Artists Against Rape Event on Friday November 5, 2010 CCWP is honored to collaborate with San Francisco Women Against Rape on their 13th Annual Artists Against Rape event that includes a reception, silent auction and performances. We hope you can join us on Friday, November 5th, 2010, at The First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison Street, Oakland, CA, 94612. Please click here for more information about the event and art submissions. Thank you!      Images from the Fast 4 Freedom Solidarity Rally! Fast 4 Freedom Statewide Action Solidarity Rally at the State Building in San Francisco "Because so many are starving for FREEDOM" (from the call by family members of prisoners). " Fast 4 Freedom is a statewide day of fasting and solidarity actions that took place this year on Friday, August 6th, 2010, and was initiated by family members and loved ones of prisoners locked up across California. Here are a few images from the rally. Thank you to Dana Ullman for the photos. Let’s keep organizing together to: End Three Strikes Reduce the Prison Population NOW Release Prisoners Eligible for Parole Release Sick, Aged and Terminally Ill prisoners Family Visits for All Prisoners End the Death Penalty Education Not Incarceration Stop All New Prison Construction including New "Mental Health" Cages being built in Chino and Vacaville Justice for Oscar Grant and all targets of racist police brutality Thank you to everyone who supported, participated, and organized the rally!      Elimination of First Mandatory Minimum Since Nixon Administration A bit of good news, though there is still much work to be done against the Drug War . . . House Joins Senate in Ditching Crack Disparity FAMM Hails Elimination of First Mandatory Minimum Since Nixon Administration FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: July 28, 2010 Contact: Monica Pratt Raffanel, media@famm.org WASHINGTON, D.C. – Moments ago, the U.S. House of Representatives passed landmark legislation to dramatically reduce the sentencing disparity between federal crack and powder cocaine sentences and to repeal the five-year mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack cocaine. The bill, S. 1789, already won unanimous approval from the Senate in March and now goes to the White House for President Obama’s certain signature. Its passage marks the first time that Congress has repealed a mandatory minimum drug sentence since the Nixon administration.      Beatrice Smith-Dyer is free! Beatrice Smith-Dyer is free! More information will soon be coming!      Interview with Maria Suarez, former prisoner and slave For almost 28 years Maria Suarez was held against her will. First by a slaveholder and then imprisoned for a crime she didn’t commit. She was tricked into slavery when she was 15 years old. Her captor abused her mentally, physically, and spiritually. He threatened to hurt her family so even when the police and her family tried to help, she told them everything was okay. Her dreams of a better life were fading. "My dreams just were crushed. They never let me bloom, like a rose. They never let the rose grow up to be a rose.” Maria says that for 28 years she was just looking for, “A little bit of justice.” Her story is heartbreaking and inspiring. Read for yourself, or see Maria's compelling story. She was interviewed for the film, ''Dreams Die Hard''. - from Free the Slaves organizational website. To read the interview with Maria Suarez, please click here. Thank you.      Learn More About Parole for Life-Term Prisoners in California . . . CCWP wants to help change the parole system for life-term prisoners. We will post more updates and information as the work develops. In the meantime, we encourage everyone to listen to this audio program to learn more . . . . "In California, Maryland and Oklahoma, the governors can overrule parole boards' decisions to free prisoners serving life sentences. In all three states this has evolved to the point where very few prisoners get released. For years Nancy Mullane followed the case of Don Cronk in San Quentin Prison, to see what would happen as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reviewed his case. Though Cronk knew the odds were against him, he found it hard to stop himself from believing he'd get out." - This American Life website. The program is "This American Life," and the parole portion of the show begins around minute 8. Please click this link , and then click "Stream Episode." Thank you, and please let us know if you want to get involved!      Frankie Williams is Free! Many thanks to all who signed petitions for Frankie's release!! California Coalition for Women Prisoners challenges the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) and its destructive effects on our communities. All communities and all people suffer from the abusive nature of this system that punishes those deeply in need of healing. The PIC sustains itself by further entrenching racism and systemic racial discrimination to which all forms of discrimination are connected.      