Crime

Legislators Call for Reform of Solitary Confinement Conditions

Published

13 years ago

February 14, 2014

A hearing was held Tuesday by legislators to push for sweeping reform in conditions faced by thousands of prisoners in solitary confinement at Pelican Bay and other state prisons, where they are often locked in the “hole” for decades in cells without a window, deprived of human contact, phone calls and even photos of loved ones.

The joint hearing called by San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano and Senator Loni Hancock was the second held in the wake of a hunger strike last year by over 30,000 California state prisoners – the third in two years – demanding an end to inhumane treatment, which they say constitutes torture under international law.

The two legislators and others criticized the reforms proposed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), which operates the state prisons, saying they do not go far enough to change the practices of placing prisoners for indefinite terms in Security Housing Unit (SHUs), which many feel should be abolished.

“Last year’s hunger strike again brought home the message that we need to do

Senator Loni Hancock

something about the SHU,” said Ammiano. “Moves by corrections show that they recognize the pressures for change. We want to look at whether those new regulations represent true progress.”

“There is no questions that these policies must be reformed,” said Hancock. “While I understand the CDCR is in the process of changing its SHU policy, my initial reading of the new policy left many questions unanswered.”

“We are working towards meaningful change, and at the end of the day we want to get it right,” she said.

Oakland civil rights attorney Anne Weils, who spoke at the hearing, read a statement by four Pelican prisoners who “called for the last hunger strike and starved to the end.” She said the prisoners were not allowed to attend, give testimony, listen or watch the hearing.

“We are prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison who have all lived for over 15 years locked 23 hours a day in small windowless cells, without ever being able to hug or touch our families … with no programs or chance of parole,” the statement said.

“California keeps us in these torturous conditions not because of any violence we have committed but because it believes we are affiliated with a gang, often based on artwork or photos we possess, tattoos we have, literature we read, who we talk to, or anonymous informants’ statements that we have no way of challenging.”

“We are put in Pelican Bay not for any specific term of months, or years for misconduct we have committed, but indefinitely, which in practice means forever – unless we become informants.”

“So this is our banned testimony. CDCR claims to have now instituted a reform program. It is a sham,” said the statement signed by Sitawa Jamaa, Todd Askher, Arturo Castellanos and Antonio Guillen.

Craig Haney, a psychology professor at UC Santa Cruz, speaking at the hearing, said that California’s wide use of definite solitary confinement, “makes it a outlier in respect to other states, (while) the U.S. is an outlier in respect to other countries.

“It is shocking and unprecedented by international standards,” Haney said. “We should debate whether long-term solitary confinement [is] torture.”

Prison officials maintain that secure housing units help thwart dangerous prison gangs and protect general prison populations from more violent inmates. During Tuesday’s hearing, officials who oversee the process pointed to progress in opening a pathway out of solitary.

“I think we all agree it is far too easy to get in and too hard to get out, and that the stays in this environment were certainly too long,” said Martin Hoshino, undersecretary of operations for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Dozens of speakers – many teenaged sons and daughters and wives of inmates in solitary – lined up to briefly describe the impact on solitary confinement on their lives.

An 18-year-old young man said he and other worried about the psychological damage caused by locking their family members in the SHU. “Families that are praying that the person who gets out of solitary is the same person who he was when he went to jail.”

“My son has been in solitary confinement since 2009,” said a woman. “There is no reason why we as family members should not be able to have contact with our loved ones.”

A young man said that when he was arrested and held at a local jail, he was placed in isolation for two weeks because he had a seizure and officials thought he was pretending.

“I felt hopeless and trapped,” he said. “They wouldn’t allow me to shower for four days, I could smell myself and felt despised.”

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Black History

Oakland Observes Black August with Block Parties, Film Showings, Workshops

POST NEWS GROUP — Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

Published

2 days ago

August 15, 2026

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George Jackson wrote two books: “Soledad Brother,” and “Blood in My Eye” before her was killed in an attempt to escape prison on Aug. 21, 1971.

By Jana Lang, Propel Youth Reporter

Study. Train. Fast. Fight.

These are the four tenets of Black August, a month dedicated to commemorating the sacrifices of political prisoners and Black revolutionaries in the struggle for Black liberation.

Observers are urged to study the history of the Black struggle for freedom, train their bodies for health and self-defense, fast to cleanse the mind, body, and spirit, and fight ongoing oppression alongside their communities and local political organizations.

Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

While in prison, George befriended fellow prisoner W.L. Nolen, who introduced him to the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Frantz Fanon. This radicalization coupled with his experiences of violence while imprisoned led to him writing and publishing two books, “Soledad Brother” (1970), and “Blood in my Eye” (1972). In January of 1970, George and two other prisoners were charged with murdering a corrections officer at Soledad State Prison in Monterey County.

On Aug. 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom armed with a shotgun to demand the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. He, along with the inmates he freed, was shot and killed while driving away. This involved one of the Black Panther Party’s most notable associates, Angela Davis, because the shotgun was registered in her name. She was later acquitted of charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in 1972.

