For Immediate Release: There is a life-threatening massive outbreak of COVID-19 at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF), California’s largest women’s prison. In the past two weeks, there have been 500 new COVID-19 cases, representing 25% of the population at CCWF.
We cannot overstate the gravity of trying to survive a pandemic in prisons that were already a public health crisis, under the watch of guards who do not value your life, in an institution with medical care that is either horrible or non-existent. But in all the darkness, we were amazed by the light—the courage, resilience, collective care, and fighting spirit of our currently incarcerated members.
We are excited to announce that February 23 thought February 25 will be a Week of Digital Action for the Racial Justice Act for All, AB 256 (Kalra). Please join us in support of this groundbreaking legislation and send in a letter as soon as possible.
Please consider donating to support a CCWP member of 17 years. Valerie is about to celebrate six months of freedom! Due to the pandemic and the difficulties of reentry, finding stable income has been a challenge.
Valentine’s Actions: Show your love and solidarity with incarcerated & criminalized people with these five actions. Actions extend beyond Valentine’s Day, so show your love today.
Following a number of speakers, including Courtney and Aminah from CCWP, a car caravan Sunday marked the latest attempt to draw attention to the plight of the state’s incarcerated population amid major prison and jail outbreaks of COVID-19, a debate that’s drawn new attention as limited supplies of the vaccine are distributed among at-risk populations.
Las sobrevivientes cuentan las condiciones a las que fueron sometidas y las secuelas que aún persisten incluso después de recuperarse. / In an interview with Univision News 14, the survivors describe how those who tested positive for the virus were punished and how the aftermath haunts them even after recovering.
Aminah Elster says CCWP is working to “wrap up our efforts to maintain communication with folks on the inside, and also fighting to make sure that they are not overlooked in this pandemic.” The group is growing their pen pal training program since there is currently no in-person visitation, continuing their “survival and release advocacy work,” and raising money in response to COVID to help currently and formerly incarcerated people with their necessities.
Winter Storm Uri left the federal medical camp at Carswell, and the 1066 women confined there, without heat or hot water during a frigid weekend that dropped as log as 5 degrees Fahrenheit. “If They Can’t Take Care of Us, Release Us”.
New Jersey needs a new public advocate to help protect inmates and people in other state-run facilities, three lawmakers said, arguing more oversight is needed after last month’s assault on inmates at the women’s prison and the apparent failure of the state to reach a settlement with federal authorities over problems at the facility.
Before America’s era of mass incarceration took hold in the early 1970s, the number of individuals in prison was less than 200,000. Today, it’s 1.4 million; and more than 200,000 people are serving life sentences – one out of every seven in prison. More people are sentenced to life in prison in America than there were people in prison serving any sentence in 1970.
