AUSTIN (Nexstar) — At least two dozen Texas prisoners are 13 days right into a hunger strike in protest against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s solitary confinement insurance policies.
The strike started on Jan. 10, the primary day of the Texas legislative session, with greater than 70 prisoners taking part. That quantity has since fallen to a minimum of 24. Forty p.c of the remaining strikers have participated for all 13 days, and the others “have been participating on and off,” based on TDCJ.
Brittany Robertson, an activist with Texas Prison Reform, has been involved with the prisoners throughout the strike and believes TDCJ undercounted the contributors. She mentioned there could possibly be as many as 50 prisoners taking part as of Monday afternoon.
“One of the participants is being threatened with force feeding,” she mentioned. “He’s an older gentleman and he’s willing to sacrifice himself if it means the younger generations having opportunity.”
Robertson mentioned the situation and length of solitary confinement has severely harmed inmates’ bodily and emotional well being, led to suicide, and counteracted the felony justice system’s personal aims.
“When you take somebody who is struggling to cope with life and you keep them isolated, you don’t allow them outside, you don’t allow them to feel a hug, or to learn how to create something while being in such an isolated state, and then you let them out… What Texans need to know is that the lack of rehabilitation directly contributes to your crime,” she mentioned.
One letter Robertson mentioned she acquired from an inmate in TDCJ’s Ferguson Unit particulars staffing shortages resulting in neglect.
“I’m writing because here at the Ferguson Unit they are claiming they are short of staff so they’ve been only showering Monday, Wednesday and Friday when it’s over 100 degrees everyday,” the inmate wrote. “Not only that, they’re also serving one or two meals by serving… paper sack which contains one peanut butter sandwich and one other sandwich. This has been going off and on for the last several weeks. We’ve had inmates falling out from the heat. We’re in desperate need of help over here and I’m sure we’re not the only unit here in Texas that is going through this, but this really needs to be addressed.”
According to TDCJ, 3,141 are at the moment held in isolation. They report that the inhabitants in “security detention” has fallen by greater than half within the final decade, since greater than 7,000 inmates have been held in isolation in 2013.
“Security detention accounts for less than 3% of the inmate population within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. It is used judiciously,” TDCJ spokesperson Amanda Hernandez mentioned.
TDCJ mentioned “security detention” is supposed to guard the protection of employees and different inmates and is reserved for “confirmed members of the most organized and dangerous prisons gangs, inmates who are escape risks, and inmates who committed assaults or multiple other serious disciplinary offenses are incarcerated within security detention.”
Some lawmakers are pushing to limit the observe additional this session. State Rep. Terry Meza (D-Irving) has filed a collection of payments addressing the problem.
“The idea that someone is kept in solitary confinement for years is inconceivable to me,” she advised KXAN. “It seems like inhumane punishment. What if any of us went and tried solitary confinement for one day? I don’t believe I could handle it.”
HB 812 would restrict isolation to a few consecutive days for normal misconduct and ten consecutive days for violent inmates. The Texas Tribune studies greater than 500 inmates have been in solitary confinement for greater than a decade.
HB 480 would stop TDCJ from inserting an inmate in isolation primarily based solely on their membership in a gang and require the division to find out whether or not the inmate presents a right away risk to a different. The division would additionally want to judge the inmate’s standing weekly to find out whether or not lesser confinement is acceptable. Currently, TDCJ evaluations inmates for reassignment to the final inhabitants “at least monthly.” Inmates additionally obtain an “extensive review process” earlier than they’re remoted and should enchantment the choice by a grievance course of, Hernandez mentioned.
HB 813 would direct state companies to review the impacts of isolation on inmates’ bodily and psychological well being and report the findings to state leaders by subsequent December.
“I would hope that [TDCJ] would take into consideration the restrictive housing proposal and setting more firm guidelines for who can be in restrictive housing and for how long,” Robertson mentioned. “I want the legislative session to understand that there’s men in isolation for 20 years, and they’ve not committed any additional crimes to gain that isolation, [it’s] merely affiliation based, and they’re still going to get out. So we’re hoping to see something put in place to provide them a chance to rehabilitation.”
TDCJ mentioned the inmates taking part within the strike are evaluated each day and none have required medical care up to now.
“The agency is employing several strategies designed to reduce the security detention population consistent with the priority placed on safety and security,” Hernandez mentioned. “One technique is to supply diversion programming for inmates to maintain them from entering safety detention. Another is providing pathways out of restrictive housing for inmates by focused programming.
Robertson mentioned she and the coalition of inmates are contemplating authorized motion if the strike is unsuccessful at altering coverage.
“They’re not asking for freedom. They’re not even pleading innocence. What they’re saying is, ‘I’m in here for 20 years, I’d really like to have programming and to come out a better person.”
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