On Aug. 21, 1971, George Jackson was assassinated by a corrections officer after attempting to escape and free other inmates. As a result, there were uprisings and protests within prisons all over the country that year, calling forth resistance against racial oppression and mass incarceration.

Since its outset, Black August has evolved across the country, taking many forms to honor this history and embody the four tenets.

In Oakland, the upcoming Black August Experience, hosted by Youth Alive! and the East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA), is a free, family-friendly event celebrating the legacy of Black August. Activities include free food and drinks, a kids’ activity zone, interactive workshops, live cooking and boxing demonstrations, and more.

Happening on Aug. 21 from 4-8 p.m. at the EOBA Patio, Carolyn Flynn, director of administration at EOBA, said the event, in its second year, will be an opportunity to engage with people in person through food, shared space, and education.

“We do regular classes in education, and those are ongoing programs that we offer, but we wanted to have [an opportunity] for our neighbors to utilize this space.” Combined with Youth Alive’s work in community violence prevention and youth leadership, this event surely aims to bring the Oakland community together to capture what Black August means today.

Here are additional Black August events happening in Oakland:

Forum and Community Discussion hosted by the Oakland Liberation Center, 1499 Fruitvale Ave., Aug. 14, 7 p.m.

“George Jackson/San Quentin” Screening hosted by Nostalgic for Nothing Cinema at Moments Co-Op, 410 13th St., Aug. 16, doors at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. (Masks required and scent-free)

Commemorating the Struggle, Building the Altar for Liberation: Black August at Bandung Books, 2269 International Blvd., Aug. 23rd, 1-5 p.m.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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Oakland Post: Week of August 12 – 18, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of August 12 – 18, 2026

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2 days ago

August 15, 2026

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Crime

Congresswoman Simon Demands Investigation into Trump’s Abuse of Emergency Powers for Coal Export Terminal in West Oakland

POST NEWS GROUP — Last week, in a letter to the GAO Acting Comptroller General Orice Williams Brown, Simon and her colleagues questioned the Department of Energy’s plan to use up to $425 million in DPA funds to support coal-fired power plants and construct the West Gateway Terminal Project in Oakland.

Published

1 week ago

August 9, 2026

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‘No On Coal’ demonstrators protest the use of the Port of Oakland as a terminal to ship coal overseas. File photo.

By Post Staff

U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) joined California senators and other members of the California delegation to Congress to call on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the Trump administration’s use of the Defense Production Act and other taxpayer funds to support coal projects, including the proposed coal export terminal in West Oakland.

Defense Production Act funding is for national defense emergencies, such as authorizing private car companies to build parts for tanks or ships.

Since President Donald Trump’s June 4 announcement of $75 million in funding for the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal, Simon has opposed and worked to stop the proposed coal terminal.

She filed an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2027 Energy and Water Appropriations bill that would have prohibited funding for the proposed Oakland coal export terminal project; however, House Republicans blocked the amendment.

Last week, in a letter to the GAO Acting Comptroller General Orice Williams Brown, Simon and her colleagues questioned the Department of Energy’s plan to use up to $425 million in DPA funds to support coal-fired power plants and construct the West Gateway Terminal Project in Oakland.

This terminal project would primarily serve foreign commercial markets, rather than meet national emergency needs.

“The Defense Production Act was intended to scale up domestic industrial capabilities to meet urgent military or national emergency needs; therefore, its invocation to construct a commercial, civilian export facility intended primarily to serve foreign commercial markets raises profound statutory, legal, and fiscal questions,” wrote the lawmakers, which included Senators Alex Padilla (D) and Adam Schiff (D), Jared Huffman (D-CA-02), ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee and Reps. John Garamendi (D-CA-08) and Ro Khanna (D-CA-17).

“We do not believe this satisfies the statutory definition of ‘national defense’ or ‘critical infrastructure protection’ under the DPA and that there is no legally sufficient, data-driven nexus between civilian coal exports and immediate U.S. military readiness or critical infrastructure defense,” the lawmakers’ letter said.

DPA funds are intended for U.S. national security and defense readiness. The Trump administration is instead diverting these funds to support a commercial export project that primarily benefits private industries and foreign markets in East Asia.

“Congress has never appropriated funds to the DOE’s DPA account with the intent of propping up a dying industry or financing a purely commercial project,” continued the lawmakers. “We are deeply concerned that DOE has improperly diverted funds from accounts intended by Congress for the critical modernization and resilience support of our nation’s grid to instead finance a commercial fossil fuel export project.”

Simon and colleagues also raised concerns that the Trump administration has improperly diverted funds designated for critical grid modernization and may be using emergency authorities to circumvent local environmental protections.

“With no clear national security nexus, we question whether the DOE utilized emergency DPA authorities with the intent of preempting or subverting valid local health ordinances and environmental regulations. If so, this would be a gross departure from the intent of the DPA,” concluded the lawmakers.