Crime
California Prisoners in Isolation Should Be Covered by Class Action, Attorneys Argue
Lawyers from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) are urging a federal judge to grant class action status to a lawsuit challenging prolonged solitary confinement in California prisons.
The case, Ashker v. Brown, was filed on behalf of 10 prisoners in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at the notorious Pelican Bay State Prison who have spent over 10 years, and as many as 29 years, in solitary confinement.
Three weeks ago, California prisoners, including plaintiffs in Ashker, suspended their third hunger strike protesting their confinement and conditions, after 60 days. More than 500 Pelican Bay prisoners have been isolated in the SHU for over 10 years; more than 200 have been there for over 15 years; and 78 have been isolated in the SHU for more than 20 years.
Class certification will allow remedies in the case to apply to all Pelican Bay SHU prisoners who have been held in solitary confinement for more than 10 years.
“There are hundreds of prisoners at Pelican Bay who have been suffering just as long and in the same appalling conditions as our clients,” said Center for Constitutional Rights Staff Attorney Alexis Agathocleous, one of those who made the argument court on Sept. 26.
“If the length of time prisoners are held in isolation and the conditions they live under are unconstitutional, they are unconstitutional for everyone, not just the 10 named plaintiffs in the suit, and any remedies should apply to everyone affected.”
The lawsuit alleges that prolonged solitary confinement violates Eighth Amendment prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment, and that the absence of meaningful review for SHU placement violates the prisoners’ right to due process. SHU prisoners spend 22
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of November 13 – 19, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 13 – 19, 2024
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Activism
Oakland Post: Week of November 6 – 12, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 6 – 12, 2024
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Bay Area
Alameda County Judge Blasts Defendants Over Delay in West Oakland Fire Trial
Judge Kimberly Lowell excoriated the RadiusRecycling/SchnitzerSteel defendants in court for causing delays in prosecuting this case. Since the defendants first appeared in court on July 23, they have obtained three extensions of the arraignment date.
Special to The Post
District Attorney Pamela Price announced that a hearing was held on October 30 in the criminal prosecution of the Radius Recycling/Schnitzer Steel involving a fire at the West Oakland facility on Aug. 9-10, 2023.
The Alameda County criminal Grand Jury indicted radius Recycling and two of its corporate managers in June 2024.
Judge Kimberly Lowell excoriated the RadiusRecycling/SchnitzerSteel defendants in court for causing delays in prosecuting this case. Since the defendants first appeared in court on July 23, they have obtained three extensions of the arraignment date.
The court clarified that the defendants will not receive more extensions on their arraignment and plea.
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price agreed with the court that defendants should not get preferential treatment. Price and her team appreciated the court for clarifying that future delays by Radius will not be tolerated.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s (BAAQMD) public data shows that during and after the fire, the smoke plume traveled across Alameda County with high levels of PM 2.5 (Particulate Matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter) detected around Laney College in Oakland, Livermore, Pleasanton, and West Oakland.
PM2.5 is particularly harmful to infants and children, the elderly, and people with asthma or heart disease.
“This fire posed a great health hazard to the people of Alameda County,” said Price. “High, short-term exposures to a toxic smoke plume have been shown to cause significant danger to human health.
“Additionally, in this case, Oakland firefighters battled the blaze under extremely dangerous conditions for 15 hours with assistance from a San Francisco Fire Department fireboat and a fireboat from the City of Alameda Fire Department,” Price observed.
The team prosecuting the case from the DA’s Consumer Justice Bureau looks forward to resolving any future motions and having the defendants arraigned in court on Dec. 9.
The media relations office of the Alameda County District Attorney’s office is the source of this report.
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