June 21st, 2010: CCWP Supports Fast for the Scott Sisters The California Coalition for Women Prisoners expresses our strong solidarity with the courageous fast by the Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice to demand freedom for the Scott Sisters and an inspection of the prison where Jamie Scott is being held. In California, we witness similar inhuman conditions for people in women's prisons on a daily basis, and we condemn the systemic racism and sexism which has caused the population of women in prison to triple in the past twenty-five years. Jamie and Gladys are serving outrageous life sentences which in Jamie’s case could well turn into a death sentence if the criminal health care conditions she is enduring aren’t quickly improved. We deeply appreciate your determination to stand up and expose the grave injustice being perpetrated against the Scott sisters and the tens of thousands of others who are wrongly incarcerated across the United States. For more information about the Scott Sisters and the June 21st rally in Washington, D.C., please see: http://freethescottsisters.blogspot.com/.      Unjust Life Sentence From Families Against Mandatory Minimums. Why did Michelle Taylor get such an excessive sentence? Nevada law imposes a mandatory life sentence (with parole eligibility after 10 years) for the crime of lewdness with a minor under 14. The prosecutors had discretion to charge her with any number of crimes that carried different penalties, but they chose to prosecute her under this law. The prosecutors also refused to offer Michelle a plea deal. No one knows why. Click here to watch a portion of the sentencing hearing.      Good News to Share from LA . . . From Youth Justice Coalition: The Proposed 1.4 Million Dollar Cut to Gang Intervention Did Not Go Through!      May 12, 2010: Mass visit to Mothers at CCWF The Women’s Foundation of California, the Women Donors Network and the Center For Restorative Justice Works (CRJW) organized a Criminal Justice Briefing and Prison Visit on May 11-12, 2010. It was an opportunity to learn from leading criminal justice reform advocates and formerly incarcerated people, and to visit the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla, which is part of the largest women’s prison complex in the world.      Without Walls Listen to The Without Walls Radio Show that airs the last Friday of each month on KPFA. Without Walls is collaboratively produced by Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, All of Us or None, Center for Young Women's Development and CCWP. We are working on having older Without Walls programs available on this website. Please stay tuned!      Sin by Silence Screening and Discussion at The Women's Building 11 May 2010 Sin by Silence is a film about women who were imprisoned for killing their abusers. Despite prison walls, these women change laws and lives for those dealing with abuse. While most of the women in Sin by Silence may remain in prison for the remainder of their lives, these women are committed to helping others understand the reality of domestic violence. Through their stories of terror and hope, the viewer can begin to understand the cycle of violence, the signs of an abuser, and how each and every one of us is responsible for changing the tragedy of domestic violence. We will also hear from the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP) about their work to challenge the institutional violence imposed on women, transgender people, and communities of color by the prison industrial complex. Hosted by Thao (Thao with the Get Down Stay Down) and The Women's Building. This event is free but we will be accepting donations for CCWP. 3543 - 18th Street, San Francisco Audre Lorde Room Tuesday, 11 May 2010, 7:30pm      Free Battered Women, CCWP and Parole Support Free Battered Women (FBW) has recently become a program of CCWP, with both organizations growing and strengthening with new people, energy and ideas! We are in the process of adding FBW updates and information to the CCWP website. Please see our "Action Center" webpage for parole support letters and other important actions. Thank you!      CUAV's Safety Fest 2010! 8 April - 18 April 2010 CCWP is a community partner of CUAV's Safety Fest 2010. We hope you can attend some of the amazing workshops and events! Please visit safetyfest.blogspot.com for calendar and updates. CUAV is hosting a 100% free festival celebration of all the fierce ways queer and trans people in the Bay Area stay safe and strut our stuff. Our communities already have so many of the tools we'll need to end violence and be truly safe in all the ways we deserve to be--we just need to share them! How do you take care of yourself and the people and places you love? SAFETYFEST 2010 is THE gay way to do what we do best and then spread it around--skills, knowledge, art, food, craft, conversation, party, or simply that beautiful face of yours. It'll all kick off with a sexy launch party, followed by dozens of amazing free workshops, performances, parties, and meet ups in different locations across the Bay, and wrap up with a hella fun closing celebration. Proceeds will benefit CUAV's 30+ years of supporting LGBTQQ survivors of hate violence and domestic violence to heal and create safer communities.      Come to court Monday, 19 April 2010! Join members of the SF8: Francisco Torres, Richard Brown, Ray Boudreaux, Hank Jones, and Richard O'Neal – demonstrate and come to court! Monday April 19 8:00 a.m. demonstration; 9:00 a.m. court SF Court Building: 850 Bryant Street (btw 6th and 7th streets), SF Enough is enough! It's time to drop the charges on Francisco Torres and the SF8! Attorney General Jerry Brown and the state of California have spent more than 2 million dollars to prosecute a 39-year-old case based on torture. The charges have already been dropped on 5 defendants and 2 more got probation – all because of lack of evidence. Now it's time for the case to be finished – all charges must be dropped on Francisco Torres as well. Let's show Jerry Brown and the prosecution that we won't stop until the last charges are dropped! For more information: http://www.freethesf8.org and http://www.freethesf8.blogspot.com.      