together, fearless and unified
Health Justice Beyond Prisons, Police, and Borders-
Abolitionist frameworks and practices from clinicians, organizers, and incarcerated activists.
CCWP members Aminah Elster and Jen James are contributors to this anthology and are featured in their chapter, “Medical Neglect as Carceral Violence.
For more information click below.
SACRAMENTO—Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) today released the following statement in response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s signing Assembly Bill 137:
“We thank Governor Newsom for his leadership in swiftly signing AB 137, and we applaud the Legislature for working diligently and decisively to meet the urgency of this moment. This bill reflects the kind of principled, proactive governance Californians expect. Gov. Newsom’s decision to sign it sends a clear message that our state will not be complicit in federal detention expansion.
“AB 137 gives California new tools to prevent ICE from taking over closed state prison sites––including the ability to sell, lease, or dispose of properties once CDCR declares them excess to state needs, to begin leasing immediately, and to prohibit any future carceral or detention use.
“This is a strong first step. Now we urge the Governor to use this authority without delay, starting with Chuckawalla Valley State Prison (CVSP), which closed in 2024 and is already being eyed for ICE use.
“California has spent more than $300 million maintaining mothballed prisons, even as we face a $28 billion structural budget deficit. The Legislative Analyst’s Office has urged further closures. Immediately placing former prison sites like CVSP into the AB 137 process would reduce costs while locking out ICE.
“We also urge the Governor and state leaders to stay vigilant as ICE targets other sites, including federal facilities like FCI Dublin and formerly leased state prisons like California City Correctional Facility. AB 137 shows what California can do when action is necessary, but it will take sustained leadership to ensure that no facility in this state, under any jurisdiction, is reopened to cage our neighbors and loved ones.”
By Julia Marnin
February 5, 2025
If women needed gynecological care at an all-female prison in southern California, their only option was to see the sole gynecologist on staff — a doctor now accused of sexually and physically abusing scores of patients.
Dr. Scott Lee performed abusive, invasive and unnecessary exams on pregnant women and others incarcerated at the California Institution for Women in Chino, a new federal class-action lawsuit says.
Lee’s patients endured harmful pelvic examinations, pap smears, sexualized digital penetration, physical restraint and retaliation, along with being denied medical care at the facility, where he was the only gynecologist from 2016 to 2023, according to a complaint filed Feb. 2. The lawsuit was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.
To read the full article in the Sacramento Bee, click here.
By Douglas Yoshida
June 12, 2025
As the child of Japanese Americans who were detained for years by the U.S. government, I have witnessed the violent suppression of protests in Los Angeles against Immigration and Customs Enforcement with shock and anger. ICE’s brutal tactics, separation of families and demonizing rhetoric are reflective of a system that is fundamentally flawed and inhumane. That’s why people in California have been organizing for decades to get ICE out of our communities — and are currently filling the streets in protest.
Here in the Bay Area, there’s one disturbing Trump administration plan in particular worth fighting: making sure the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin — a former Bureau of Prisons facility — does not reopen as an ICE detention center.
In April of 2024, FCI Dublin closed amidst rampant abuse. From 2019 to 2021, at least eight employees at the prison, including the former warden and chaplain, were charged with sexual misconduct. Seven of the employees were found guilty and an eighth will go to trial this fall. In many instances, noncitizens incarcerated at the prison were specifically targeted for abuse by staff, who threatened to turn them over to ICE or made false promises that they could help them stay in the United States in exchange for sexual acts.
Read the full article from the SF Chronicle here.
SUBMIT RESUME AND COVER LETTER BY –
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
Job Opening: STATEWIDE COORDINATOR
40 hr./week position with full benefits
The person in this position needs to live in California and be able to travel as needed to different parts of the state. The position is primarily remote except for in-person travel.
CCWP is a grassroots abolitionist organization, with members inside and outside prison, that challenges the institutional violence imposed on women, transgender people, and communities of color by the prison industrial complex (PIC).
We are looking for a passionate, formerly incarcerated/systems impacted person who can coordinate the development of CCWP’s new statewide Hub structure. As a result of the growth of our organization over the past several years and the release of more people from women’s prisons in California who live in different areas of the state, CCWP is initiating a new structure which will promote the establishment of CCWP Hubs in additional areas such as the Central Valley, Inland Empire, and San Diego. Historically CCWP has been based in the Bay Area and in Los Angeles.
The Hubs will engage in local activities that are connected to CCWP’s mission and statewide programs. Possible local activities would include welcome home gatherings for formerly incarcerated people, connecting formerly incarcerated people with local re-entry resources, providing court support and participatory defense resources to people in local jails, and working with local elected officials to advance criminal legal reform work on a local level.
The coordinator will be responsible for supporting the development of new Hubs through statewide outreach, processing applications for new Hubs, liaising with Hub point people and ensuring the ongoing interconnections between the Hubs, CCWP’s Coordinating Committee and the statewide organization. The Hub coordinator will work closely with CCWP’s membership coordinator on building out the Hubs.
The coordinator will also be responsible for the coordination of CCWP’s Across the Walls prison legal visiting program at CCWF and CIW. All of CCWP’s work is guided by people inside women’s prisons and legal visits are an essential part of our work. Our legal visits are conducted by legal assistants with the guidance of CCWP’s supervising attorney. The prison visiting coordinator will be responsible for coordinating the scheduling of legal visits in conjunction with the team leads for CCWF and CIW. They will also help train new legal assistants, ensure the maintenance of electronic files for the people whom we visit and provide guidance for prison visit follow-up. They will work with the Writing Warriors correspondence team to ensure coordination between these two main programs in which CCWP provides communication and advocacy with people in women’s prisons.
Black, Latinx and other People of Color who are formerly incarcerated or loved ones of incarcerated people are strongly encouraged to apply.
CCWP’s Mission, Goals and Programs.
We are looking for someone who shares:
Responsibilities
Qualifications
Annual salary: Starting salary $76,000 with increase after three month successful completion of orientation period. Full package health benefits, vacation and sick leave from the start of employment.
TO APPLY: SEND RESUME AND COVER LETTER DESCRIBING YOUR RELEVANT EXPERIENCE AND WHAT INTERESTS YOU ABOUT THE POSITION BY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2024 TO: