Help Stop Prison Violence at the AZ DOC.

Just received this press release this AM. Please come support if you can. The mom, Julie, is a friend of mine, and Davon was our poster boy for the "Hard Time Hep C in AZ State Prisons" Campaign.. She planned this event herself and will stand alone if need be - and really needs support now. This is all bigger than just her family, though - the assaults at the ADC have tripled under Chuck Ryan, and prisoner murders have doubled, as have the suicides....

one of Davon's letters home...

 

------from the Desk of Julie Acklin-----

 

  URGENT PRESS RELEASE

Date: MONDAY April 9
Time: 9:00 am
Location: AZ Dept. Of Corrections
1601 W. Jefferson St PHX
(park at Wes Bolin across from Capitol)
Media contact info:  julie.acklin@yahoo.com

Demonstration of community outrage because of assault of prison advocate Julie Acklin's son recently at ASPC Lewis. Her son is chronically ill and mentally ill. Her son was victimized by a beating that resulted in 17 stitches to the face by another inmate and transported to local hospital. No intervention in the beating took place. Her son was in protective custody where most inmates and families think is a safe place. Most inmates are denied protective custody and shipped to general population to be beaten bullied or worse disfigured or end up on a ventilator. Prison official says he clearly was the instigator even though he was the only one who sustained injuries. He will possibly be ticketed and punished as a victim in this case, leading to isolation and or deterioration under Dept. Of Corrections rules. Gathering will send a message that the punishment and treatment and abuses of our mentally ill still are happening, and we want action taken and a community oversight committee for the prisons formed. Community says."This is gross outrage."

Julie Acklin, Dir. Of The National Association Of HCV Task Force, prison reform, Rep Az.
Co-Founder Dream OF Life Coalition

Office 623-594-4433
julie.acklin@yahoo.com

Solidarity with our South Bay Boston Sisters! RESIST!!

From: NEFAC-New England <newengland@nefac.net>
Date: Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 11:25 AM
Subject: Women in House of Correction in Boston resisting! Call in this week!
To: newengland@nefac.net


CALL TO ACTION - FORWARD WIDELY

Women at South Bay are being served bug-infested food, are forced to live  in flooded cells, and daily face unsanitary and dangerous conditions.  Women are refusing meals and demanding that the situation immediately be  put to rights.

Grievances have been filed about food infested with maggots*; rat  droppings have also been found in prisoners' food.  The late rain may have been an annoyance to some of us, but it was flooding the women's cells in the tower where they are held.  One woman was given a plastic trash bag to deal with the leaks, which bag was soon filled with water.  Another woman took to using her personal property, blankets, towels, sheets, and clothing to stuff up the leaks, all of which was soaked almost
immediately.  Even the ceiling of the visiting room was severely damaged by recent rain.

The facility is fewer than 20 years old.  In response to the complaints, the institutional grievance coordinator declared the food and flooding situations “resolved,” despite the fact that the leaks have not been fixed and the food sanitation situation is merely being “investigated.”

Hidden in plain sight, this Boston facility is right off Mass Ave by Boston Medical Center.  The repulsive conditions at South Bay are bad enough in their own right, but consider that the captive population is much more likely to have compromised immune systems, whether because of
hepatitis C, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, or an array of other conditions.  For people suffering from chronic medical issues, South Bay's filth is nothing short of a threat on their lives.

Call Sheriff Andrea J.Cabral this week at 617.635.1000, ext. 2100 and tell her that she is responsible for the health and wellbeing of those in her custody.  An effective public relations machine is not enough.  Demand that meaningful changes are made immediately with input from those women
most suffering from the issues at hand.  The two most important issues to the women inside right now are 1. the food and 2. the leaky cells.  We encourage people to leave call back numbers and demand a response from the administration.  We also encourage you to write bostonabc@riseup.net and tell how your call went!

A woman wrote, “I just need some help.  No one helps the women here.” Please prove her wrong!

*When one prisoner complained to a guard about the maggots in her food, the guard retorted that it was “protein.”