Hunger strike in California prisons prompts medical watch
SACRAMENTO — State corrections officials said Friday that 7,667 inmates remained on hunger strike for a fifth day as part of a protest at two-thirds of California’s prisons — down from more than 12,000 Thursday — and medical observation of those who are refusing meals has begun.
Following its own protocol, the court-appointed receiver for prison healthcare is sending nurses to facilities where the strike participants are housed to watch for signs of distress.
“Some are refusing treatment,” said Liz Gransee, spokeswoman for the federal receiver, J. Clark Kelso. That can mean declining to speak with a nurse, rejecting medication or skipping a previously scheduled medical appointment.
About 1,200 inmates, meanwhile, continued to boycott their assigned prison jobs or classes as part of the mass protest, corrections officials said.
Spokesman Jeffrey Callison said the work stoppages and meal strike had not otherwise caused disruptions, and the protest remained peaceful.
“I have not heard of anything out of the ordinary,” Callison said.
Officials have told inmates that the state regards the protest, which focuses on conditions in solitary confinement, the quality of prison food and other issues, as a “mass disturbance.”
The response by authorities could result in cell confinement, seizure of private food supplies and violation reports that could eventually affect a prisoner’s chances of parole.
California’s Catholic bishops called Friday for Gov. Jerry Brown to examine the use of solitary confinement.
“No one affected by crime is helped when a human being is subjected to this inhumane form of punishment,” the bishops said in a statement issued by the California Catholic Conference. “It is time for change now.”
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