Strikes by inmates in US prisons are spreading across the country. Inmates are protesting against forced labour, low wages, prison conditions, and deaths in custody.
The 19-day strike which started on 21 August, the anniversary of the death of Black Panther George Jackson in San Quentin prison in 1971, started in response to a riot in Lee Correctional Institution in South Carolina in which seven prisoners were killed.
A press release circulated by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak and the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee said the riot, and the deaths, could have been avoided ″had the prison not been so overcrowded from the greed wrought by mass incarceration, and a lack of respect for human life that is embedded in our nation′s penal ideology.″
The number of deaths in custody has spiked in several US states. In Mississippi 10 people died in their cells in August; no firm indication on the cause of death has yet been released to the public. Strikes or other forms of protest have taken place in California, Washington, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, and have also spread to Nova Scotia, Canada. However it is likely that, especially in high security facilities, news of any strikes may take time to reach the outside world, if at all.
Prisoners have conducted work stoppages, hunger strikes, spending boycotts, and protests with banners and placards.
A set of 10 national demands have been formulated which include: an end to prison slavery, with those imprisoned being paid the prevailing wage in their state of territory for their labour; the repeal of the Prison Litigation Reform Act which curtails prisoners rights to address grievances and violations of their rights; the repeal of the Truth in Sentencing Act and the Sentencing Reform Act which limits the possibility of rehabilitation and parole, and for no prisoner to be sentenced to death by incarceration because they lack the possibility of parole; an end to racial overcharging, over-sentencing, and parole denials; funding for state prisons to offer more rehabilitation services; the reinstatement of grants to study for undergraduate degrees; voting rights for all serving prison sentences, on pretrial detention or so-called ″ex felons″.
Solidarity protests and actions have happened in 21 cities across the US, as well as internationally. The prison strike is due to end on 9 September, the 47th anniversary of the Attica prison rebellion in New York State.
• For press releases including the full list of demands, information about the strike, and how to show solidarity see: bit.ly/2NphSSt
• For an interview with a Jailhouse Lawyers Speak organiser see: bit.ly/2MVidiN
Political Economy of US police and prison system