Sin by Silence Screening at SF Women's Film Festival 9 April 2010 Friday, April 9, 2010 at 9:00 PM From the San Francisco Women's Film Festival Website: SAY NO TO VIOLENCE! Sin By Silence directed by Olivia Klaus brings the outside world into the California Institution for Women and introduces a group of women who were convicted of murdering their abusive husbands. While these women have been in this institution for over two decades, they have been living in their own prison for most of their lives. They were led to believe that they must be silent about their abuse, but they could only take it for so long.      CCWP at SF WAR's Walk Against Rape on 24 April 2010 The 5th Annual Walk Against Rape is being held April 24th, 2010. CCWP will be maintaining an information table as we have done in years past. We will share our information and bring awareness to survivors in prison. We will also have petitions to the governor to be signed for the release of several women inside. Information at: http://www.sfwar.org/walk/index.html.      AROC and ASATA release statements on homophobia, racism, and Islamophobia 29 March 2010 Today, the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) and Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA) each released the below statements on connections between homophobia, racism, and Islamophobia. from ASATA: "...the people--queer people, South Asian people, Muslim people--can reclaim our agency and work to end homophobia and Islamaphobia in the same breath." from AROC: "...we are working for the liberation of all peoples, and see our movements as inextricable from each other..."      Recent Event on March 11, 2010 The True Life Story of Becoming a Black Panther Keeping the Faith in Prison & Fighting for Those Left Behind Foreward by Angela Davis Afterword by Mumia Abu-Jamal Edited, with an Introduction by Laura Whitehorn Bay Area Release Event with Safiya Bukhari's Daughter, Wonda Jones Editor, Laura Whitehorn, Former Panther, Kiilu Nyasha and other guests Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 7 pm Women's Building - 3543 18th Street San Francisco endorsed by All of Us or None, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, Freedom Archives, Friends of Marilyn Buck, It's About Time & Out of Control Feminist Press - to order the book. Safiya Bukhari Website to view other Bay Area and National events and read reviews. www.freedomarchives.org/Safiya_event.html      Freedom for Margaret Moore! The following is a message from the Post Conviction Law Project asking the community to support Margaret Moore. Please send your letters of support for this incarcerated survivor of domestic violence! ******* My name is Erin McCann and I work for USC Law School's Post Conviction Justice Project. I am writing to you today on behalf of Margaret Moore, a battered and abused woman who has spent nearly thirty years in prison for killing her abusive husband. Margaret Moore is 50 year-old, non-violent survivor of domestic violence. As a child and adolescent, her father subjected her to countless instances of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Years later, after marrying the victim and distancing herself from her father, Margaret once again suffered severe abuse, this time at the hands of her husband. A May 2002 California Board of Prison Terms’ Investigation concluded that Margaret’s “horrific upbringing undoubtedly contributed” to her crime, and “years of incestuous physical and emotional abuse…ended her ability to, otherwise, logically seek an escape from her miserable existence in her marriage to the victim.” Click here to learn more      Thank you for the Benefit Concert! on Saturday, November 21, 2009 "Country” Joe McDonald performed: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie a benefit for the California Coalition for Women Prisoners "Country" Joe McDonald performed his critically acclaimed one man, spoken-word theatrical performance in tribute to Woody Guthrie with 13 songs by the American folk music hero. Sponsored by the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Social Justice Committee. Thank you for your support!      Charisse Shumate: Fighting for Our Lives film available online This 37-minute video was created in collaboration with the Freedom Archives and focuses on the life of Charisse Shumate and women in California State prisons. It includes amazing prison interviews as well as materials from State Senate hearings on conditions for women in the California State Prison System and historical video footage of Charisse and her family. You can watch the film in streaming video by clicking here. For more information on the film, click here.      2 More Lifer Parole Townhall Events: 7/18 Los Angeles and 8/08 Fresno In May, two amazing townhall events were held in San Francisco and Los Angeles to bring together the loved ones of Term-to-Life prisoners and their allies to work towards changing the system that has kept so many of our people locked up for so long. An article describing the Los Angeles townhall can be found here: "Prisoners' Rights: An Oxymoron?" To continue moving forward, two more townhall events are being held on July 18th in Watts and August 8th in Fresno. Please contact CCWP or the contacts listed on the flyer below for more information.      Lifers and Lifer Families and Friends: Parole Preparation Events Please join us at these important townhall events, co-organized by CCWP: From CCWP

