User:NicoleR18/sandbox

Another Peer Review:

Looks like you have a good start! I found a useful link:

https://sanquentinnews.com/oprah-winfrey-visits-pelican-bay-state-prison/

From my quick research I am still confused if women were/are involved in this. That would be an interesting angle to add if they are involved with the hunger strike. The lawsuit that is associated would be another spot to link and include more timely information. Has anything like this happened since 2013? Or, maybe a followup on the participants. The article says, " 100 inmates in two prisons on a hunger strike", any notable people? Any of those people in interviews or some such in recent years. I think the "personal experience" side of this article is missing and could be of value. Have fun! -Kim Not Overit (talk)

Peer Review 2:

I'm not sure if you are still working on the conversion to Islam in U.S. prisons page as it is still assigned to you but I see you working on other articles in your sandbox (which is totally cool I picked 3 articles and still don't know which one I will land on). Regardless if this is something of interest for you I would consider looking into infringements on constitutional rights that prisons may impose when trying to put a halt to this practice. From here you could possibly reference some supreme court cases in which the right to religion was upheld particularly in a prison setting, and how and why this should extend to Islam culture. The section about concern in the United States puts heavy weight on terrorist culture and seems almost opinionated and willing to demonize those who choose this path, and I recommend adding counter statistics that may show that people who are practicing this in prison aren't being pipe lined to Al-Qeada. Thanks! Tyler TF951497642 (talk) 09:43, 17 May 2019 (UTC)

Article Evaluation

2013 California Prison Hunger Strike

What I plan to contribute to the article:

Check sources for bias, make sure every claim is accurately sourced

Add more information on specific prisoners

Add more information on california and solitary confinement

Add more information on refeeding practices and treatment of prisoners during strike

Madrid v. Gomez (1995) court case against Pelican Bay SHUs

Who started the strike and exactly why, add section

Look into solidarity group

Ingolite and prison legal news

Possible sources for article:

https://www.npr.org/2014/03/06/286794055/how-four-inmates-launched-a-statewide-hunger-strike-from-solitary

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/09/california-prisoners-hunger-strike

https://read.dukeupress.edu/south-atlantic-quarterly/article/113/3/579-611/3720

2013 California Prison Hunger Strike Article Draft

Human rights concerns and solitary confinement

Health and human rights concerns surrounding California's use of solitary confinement are not a new phenomenon (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0306624X07309720). Questions regarding both the mental and physical health of prisoners kept in solitary confinement have been prevalent since the practice began in the early 1800's (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0306624X07309720). California opened Corona and Pelican Bay State prisons in the late 1980's, which were two of the first and largest superman prisons to be erected (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1462474512464007). In the case of Madrid v. Gomez in 1995, the U.S. district court for Northern California determined that a significant number of inmates held in SHU units within Pelican Bay prison suffered from mental health issues (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0306624X07309720). In Madrid the court determined that the Pelican Bay prison was failing to provide adequate mental and physical care for prisoners, and that the Pelican Bay SHU was in a state of a "mental health crisis" (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0306624X07309720). The Madrid case also brought to light the violence and cruel and unusual punishment that guards were inflicting upon inmates within the SHU unit of the prison, including acts such as caging inmates outside during inclement weather (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0306624X07309720 ).The Supreme court in 2011 declared that the California prisons were overcrowded to the point of it being considered cruel and unusual punishment, effectively violating the 8th amendment (https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/us/24scotus.html). The supporting opinion on this bipartisan and landmark decision described that the California prison system had failed to meet the minimum requirements needed for the mental and physical health of prisoners (https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/us/24scotus.html). In 2012 more than 10,000 inmates within the California prison system were confined to solitary confinement, with 1,557 inmates having been kept in solitary confinement for at least 10 years (https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/California-prisons-use-of-solitary-confinement-13568616.php). No state besides California is believed to have held such high numbers of prisoners in solitary confinement for such a prolonged period of time. (https://www.amnestyusa.org/the-shocking-abuse-of-solitary-confinement-in-u-s-prisons/ ).Prisoners who are in solitary confinement are contained to their cell for 22 hours a day without human contact, and are also not allowed to participate in prison work or education programs (https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/California-prisons-use-of-solitary-confinement-13568616.php).

Causes of the strike

The Hunger strike was begun in early July, 2013 by inmates across prisons in California in an effort to protest solitary confinement and inhumane conditions within the prisons (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/09/california-prisoners-hunger-strike). The strikers made multiple demands of the prisons, including asking for an end to long-term solitary confinement, group punishments, better and more nutritious food, and putting an end to group punishments along with policies surrounding identifying suspected gang members (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/09/california-prisoners-hunger-strike). One of these specific practices is referred to as the "debriefing" policy, where California places suspected gang members into solitary confinement, and only agrees to place them back into general population if they provide the identities of other gang members (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/09/california-prisoners-hunger-strike) (https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/11/us/california-hunger-strike/index.html). The strike began and was lead by inmates within the Pelican Bay Prison's SHU unit (https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/11/us/california-hunger-strike/index.html). Along with the hunger strike, many inmates also began refusing to attend work and classes (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/19/california-prison-hunger-strike-retaliation). This strike had many similarities to a hunger strike that also took place in California prisons but in the year 2011 (https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/us/08hunger.html). The 2011 California Prison hunger strike was also started in Pelican Bay Prison (https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/us/08hunger.html). Prisoners participating in the 2011 hunger strike also stated the purpose was to put an end to California's use of solitary confinement, and the "debriefing" practice (https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/us/08hunger.html).