California Prison Hunger Strike Resumes as Sides Dig In (NYT | 7 Oct)

[struggle4progress]

Published: October 7, 2011

LOS ANGELES — When inmates across California’s state prisons went on a hunger strike in July, prison officials negotiated with them, ultimately reaching an agreement to bring the strike to an end after three weeks.

But since inmates resumed the strike last week in continued protest against conditions of prolonged isolation, things have gone differently: the corrections department has cracked down, trying to isolate the strike leaders, some of whom say they no longer trust the department and are hoping to push the governor to enact reforms.

“I’m ready to take this all the way,” J. Angel Martinez, one of the strike leaders at Pelican Bay State Prison, said in a message conveyed through a lawyer this week. “We are sick and tired of living like this and willing to die if that’s what it takes.” ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/us/hunger-strike-resumes-in-california-prisons.html?_r=1