From CCWP

Join parole experts, attorneys, advocates, and community members in parole preparation workshops:
Ø Learn about Proposition 9 (Marsy’s Law): How does it affect Term-to-Life prisoners? How does it change parole in California?
Ø Develop strategies to assist in Lifer releases—preparation for the parole board, legal remedies, and community organizing.
Ø Support our loved ones when they are released!
Ø Build a movement to win freedom for our loved ones!

San Francisco
When: Saturday May 16th, 1-4pm
Where: Goodwill, 1500 Mission St
between 11th and 12th Sts
San Francisco, CA 94103

Los Angeles
When: Saturday May 30th, 1-4pm
Where: Bernice Watkins Vision Center
10957 South Central Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90059

You may also contact CCWP at 415-255-7036 x314 for more information.

     Federal 3 Judge Panel Rules on Prison Overcrowding
California Must Reduce Number of People in Prison
On Monday, February 9, a tentative ruling was issued by the federal three judge panel stating that overcrowding is primary cause of the cruel and unusual conditions in California state prisons, and that they plan to order the state of California to reduce the population by roughly 55,000 people in the next 2 to 3 years. The ruling lists changes to parole practices, increasing "good time credits" for prisoners, and alternative sentencing as possible ways to reduce the population, all of which have been considered by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and Governor in recent years. The Governor declared a state of emergency in 2006 because of the “severe overcrowding” in California’s prisons, causing “substantial risk to the health and safety of the men and women who work inside these prisons and the inmates housed in them.”

This ruling is a major victory for prisoners, their loved ones, and advocates who in the face of retaliation and deliberate indifference from the CDCR have continued fighting for their constitutional and human rights.

However, the State plans to immediately appeal the decision to the Supreme Court which will mean that it will be some time before a population cap will be put into effect. It is vital that our communities continue to raise public awareness of conditions inside and organize to hold the system accountable to the suffering and death it has caused.

CCWP will continue to organize with people inside and their loved ones and advocates outside as this situation unfolds.

If you are interested in being involved with these efforts, please contact CCWP at 415-255-7036 x4 or at info@womenprisoners.org .

     Rally for Prisoner Releases Friday December 19th 8:30 AM
On Tuesday, November 18th the Federal three-judge panel began a month of hearings in San Francisco to deal with the continuing issue of prison overcrowding and the cruel and unusual conditions it creates for people imprisoned in California. We had an amazing rally on the first day of the trial with roughly 50 former prisoners, loved ones of prisoners, and our supporters demanding prisoner release and an end to the inhumane treatment of people inside.

This Friday December 19th will be the last day of these hearings and we want to make sure the voices of our loved ones inside are heard and let them know that the only solution to prison overcrowding is prisoner release!

The overwhelming defeat of Proposition 6 (he so-called "Safe Neighborhoods Act") sent a strong message that the public does not want to spend millions of more dollars on a failed prison system. Proposition 9, billed as a victims rights initiative, passed but only due to a well-funded media campaign filled with misleading information. Unless we challenge it now, prisoners will be incarcerated well beyond their mandated sentences.

Join loved ones, friends and advocates for people in California's prisons to demand:

PAROLE ELIGIBLE PRISONERS NOW!

RELEASE LOW-RISK AGING PRISONERS, INCARCERATED SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, AND MEDICALLY INCAPACITATED PRISONERS!

STOP THE CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT OF PEOPLE IN PRISON!

INVEST IN COMMUNITIES NOT IN PRISONS!

