Inmate hunger strike at jail over unsanitary conditions ends after about six days

DUBLIN >> The hunger strike at the Santa Rita Jail over unsanitary conditions, including reports of vermin and insects on food, reportedly has stopped after about six days.

An attorney for the inmates estimated that up to 500 people participated at the height of the hunger strike, which began Oct. 30. But the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office estimates the number to be around 100 inmates, some of whom it alleges were coerced into participating.

Attorney Yolanda Huang, who represents the men, announced the strike on Wednesday, which began in Housing Unit 31 and grew to Housing Unit 34 at Alameda County’s jail. Each housing unit holds about 250 inmates.

The inmates are alleging unsanitary conditions, including insects and vermin on their food. Huang said that the inmates also are considering filing a lawsuit against the county.

On Monday, Huang said that Housing Unit 31 had to stop the strike because of some inmates who had medical conditions, such as diabetes. But the strike continued with Housing Unit 34 into Tuesday.

Alameda County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said Tuesday afternoon that the strike appeared to be over: The inmates did not take their breakfast trays but did take their lunches, he said.

He also commented that not all inmates were on a complete hunger strike — some were still eating food from the commissary, just not the jail food.

Some inmates also stopped working inside the jails — inmates have jobs such as doing laundry, cleaning, cooking and packaging food. Huang said that the inmates were “fired” from those jobs over the weekend and heard that the female inmates were corraled into working. At first, female inmates were asked to volunteer, and then were assigned to positions, she said.

However, Kelly said when inmates didn’t show up to work, officials took that to mean that they quit their jobs. So yes, some females were offered some jobs, including working in the kitchen, he said.

“They were so happy to be able to work in the kitchen. They jumped at the opportunity,” he said.

Those who work in the kitchens, for example, get better and extra food. Jobs, in general, give inmates more freedom and more mobility, Kelly said.

But much like in the real world, “If you quit your job, you don’t have the right to come back to your job,” he said.

On Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Office received a letter signed by about 80 inmates who lost their job. They apologized and were asking for their jobs back, Kelly said.

The Sheriff’s Office will consider it, particularly inmates who may have been coerced into joining on the strike or work stoppage, he said.

Huang said she got calls from some of the inmates she represents, saying that they were cited for allegedly disrupting jail operations and had 30 days added to their sentences. She said she’s investigating to see if the Sheriff’s Office has a right to coerce inmates to work.

But Kelly said that indications that inmates could have more time added to their sentence if they did not work are not true. He said no inmates have been disciplined as a result of the strike, or work stoppage.

Inmates could have time added to their sentence if they break the rules, not including the hunger strike or work stoppage, he said.

The hunger strike list of 26 demands from the inmates included better food, fair prices at the commissary and for telephone calls, access to the law library, ability for inmates to clean their cell pods at least twice a week, personal disinfectants added to the commissary, mandatory meal times and the use of body scanners instead of strip searches, among other things.

“Santa Rita needs to evolve its system and methods away from this punitive justice system and demoralizing, inhumane treatment of citizens and drug addicts to a modernized system and methods of restorative justice!” the demand list states.

“We need to build people up, make them productive and restore their health and vitality,” the note said.

Huang said that she met with a representative from the Alameda County counsel’s office, who listened to the inmates’ demands and said she would take their issues to Sheriff Greg Ahern. At a minimum, Huang is asking for “low-hanging fruit,” such as giving the inmates cleaning supplies for more than just 15 minutes, once a week to clean their cells.

“We do not respond to demands, but we will negotiate,” Kelly said.

The strike began after men in Housing Unit 31 E did not receive their food until late in the day. And on Oct. 25, an inmate died of an apparent drug overdose after being booked on driving under the influence-related charges. Inmates claim guards didn’t respond until the man stopped breathing.

The attitude of deputies inside the jail is that “if you are in pain, if you are suffering, then you are a criminal and you deserve it,” Huang said in a statement. At least nine inmates have died in Santa Rita Jail custody in 2019, she said.