[Ppnews] Starving for change: Hunger strike underway since June 10 in Georgia’s Jackson State Prison

[Political Prisoner News]

<http://sfbayview.com/2012/starving-for-change-hunger-strike-underway-since-june-10-in-georgias-jackson-state-prison/>Starving 
for change: Hunger strike underway since June 10 
in Georgia’s Jackson State Prison

July 2, 2012
http://sfbayview.com/2012/starving-for-change-hunger-strike-underway-since-june-10-in-georgias-jackson-state-prison/

by Black Agenda Report managing editor Bruce A. Dixon

This is the photo of Miguel Jackson after he was 
beaten with a hammer-like weapon. Guards 
suspected he was a leader of the mass sit-down 
strike in Georgia prisons on Dec. 9, 2010.
Since June 10, according to accounts from 
prisoners and their families and Rev. Kenneth 
Glasgow of 
<http://www.wearetops.org/pages/Home/Home_Page.htm>The 
Ordinary Peoples Society and the Prodigal Child 
Project, an undetermined number of prisoners at 
Georgia’s massive Diagnostic and Classification 
Prison near the city of Jackson have been on a hunger strike.

Back in December 2010, Black, Brown and white 
inmates in several Georgia prisons 
<http://blackagendareport.com/category/us-politics/georgia-prison-strike>staged 
a peaceful protest, remaining in their dorms and 
cells rather than go to meals or work 
assignments. Their reasonable demands included 
wages for work, speedier and more transparent 
status reviews, decent food, real medical care, a 
more sane visitation policy and the availability 
of educational and vocational programs behind the walls.

State corrections officials responded with 
temporary cutoffs of heat, water and electricity 
in some buildings, along with an orgy of savage 
assaults and beatings across multiple 
institutions statewide. In one instance, 
corrections officials apparently conspired to 
conceal the whereabouts and condition of one 
prisoner who lingered near death in a coma for 
most of a week while they shuffled him hundreds 
of miles between prisons and hospitals.

State corrections say they rounded up 37 whom 
they believed were the strike leaders and put 
them under close confinement at Jackson, the same 
prison where Troy Davis was executed last year. 
Most of these prisoners have remained there in 
close confinement, with severely restricted 
access to visits, communication and their 
attorneys, and without medical attention for the past 18 months.

Some of these men are the Jackson State prison 
hunger strikers. After two weeks, according to 
the families of Miguel Jackson and Preston 
Whiting, they are weak from hunger and subject to 
fainting spells. But they seem to believe they 
have little to lose. They are, a letter from one 
of them asserts, “starving for change.” There 
were originally 10 of them, but some may have 
been transferred out, and some other prisoners 
joined the strike. We hope to have clearer information soon.

They are demanding access to proper hygiene, 
medical treatment for their numerous and severe 
injuries, many of which were inflicted 18 months 
ago, the restoration of their visiting and 
communications rights and access to their meager 
personal property. They and their attorneys 
insist that the Georgia Department of Corrections 
follow its own published procedures requiring a 
status review of every inmate in punitive 
isolation every 30 days. They further insist that 
such evaluations be public and transparent so as 
to preclude the possibility of prejudicial 
conduct on the party of prison officials.

One of the strikers is Miguel Jackson, who was 
taken in handcuffs from his cell at Smith State 
Prison 18 months ago, removed to a secluded area 
out of range of the video cameras that monitor 
almost every inch of most Georgia prisons, and 
beaten with a hammer-like object. Jackson is one 
of several brutalized prisoners whose injuries have been untreated since.

Despite a blizzard of demands by his attorney, 
<http://www.socialistalternative.org/news/article15.php?id=1866>prison 
officials have refused Jackson and other 
prisoners medical attention for months. And 
although they have not eaten in two weeks, 
Jackson’s wife said, at the nine-day mark when 
medical necessity usually demands prisoners be 
removed to the infirmary, prison officials simply 
told Jackson, “You’re going to die,” and left it at that.


Some of these men are the Jackson State prison 
hunger strikers. After two weeks, according to 
the families of Miguel Jackson and Preston 
Whiting, they are weak from hunger and subject to 
fainting spells. But they seem to believe they 
have little to lose. They are, a letter from one 
of them asserts, “starving for change.”

“Most of civilized humanity regards extended 
solitary confinement as a crime,” said Rev. 
Kenneth Glasgow. “No less an establishment figure 
than Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., convened 
an extraordinary public hearing on the subject 
less than a week ago. We are calling on the 
governor to ensure proper medical treatment for 
the hunger strikers, to restore their visitation 
and other rights and to end their punitive confinement without delay.

“We hope that people around the state and around 
the country will call the prison, the Department 
of Corrections and Georgia’s governor to express 
their concern for the well-being of the prisoners 
on hunger strike, and we further hope that they 
will join us on Monday, July 2, for a day-long 
fast in solidarity with the Georgia prisoners who 
are only insisting upon their dignity, their 
humanity, their legal and human rights.”


How you can help

We at BAR and the Georgia Green Party hope that 
you will take the time today and tomorrow to do four things:

1. Call, email and/or fax the numbers below. 
Politely convey your deep concern for the welfare 
of the prison hunger strikers at Georgia 
Diagnostic Prison, especially Mr. Jackson. We 
believe there are about 10 of them.