For more information about the rally, contact us at 415-255-7036 x314 or info@womenprisoners.org

For more information about the hearings, see the following news articles:

San Francisco Chronicle-November 18th, 2008-Prison Overcrowding Blamed for Health Woes

New York Times-December 7, 2008-Judges to Decide Whether Crowded California Prisons Are Unconstitutional

San Francisco Chronicle-December 15th, 2008-Jammed By Neglect

     Vote NO on Propositions 9 and 6!
Taking the lead from our members inside, CCWP is urging people to vote NO on California Propositions 9 and 6 this November 4! Propositions 9 would take away basic prisoner rights and lead to further overcrowding, while Proposition 6 would further criminalize youth, especially youth of color, and take needed funds from community programs.

     CCWP on Hard Knock Radio!
On the last Friday of every month at 4pm, the Without Walls radio show airs on KPFA during the Hard Knock Radio hour. Without Walls is a collaboration between Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, Free Battered Women, All of Us or None, and California Coalition for Women Prisoners. This month was CCWP's turn to host the show, with a focus on mental health issues in California women's prisons. You can listen to the show by clicking here .

     Maafa Awareness Month Events Organized by CCWP Advisory Board Member Wanda Sabir
October is Maafa Awareness Month. Maafa is a Kiswahili term for disaster, calamity or terrible occurrence. This term has been used to describe the European Slave trade or the Black Holocaust. For the past 12 years, this month is a time for the San Francisco Bay Area community to reflect on the legacy of slavery, its economic, political and social impact on the region and nation, and the residual psychological effects on descendants: perpetrators, victims, and beneficiaries. Maafa Awareness Month is a time to look at how Africans or Black people, in particular, can heal from the trauma.

     Save the Date!


     Mother Infant Facility Under Investigation
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) Family Foundation Program in San Diego, which allows women prisoners to be incarcerated with their children, is under investigation for severe child neglect and abuse by the San Diego Police Department. The investigation began in January when incarcerated mothers and their family members contacted Legal Services for Prisoners with Children to report the severe lack of medical care for their children. Child Protective Services is also investigating Family Foundations for its treatment of the children living there.

     Family Visiting Day 2007
CCWP held its third annual Family Visiting Day event this past February, providing transportation from both Oakland and Los Angeles to Central California Women’s Facility and Valley State Prison for Women, both in Chowchilla, to the loved ones of prisoners in each institution. The response this year was bigger than any previous year showing the enormous desire of women, transgender and gender variant prisoners and family members and loved ones of these prisoners to visit one another. This huge response also illustrates the absolute need many have for assistance in getting to the prisons, as the cost and distance of the trip is often prohibitive, especially considering the disproportionate number of people from poor communities and communities of color being locked up. The fact that we received information for over 800 visitors while we had the resources and capacity for only 170 shows how much this opportunity means to people in California women’s prisons and their loved ones on the outside.

     Fire Inside Tenth Anniversary Event
This year marked the tenth anniversary of the CCWP newsletter The Fire Inside. A celebration of this occasion was held on November 7, 2006 at the African American Art and Culture Complex in San Francisco. This amazing event featured author Alice Walker as our guest of honor who read from her recently released book We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For and shared her thoughts on the prison industrial complex, the oppression of political prisoners in the United States, and the current state of our world.

     2006 Family Visiting Day
CCWP started Family Visiting Day in 2005 when we realized how many women were not getting regular visits from their families because of the difficulties involved with transportation to the prisons. In 2005, we brought families from the Bay Area but this year we expanded the event to include a bus from Los Angeles. We spent several months raising money, getting donations of food, collecting names and information from families who were interested in participating, researching chartered bus companies and working on dozens of other details to make it all possible. Some families were picked up by volunteers and some got to the meeting places on their own. There were packets of information which included descriptions of CCWP’s programs for each family, as well as healthy snacks, and crayons, paper and flash cards for the kids to pass the time on the long bus ride there. Although everyone was sleepy because of the early hour, you could feel the excitement running up and down the aisles!

     Martha Fernández (en Español)
Martha Fernández, quien estuvo prisionera en el VSPW, murió el Lunes 12 de Diciembre del 2005, después de haber sido atendida en la sala de emergencies del hospital de la comunidad en la ciudad de Madero. Su cuerpo fue trasportado y entregado a su familia en la ciudad de Watsonville; y ellos procedieron con los arreglos para su funeral el día Viernes 16 de Diciembre del 2005. Inmediatamente después del funeral, la funeraria le informó a la familia que no pudrían enterraria por no haber recibido el certificado de defunción propiamente firmado. La familia, naturalmente, se indignó. La familia, quienes inmigraron de Mexico y tienen conocimiento limitado en el idioma ingles, no solamente sufrieron la inesperada muerte de su hija, pero tampoco la pudieron enterrar en el tiempo y manera esperada.

