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Prisoner Solidarity Rally and March to Santa Cruz County Jail
Sin Barras, a community-based group that works to build coalitions to eradicate the prison industrial-complex, held a rally and march on Saturday, April 6, 2013, starting at the clock tower in downtown Santa Cruz. Sin Barras demands that, "Santa Cruz County officials provide real healthcare within the county jail, eliminate pretrial detention, and reallocate jail funding to create drug treatment centers and welfare programs outside of Santa Cruz County Jail."
[Photo: A demonstrator holds a sign in front of the clock tower stating, "Invest in schools and mental health. Not Prisons!"]
Since August 2012, at least four people have died inside the Santa Cruz County Jail from lack of medical care: Christy Sanders, Rick Prichard, Brant Monnet, and Bradley Gordon Dreher. In July 2012, the Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors voted to outsource county jail medical care to Monterey-based California Forensic Medical Group. CFMG provides services for 25 California counties and has an extensive history of lawsuits against them related to inadequate care, inmate abuse, and neglect.
Critical Resistance, an Oakland-based national organization dedicated to opposing the expansion of the prison industrial complex, defines the prison industrial complex (PIC) as the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social and political problems.
Through its reach and impact, the PIC helps and maintains the authority of people who get their power through racial, economic and other privileges. There are many ways this power is collected and maintained through the PIC, including creating mass media images that keep alive stereotypes of people of color, poor people, queer people, immigrants, youth, and other oppressed communities as criminal, delinquent, or deviant.
This power is also maintained by earning huge profits for private companies that deal with prisons and police forces; helping earn political gains for “tough on crime” politicians; increasing the influence of prison guard and police unions; and eliminating social and political dissent by oppressed communities that make demands for self-determination and reorganization of power in the US.
Since August 2012, at least four people have died inside the Santa Cruz County Jail from lack of medical care: Christy Sanders, Rick Prichard, Brant Monnet, and Bradley Gordon Dreher. In July 2012, the Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors voted to outsource county jail medical care to Monterey-based California Forensic Medical Group. CFMG provides services for 25 California counties and has an extensive history of lawsuits against them related to inadequate care, inmate abuse, and neglect.
Critical Resistance, an Oakland-based national organization dedicated to opposing the expansion of the prison industrial complex, defines the prison industrial complex (PIC) as the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social and political problems.
Through its reach and impact, the PIC helps and maintains the authority of people who get their power through racial, economic and other privileges. There are many ways this power is collected and maintained through the PIC, including creating mass media images that keep alive stereotypes of people of color, poor people, queer people, immigrants, youth, and other oppressed communities as criminal, delinquent, or deviant.
This power is also maintained by earning huge profits for private companies that deal with prisons and police forces; helping earn political gains for “tough on crime” politicians; increasing the influence of prison guard and police unions; and eliminating social and political dissent by oppressed communities that make demands for self-determination and reorganization of power in the US.
For more information:
http://bradleystuart.net/
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Thanks, Bradley (and Alex) for showing the energy, engagement and passion of this event. Your contributions continue to be important and noteworthy. Proud to be a part of this as a "demonstrator".
Recently Norse (of HUFF) approached me, asking if I had any preference for HUFF speakers (on my behalf, being a Santa Cruz County fugitive dreamer and all) for the Sin Barras event.
I suggested Razer Ray, thinking that an informed, thoughtful, controversial, and articulate homeless person might wake up the crowd. Then I remembered that HUFF doesn't appeal to Razer. Oh well.
Becky's OK, I guess, although the follow up fact checking gets tedious. For example; as far as I know (as told to me by Ed, the lawyer), the 2nd case appeal was heard before a Santa Cruz appellate panel (2 out of 3 anyway) that _failed to reach a decision_. Ed has even filed a petition for rehearing. Maybe that is my fault, I haven't blogged about it yet, so unless Becky listened to Ed before speaking at the Sin Barras event, how would she know any better?
I suggested Razer Ray, thinking that an informed, thoughtful, controversial, and articulate homeless person might wake up the crowd. Then I remembered that HUFF doesn't appeal to Razer. Oh well.
Becky's OK, I guess, although the follow up fact checking gets tedious. For example; as far as I know (as told to me by Ed, the lawyer), the 2nd case appeal was heard before a Santa Cruz appellate panel (2 out of 3 anyway) that _failed to reach a decision_. Ed has even filed a petition for rehearing. Maybe that is my fault, I haven't blogged about it yet, so unless Becky listened to Ed before speaking at the Sin Barras event, how would she know any better?
For more information:
http://PeaceCamp2010insider.blogspot.com/
Ed Frey's Petition for Rehearing as well as his account of the almost perfunctory dismissal of the case by Judges Symons and Volkman can be found at http://www.fullspectrumdemocracy.org/2013/04/appellants-petition-for-rehearing.html .
While I admire Ed's persistence, I'm doubtful he can get anywhere given the court system as predisposed to rubberstamp prosecutions however far-fetched with few exceptions. Still Ed's arguments are reasonable and persuasive. If only power listened to reason.
Ed did not that the appeal did not get the immediate rejection that a prior verbal appeal brought. He suggested to me that his having written out the whole thing may cause they to tread more carefully and perhaps even reverse themselves.
Which would, I assume, give Ed a chance to reargue a case before a wretched judiciary predisposed against ordinary people--forget about homeless people and political acitivists.
Still Roman tyranny and imperialism was not torn down in a day. Good luck to Ed and Gary.
While I admire Ed's persistence, I'm doubtful he can get anywhere given the court system as predisposed to rubberstamp prosecutions however far-fetched with few exceptions. Still Ed's arguments are reasonable and persuasive. If only power listened to reason.
Ed did not that the appeal did not get the immediate rejection that a prior verbal appeal brought. He suggested to me that his having written out the whole thing may cause they to tread more carefully and perhaps even reverse themselves.
Which would, I assume, give Ed a chance to reargue a case before a wretched judiciary predisposed against ordinary people--forget about homeless people and political acitivists.
Still Roman tyranny and imperialism was not torn down in a day. Good luck to Ed and Gary.
SC courts are a joke. the judges depend on reelection by a majority to keep their jobs
so minorities like the homeless get screwed out of their rights. Federal courts are our only
hope, and that remains a slim hope at best.
i believe there will soon be a black bloc action on related jail issues.
so minorities like the homeless get screwed out of their rights. Federal courts are our only
hope, and that remains a slim hope at best.
i believe there will soon be a black bloc action on related jail issues.
What would Santa Cruz look like refashioned in SCPD Deputy Chief Steve Clark's utopian dreams?
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