lockdown of all facilities under his jurisdiction. The lockdown, which began just days into the National Prison Strike (Aug. 21 to Sept. 9) is the most blatant in a series of repressive tactics that the state has resorted to in response to the strike. It was timed to preempt some major strike actions planned by prisoners. Attacks on right to legal counsel One week into the lockdown, Wetzel appeared alongside Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, who announced a sweeping series of new policies that constitute an unprecedented crackdown on the rights of prisoners. Among the many petty and punitive policies, like banning prisoners from taking photos with their visitors, there are also new mea- sures that will systematically deny prisoners their right to privacy with legal counsel. All correspondence sent to prisoners is now to be trans- ported to a third-party facility in Florida, where it will be opened and photocopied before copies are sent to the re- spective prisons to be delivered to the intended recipients. Since prison officials are at least in theory not allowed to open any mail containing legal correspondence, except in the presence of its recipient, a farcical new method has ‘They work us like dogs when it’s busy been introduced to get around this protection.
    [Show full text]
  • Article Segregation by Citizenship
    VOLUME 132 MARCH 2019 NUMBER 5 © 2019 by The Harvard Law Review Association ARTICLE SEGREGATION BY CITIZENSHIP Emma Kaufman CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1380 I. THE RISE OF THE ALL-FOREIGN PRISON ................................................................... 1387 A. 1850–1980: Building a Bureaucracy ............................................................................. 1388 B. 1980–1999: Turf Battles .................................................................................................. 1394 C. 1999–2018: Segregated Prisons ...................................................................................... 1401 II. THE CONSEQUENCES OF SEGREGATION .................................................................... 1408 A. Conditions of Confinement ............................................................................................ 1409 B. Two-Track Criminal Justice ........................................................................................... 1412 C. Ethnic Segregation Reinvented ..................................................................................... 1414 III. THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF SEGREGATION .......................................................... 1418 A. Equality Norms ............................................................................................................... 1419 B. Deference Doctrines .......................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Food in Prison: an Eighth Amendment Violation Or Permissible Punishment?
    University of South Dakota USD RED Honors Thesis Theses, Dissertations, and Student Projects Spring 2020 Food In Prison: An Eighth Amendment Violation or Permissible Punishment? Natasha M. Clark University of South Dakota Follow this and additional works at: https://red.library.usd.edu/honors-thesis Part of the Courts Commons, Food and Drug Law Commons, Human Rights Law Commons, and the Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons Recommended Citation Clark, Natasha M., "Food In Prison: An Eighth Amendment Violation or Permissible Punishment?" (2020). Honors Thesis. 109. https://red.library.usd.edu/honors-thesis/109 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Student Projects at USD RED. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Thesis by an authorized administrator of USD RED. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FOOD IN PRISON: AN EIGHTH AMENDMENT VIOLATION OR PERMISSIBLE PUNISHMENT? By Natasha Clark A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the University Honors Program Department of Criminal Justice The University of South Dakota Graduation May 2020 The members of the Honors Thesis Committee appointed to examine the thesis of Natasha Clark find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. Professor Sandy McKeown Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Director of the Committee Professor Thomas Horton Professor & Heidepriem Trial Advocacy Fellow Dr. Thomas Mrozla Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice ii ABSTRACT FOOD IN PRISON: AN EIGHTH AMENDMENT VIOLATION OR PERMISSIBLE PUNISHMENT? Natasha Clark Director: Prof. Sandy McKeown, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice This piece analyzes aspects such as; Eighth Amendment provisions, penology, case law, privatization and monopoly, and food law, that play into the constitutionality of privatized prisons using food as punishment.
    [Show full text]
  • The Thirteenth Amendment: Modern Slavery, Capitalism, and Mass Incarceration Michele Goodwin University of California, Irvine
    Cornell Law Review Volume 104 Article 4 Issue 4 May 2019 The Thirteenth Amendment: Modern Slavery, Capitalism, and Mass Incarceration Michele Goodwin University of California, Irvine Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/clr Part of the Constitutional Law Commons Recommended Citation Michele Goodwin, The Thirteenth Amendment: Modern Slavery, Capitalism, and Mass Incarceration, 104 Cornell L. Rev. 899 (2019) Available at: https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/clr/vol104/iss4/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Scholarship@Cornell Law: A Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Cornell Law Review by an authorized editor of Scholarship@Cornell Law: A Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT: MODERN SLAVERY, CAPITALISM, AND MASS INCARCERATION Michele Goodwint INTRODUCTION ........................................ 900 I. A PRODIGIOUS CYCLE: PRESERVING THE PAST THROUGH THE PRESENT ................................... 909 II. PRESERVATION THROUGH TRANSFORMATION: POLICING, SLAVERY, AND EMANCIPATION........................ 922 A. Conditioned Abolition ....................... 923 B. The Punishment Clause: Slavery's Preservation Through Transformation..................... 928 C. Re-appropriation and Transformation of Black Labor Through Black Codes, Crop Liens, Lifetime Labor, Debt Peonage, and Jim Crow.. 933 1. Black Codes .......................... 935 2. Convict Leasing ........................ 941
    [Show full text]
  • Prison Strike Black and White.Pdf
    WE ALL AGREE TO SPREAD THIS STRIKE THROUGHOUT THE PRISONS OF AMERI$$$A! FROM AUGUST 21ST TO SEPTEM- BER 9TH, 2018, MEN AND WOMEN IN PRISONS ACROSS THE NATION WILL STRIKE IN THE FOLLOWING MANNER: • WORK STRIKES: Prisoners will not report to assigned national jobs. Each place of detention will determine how long its strike will last. Some of these strikes may translate into a local list of demands designed to improve condi- tions and reduce harm within the prison. • SIT-INS: In certain prisons, men and women will en- gage in peaceful sit – in protests. • BOYCOTTS: All spending should be halted. We ask those outside the walls not to make financial judgments for those inside. Men and women on the in side will in- form you if they are participating in this boycott. • HUNGER STRIKES: Men and women shall refuse to eat. We support the call of Free Alabama Movement Campaign to “Redistribute the Pain” 2018 as Bennu Hannibal Ra – Sun, formerly known as Melvin Ray has laid out (with the exception of refusing visitation). See these principles described prison here: https://redistributethepain.wordpress.com/ HOW YOU CAN HELP Make the nation take a look at our demands. Demand action on our de- mands by contacting your local, state, and federal political representatives with these demands. Ask them where they stand. Spread the strike and word of the strike in every place of detention. Contact a supporting local organization to see how you can be supportive. If you are unsure of who to connect with, email [email protected] Be prepared by making contact with people in prison, family members of prisoners, and prisoner support organizations in your state to assist in strike notifying the public and media on strike conditions.
    [Show full text]