     Martha Fernandez
Martha Fernandez, who was a prisoner at VSPW, died on Monday, December 12, 2005 after having been treated in the emergency room of Madera Community Hospital. Her body was transported to her family in Watsonville and they proceeded to schedule a funeral for Friday December 16th. Immediately after the funeral, the mortuary informed the family that they could not bury Ms. Fernandez because they had not received a signed death certificate. The family was, of course, extremely upset. The family, which is of immigrant background with limited English knowledge, not only suffered the unexpected death of their daughter but were also unable to bury their loved one in a timely, compassionate manner.


     CCWP's 10th Anniversary Celebration
CCWP celebrated our 10th year anniversary on June 9, 2005. The event, held at the African American Art and Culture Complex in San Francisco, opened with a dedication to women inside.

     Charisse Shumate: Fighting For Our Lives
This 37-minute video was created in collaboration with the Freedom Archives and focuses on the life of Charisse Shumate and women in California State prisons. It includes amazing prison interviews as well as materials from State Senate hearings on conditions for women in the California State Prison System and historical video footage of Charisse and her family.

     Compañeras
Compañeras es un proyecto que nace de la necesidad de levantar nuestras voces por justicia, dignidad y por la defensa de nuestros derechos humanos como mujeres inmigrantes, latinas y chicanas, dentro de un sistema que pretende subordinar y quebrar nuestras fortalezas como comunidad, cultura y raza.

     Compañeras project
Compañeras is a project born from the necessity of raising our voices for justice, dignity and the defense of our human rights as immigrant Latina and Chicana women within a system that seeks to subordinate and brake our strengths as a community, culture and race. The focus of this project is on our compañeras inside prison. Freedom is denied to them because of the injustices of a system that blames them for surviving the difficulties that are put in their way as Latina and immigrant women.

     Locked up - Locked down: A mother’s love for her child
An article by an incarcerated mother about not giving up hope for her child.

     Loving in the War Years: Black women loving women in the War on Drugs
An article by CCWP's own Christina Wilson, which was published in Arise Magazine.

     Open letter to women of color from women prisoners
Beverly Henry's open letter to women of color on the outside.

     Ellen Richardson's statement for May 8, 2003 rally for Education Not Incarceration
On May 8th, 2003, teachers, students, parents and concerned community members from across California rallied at the state capitol to advocate for education funding over prison spending. This statement from Ellen Richardson, a prisoner incarcerated at VSPW, was included in various activities at the rally.

     CCWP Volunteer Night
Come help us support women prisoners in California by fighting against inhumane prison conditions, and our unjust criminal justice system at CCWP’s Volunteer Night.

     Interested in being a penpal for an incarcerated woman?
Information about the Action Committee for Women in Prison Pen Pal Project.

     How to become a penpal for an incarcerated woman
Some practical information and general prison rules.

     No Pride in Davis' Prison State
On October 7, queers and their allies demonstrated against Governor Gray Davis' prison policies during a fundraiser at the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center.

     Attack on Prisoner Rights Advocates
The California Department of Corrections is attempting to pass a set of regulations which would severely limit prisoners' access to legal services and advocacy.

     Wanted - Justice in the Desert
The Struggle Continues for Humane Treatment inside the Skilled Nursing Facility at Chowchilla

     Giving Birth to Justice in the Desert
A report from a CCWP-sponsored demonstration in Chowchilla protesting the health care crisis and deaths of women prisoners in the SNF.

     Protesters rally against no-parole policy
A report of a statewide protest demanding that Governor Davis release battered women prisoners and end his illegal no-parole policy.

     Legislative Hearings: Speaking Truth to Power
Courageous women testify on medical and sexual abuse before legislative committee.

     Legislative Hearings: Battered Women Speak

     Legislative Hearings: Women Prisoners Tell It Like It Is

     Amnesty International Report
For the first time, Amnesty International has launched a year-long campaign that focuses on Human Rights Abuses in the United States.

     PARC News
Prison Activist Resource Center maintains a news page for women prisoners.