Rally backs hunger strikes staged by county inmates
Speakers on steps of Main Jail in San Jose decry conditions inside and racism in justice system
SAN JOSE » More than 100 protesters withstood hot and humid weather Sunday to show support for incarcerated people who have staged hunger strikes to protest conditions inside Santa Clara County’s jails.
Inmates across the county jail system launched the strike Friday to outline poor conditions, including recent coronavirus outbreaks, and to participate in protests against racial injustice spurred by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
About a half dozen speakers stood on the steps of the Main Jail North in San Jose to address problems with the jails and the country’s criminal justice system that they say amount to institutional racism.
Jose Valle II of Silicon Valley
De-Bug, which organized the event, said inmates in housing units and dorms in both the Main Jail and the Elmwood Correctional Complex in Milpitas were participating in the strike, which was set to last until Tuesday.
“They hear and read about defunding the police and police brutality and the murder of George Floyd, and they’re
looking at each other and saying, ‘That’s us,’” Valle said.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that it was aware of the hunger strikes and that jail staff would monitor the participants.
“We take the health and welfare of those in our care seriously and we will work closely with Custody Health Services regarding those who elect to participate,” the statement read. “Our office will continue to work to address and resolve concerns related to jail operations.”
Supporters included many family members of the incarcerated, including some who were engaging in a sympathy fast.
Derick Tompkins said he started fasting Saturday to support friend Dolores Negrate, who has two sons in the Main Jail facing homicide charges. They drove from Stockton to participate in the rally.
Tompkins, 37, said he spent six years in Pleasant Valley and Solano state prisons, where he once participated in hunger strikes.
“They’re helpful to a point,” Tompkins said. “They help bring change for a moment. Then things go right back to where it was.”
Some of the leaders said Sunday that they are hopeful
this time will be different.
State Assemblyman Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, one of the event’s speakers, said in an interview that justice reform bills moving through the California Legislature would not have been possible a year ago.
“But after the murder and torture of George Floyd, and millions of people being out in the streets, it has forced us to look in the mirror of our criminal justice system, and it’s not a pretty sight,” Kalra said.
Valle sent a letter to county officials on behalf of the prisoners outlining their concerns: access to educational programming and legal research resources, decreased phone access and the amount of time they are allowed out of their cells.
Those issues have been compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, as positive tests in the county jail system have more than tripled over the past month. Of the 166 cases logged as of Thursday, at least 75 have surfaced since the beginning of August. Many of them were concentrated in Elmwood’s M8 dorms.
Those surges occurred even after county officials instituted early release, bail relief and other amnesty measures that decreased the county’s daily jail census by more than 35%, to a little more than 2,000 prisoners.
Complaints involved the difficulties of enforcing physical distancing in jail, inconsistent mask wearing, and lagging hygiene and sanitation practices.
Last week, sheriff’s administrators acknowledged that adherence to those safety protocols in jail has fallen short of full compliance and said they are working with health officials both in jail and with the county to expand testing for jail staff and get at least 20% of them tested every week.
Inmates held hunger strikes in the Main Jail in 2016, 2017 and 2018 to secure concessions for time out of their cells, and what they said was unfair use of gang and other security classifications for housing the incarcerated. They also protested isolation practices that jail watchdog groups said were tantamount to illegal solitary confinement.
TerriAnn Maciel’s son has been in Elmwood for 1½ years on a robbery charge. Last week, Maciel said her son joined the ranks of coronavirus-positive inmates.
“It’s one thing to have this deadly virus out here,” she said. “But in there, you’re so helpless.”