Coalition For Prisoners’ Rights Newsletter Vol. 44-A, No. 11 PO Box 1911, Santa Fe NM 87504 November 2019 ACCOMPLISHMENTS POSITIVE NEGATIVE I. Eleven years of growth and I. Holding 69,550 migrant children in development by the San Quentin News. U.S. government custody over the past Revived in 2008, it is based at and year. (Do not let this seem irrelevant: staffed by 16 men, plus additional over 65,000 New Jersey children have grown writers, all imprisoned at San Quentin up with a parent in prison.) It is true State Prison in California, population that under the Obama administration in 4,223. In addition, there are dozens of 2014, more than 60,000 children arrived outside volunteers. The monthly newspaper and were detained at the U.S. southern now has a press run of 30,000 copies-- border. So this was only 14% more.... distributed to all 35 California adult Although enough, as they say, to overflow prisons, four youth facilities, two county a typical NFL stadium. And more children jails, dozens of non-California prisoners are detained away from their parents in and hundreds of other individuals. the U.S. than in any other country Each monthly edition has 20 pages, many according to U.N. statistics. Fiscal year in full-color. In addition to articles in 2019’s numberπ is up 42% from that of English there are now some in Spanish and/ 2018. or Vietnamese. Among other features, there Some of these children have already been is now also a full-color quarterly deported. Some have been reunited with magazine and a website. family members in the U.S. And about 4,000 Currently there is frequent outside are still in government custody. Causing print, radio and TV coverage and a immeasurable levels of trauma, which is constant stream of visitors, including acknowledged by the government itself. assistance by journalism students and a Nine out of ten of the migrant children variety of media professionals. Outside detained last year came from Guatemala, financial support supports some paid Honduras and El Salvador, with fewer than staff. The mission statement is: “to three percent from Mexico. The U.S. has advance social justice and restore supported the governments in those three communities by reporting on inmate countries for decades. Violence, abuse and rehabilitative efforts within San Quentin murder are rampant there and are the State Prison and beyond.” Address: San reasons people give for leaving them.... Quentin News, 1 Main Street, San Quentin II. There are more than 5,200 people CA 94964. doing Life Without Parole (LWOP) sentences II. The Healing Justice: Ending Mass in California alone. As with executions, Incarceration 2-day November Conference and imprisonment itself, LWOP is unevenly organized by Psychologists for Social and unfairly applied to people of color, Responsibility at The Wright Institute in people with mental disabilities, and Berkeley CA. people who cannot afford costly legal The goals were to work toward creating a representation. LWOP is unfair, unjust, learning space, to strengthen existing wasteful, protracted and does not make us social connections, and to build a broader safer. It is a living death sentence. community of social transformation to end * * * mass incarceration. “Our war should be against prejudice, There were many strong and informative racism--when and wherever it shows its workshops. One powerful example is ugly face. And it doesn’t matter who, what “Liberate the Caged Voices” formed to color or race.” achieving parole for the leaders of the --S.M., TX Hunger Strike in California. It is “Our spirits are strong. We are together sponsored by California Prison Focus which at last with ourselves and the world of holds their monthly activist meetings at: our ancestors; we are proud before our 4408 Market St--Suite A, Oakland CA 94608; children and our generations unborn....” 510-342-9560. --K.R., SC Page 1 of 2 * November 2019 POR LA INDEPENDENCIA EN PUERTO RICO Stay of Execution En agosto de 2019, miles de personas Just five days before Rodney Reed was salieron a las calles de Puerto Rico a scheduled to be killed by the state of celebrar la dimisión del gobernador Ricardo Texas, Reed, who has spent 20 years on Rosselló, luego de 12 días de enormes Death Row, has had his case ordered protestas en la isla. Esas protestas se returned to the trial court for examination iniciaron cuando el Centro de Periodismo of his claims of innocence and of Investigativo de Puerto Rico publicó casi misconduct by the original prosecutors. 900 páginas de mensajes de texto entre It comes as no surprise that the murder Rosselló y su equipo de trabajo. Los victim involved was “white” and Reed is mensajes del grupo estaban plagados de African-American. Further, the person who misoginia, homofobia, obscenidades y actually committed the murder is not only violencia. En algunos de ellos se burlaban white, but also a former police officer.... de las víctimas del Huracán María. Algunos de los artistas más importantes de Puerto Rico estuvieron al frente de las protestas MASS COMMUTATION que generaron estas revelaciones, entre In Oklahoma, the state with the largest ellos Ricky Martin,Residente, iLe y Bad incarceration rate (stated as adults per Bunny. La canción “Afilando los cuchillos”, every 100,00 of the population), released escrita e interpretada por Residente, Bad more than 450 imprisoned people on Monday, Bunny e iLe, se convirtió en un himno de November 4. Until then, the largest single las protestas. day commutation, of 330 federal prisoners, ******************************************* was by then-president Obama, on his last To receive the CPR Newsletter by postal full day in office. mail monthly, send us up to 12 self- In 2018, Oklahoma imprisoned 1,079 addressed, stamped envelopes--with the CPR people per 100,000 adults in the return address in the upper left-hand population. The legislation enabling the corner. release, with retroactive reduction of Keep sending us address changes and sentences for low-level and nonviolent drug renewal requests in order for us to have and property convictions, was passed in our only permanent mailing list--the one May. The intervening months were used in for our January holiday/new calendar (see preparation, such as holding 28 job fairs above)--be as accurate as possible. for those eligible. More than 900 people NONE OF US ARE LAWYERS OR LEGAL WORKERS; applied for early release and the state is to maintain our best possible access to all reported to be anticipating 2,000 empty of our prison-based readers, please do NOT prison beds by the end of the year. mark envelopes addressed to us as “Legal Mail.” The Right to Vote Many,many thanks to the Real Cost of In 2018, the voters of Florida voted to Prisons Project for posting our Newsletter restore voting rights to up to 1.5 million on-line for free downloading and people with felony records. After a year of distribution. All issues since 2009 are at: delays and restrictions by the Legislature, www.realcostofprisons.org--this is a GREAT 18 people were actually re-enfranchised. site! To all: Thank you for your support! This was due to a federal judge temporarily ******************************************* blocking the law which required 17 of them Human Rights Pen Pals who successfully pled that they could not It is a racial justice community afford to pay legal costs otherwise due. organization, in solidarity with people in California’s solitary confinement cells. It VOTE NO RIKERS, OLD OR NEW promotes principled, mutually educational The Rikers Island jail complex which relationships between people in solitary holds approximately 10,000 human beings, and human rights supporters outside. At: has long been known for its outrageous P.O. Box 71378, Oakland CA 94612 conditions and treatment of people. Now THE JAIL there is a $10 billion expansion plan to build four borough based jails although ! “In October, In solidarity with youth without a guarantee to close Rikers. Our climate activists, I was one of the communities need to use our resources for protesters who occupied the governor’s housing, schools, subways, jobs, mental office in Santa Fe NM, despite threats of health centers. arrest. We were told that the jail was For more information, contact: stinky and served awful food. We refused to DRUM-Desis Rising Up & Moving, 72-18 leave. Then we received citations for Roosevelt Avenue, 2nd Floor, criminal trespassing and were released....” Jackson Heights NY 11372; 718-205-3036. Page 2 of 2 * November 2019.