Hunger strikers in Pennsylvania solitary win demands
By Joe Piette posted on July 15, 2021
Philadelphia
Prisoners in solitary confinement who went on a hunger strike June 23 in the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix Pennsylvania’s largest prison ended their difficult struggle July 6 with a stunning victory.
At SCI Phoenix, July 6. WW PHOTO: Joe Piette
According to Levittown Now, more than 20 incarcerated people were demanding the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PA DOC) “acknowledge that they are being held in a currently undefined ‘intensive management unit’ (IMU) and provide a policy and guidelines in the department handbook for it; provide people being held in this unit with programming and mental health services; give incarcerated people a path out of solitary confinement; and end long-term solitary confinement in the state.” (July 2)
WHYY
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Block G is toured in the West section of the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix Friday June 1, 2018 in Collegeville, Pa. (Jacqueline Larma/AP Photo)
Prisoners protesting what they call “solitary confinement” by another name at SCI Phoenix ended a hunger strike Friday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
It’s unclear just how many prisoners took part in the action which started on June 23 – the DOC says only 12 inmates participated, while members of the Human Rights Coalition say it was closer to 40.
At the heart of the strike is what’s called an Intensive Management Unit, a program that was supposed to give people in restricted housing – units meant to segregate people who could cause harm to themselves or others in the prison – a pathway to return with the rest of the prisoners.
The COVID-19 outbreak Pa. doesn’t want you to know about | Opinion
Updated Dec 30, 2020;
Posted Dec 30, 2020
Families of those incarcerated in Pennsylvania s state prison system say the Corrections Department is keeping them in the dark about their loved ones coronavirus diagnoses and, in some cases, deaths.
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By Patricia Vickers
Every time several days go by and I haven’t heard from my son I feel terrified. I can’t help but think of the horror stories I hear from my friends who also have incarcerated loved ones, which are happening with alarming frequency.
Just the other day I was talking to someone who hadn’t heard from her brother in two weeks. Every time she called the prison they gave her the run-around, telling her to call this person and call that person, or saying, “I can’t give you that information.” After two weeks of calling, she was told her brother had COVID-19 and was at a hospital on a ventilator. She was his only living relative, a
Relatives and allies of prison inmates demanded the release of special populations and further protection against COVID-19 at a candlelight vigil held in front of Gov. Tom Wolfâs local office Tuesday.
About 20 demonstrators gathered at the effort, organized by The Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration, holding candles and signs, including one that stated Wolf had âblood on his hands.â
âWe are going to continue to advocate for the governor to exercise his reprieve power for vulnerable populations which are seniors, people with autoimmune diseases, and specifically for him to release Russell Shoats, a 77-year-old who tested positive for COVID and is battling stage 4 cancer,â said Robert Saleem Holbrook, Executive Director of the Abolitionist Law Center. âHe is [preparing] for surgery. Heâs been in prison for 50 years. We are [demanding] Governor Wolf release this prisoner to go home and spend his last time with his family.â