Prisoners in Alameda County’s Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, CA are staging a one day hunger and work strike to demand an end to horrific jail conditions. Call the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, October 31st  and demand that they meet prisoner demands and refrain from retaliating against organizers!

Background

Santa Rita – one of the largest jails in the country – is notorious for filthy conditions, nonexistent health care, and guards who range from indifferent to abusive. Multiple lawsuits are active against the facility and its personnel for wrongful deaths, reproductive harm, guard orchestrated assaults, and other forms of systematic abuse and neglect. Nine people in custody have died this year alone.

In their strike statement (see below), organizers inside Santa Rita highlight the struggle to keep themselves and their living spaces clean, the spread of pests and disease, price gouging at the commissary and phone, and visits denied without warning or reason. Their 26 demands essentially seek the bare minimum of treatment any human being ought to expect. They want to be able to keep themselves and their environment clean, they want to pay reasonable prices for basic necessities, they want access to the outdoors and healthy food, they want to be able to communicate with friends, family, and lawyers.

“Santa Rita needs to evolve its systems and methods away from this punitive justice system and demoralizing, inhumane treatment of citizens and drug addicts to a modernized system and methods of restorative justice! The current system does not make our communities any safer! To the contrary, it makes them less secure! We need to build people up, make them productive and restore their health and vitality.”  –  Strike Statement, Oct. 29, 2019

Sample script

Call the Sheriff’s office and let them know we support the strikers inside Santa Rita!

“Hello – I am calling in support of the people who went on strike Wednesday  inside Santa Rita Jail. Santa Rita should stop price gouging, ensure sanitary conditions, reduce the use of lockdown, and let prisoners visit and call with family and attorneys. What is your office doing to meet the demands and follow already existing policies and standards? Detainees should not face punishment or retaliation for this peaceful action which has highlighted unacceptable conditions inside Santa Rita. Thank you for your time.”

Call:
Sheriff Gregory Ahern
(510) 272-6866

Assistant Sheriff Dennis Houghtelling

(510) 208-9964

5th District Supervisor Keith Carson

(510) 272-6695

2nd District Supervisor & President Richard Valle

(510) 272 6692

You don’t have to give your name or any other information you don’t want to. Entering *67 before any number may block your caller ID. Don’t worry about anyone giving you the runaround, not getting through or having to leave a message. We are calling to apply pressure and every call counts.

Please report back on calls made in the comment section below

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