2. 
<http://endmassincarceration.org/content/sign-petition-stop-torture-georgia-prisons>Sign 
the petition to Georgia’s governor demanding an 
end to the torture of solitary confinement and 
punitive isolation in its state prisons at 
<http://endmassincarceration.org/content/sign-petition-stop-torture-georgia-prisons>http://endmassincarceration.org/content/sign-petition-stop-torture-georgia-priso

3. Forward this article and the link to it to all 
your friends, family and co-workers and ask them 
to do the same. Send or carry a copy to your 
pastor and ask him to mention the fast on Sunday, 
and invite him to fast that day as well.

4. Participate in the July 2 solidarity fast with 
Georgia’s prisoners who are standing up for their 
human rights across lines of race and religion. 
The prisoners, like the rest of us, are Black, 
Brown and white and of varying religious beliefs.


We demand justice for Miguel and the hunger strikers

by Delma Jackson, wife of Miguel Jackson

In January 1994, the “Georgia General Assembly 
passed Senate Bill 440, which gives the 
Superior/Adult Court exclusive jurisdiction over 
youth ages 13 to 17 who have been arrested for 
one of seven violent offenses, otherwise known as 
the 
“<http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_Georgia_7_deadly_sins#ixzz1yUKI5Kmq>Seven 
Deadly Sins.” These crimes include murder, rape, 
armed robbery (with a firearm), aggravated child 
molestation, aggravated sodomy, aggravated sexual 
battery and voluntary manslaughter,” according to 
<http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_Georgia_7_deadly_sins#ixzz1yUKI5Kmq>Wiki.answers.com.

In 1995 Miguel was convicted of armed robbery; it 
was his first offense, and he waived his right to 
a jury trial. He was convicted and sentenced by 
Judge William Daniel under the Georgia Seven 
Deadly Sins law. Judge Daniel was unfamiliar with 
the new law and he somehow thought that Miguel 
would be eligible for parole after 10 years. The 
Seven Deadly Sins law states that parole is not 
an option. Judge Daniel passed away two years 
after he sentenced Miguel, and we have been 
unable to get his sentenced corrected.


The day that shook our world

On Dec. 31, 2010, Miguel was handcuffed and 
beaten by correctional officers at Smith State 
Prison. He was taken to the hospital and treated 
for his injuries. That night they took Miguel 
back to Smith State Prison. The following morning 
someone took pictures of Miguel and sent them to 
his mother and I. We immediately drove to Smith 
State Prison and attempted to visit with Miguel 
because it was our visitation day. The prison 
authorities refused to allow us to visit with him 
despite our deep concerns for Miguel’s safety.

They told us that Miguel was OK and nothing had 
happened to him. Unbeknownst to them, we had 
pictures that said otherwise. We asked them to 
just let us see him to give us peace of mind and 
they refused. They advised us that Warden Donnie 
Thompson had given them orders that if we did not 
leave, they would call the police and have us arrested.

Needless to say, we left and headed back to 
Atlanta to find help for Miguel. We contacted 
Channel 11 News and they got us in contact with 
the NAACP. We retained our attorney, Mario 
Williams, on Monday Jan. 3, 2011. The following 
day he went to visit with Miguel, and Warden 
Donnie Thompson refused to let him speak with his client.

Mr. Williams left and spoke with the Superior 
Court judge of Tattnall County. He showed the 
judge the pictures of Miguel, and the judge 
called the prison and instructed Warden Thompson 
to allow Mr. Williams to see his client. Mr. 
Williams returned to the prison and Warden 
Thompson would not let him see Miguel.

The head attorney for the Georgia Department of 
Corrections contacted Warden Thompson and 
instructed him to allow Mr. Williams to see 
Miguel and the warden still refused. Mr. Williams 
was informed that they would make a way for him 
to see his client and assured him that Miguel 
would be moved immediately. He also advised Mr. 
Williams that he would be able to visit Miguel 
the following day at the new institution. Miguel 
was transferred to GDCP in Jackson, Georgia, 
where he has been since Jan. 4, 2011.

Miguel suffers daily for the injuries he 
sustained at Smith State Prison. He has chronic 
migraine headaches, a broken nose, and he suffers 
from post-traumatic syndrome. He still has the 
hammer indentations in his head. He has been 
complaining about the headaches and has been told 
that he would be seeing a neurologist, which still hasn’t happened.

The medication he was recently given for his 
headaches is actually Neurontin. Neurontin 
(gabapentin) is an anti-epileptic medication, 
also called an anticonvulsant. It affects 
chemicals and nerves in the body that are 
involved in the cause of seizures and some types 
of pain. Neurontin is also used in adults to 
treat nerve pain caused by herpes virus or 
shingles (herpes zoster). Why would they give him 
Neurontin medicine when he is complaining of 
severe headaches and pain in his knees?

On Sunday, June 11, nine inmates along with 
Miguel declared a hunger strike, stating that they “are starving for change.”

In response to the 2010 Georgia prison strike, 
several solidarity actions were held around the 
country. Here, protesters from the Concerned 
Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights and All of 
Us or None of Us rally at the Mound Road prison in Detroit on Dec. 14, 2010.
The failure to treat Miguel for the injuries he 
sustained at the hands of the Georgia Department 
of Corrections (GDOC) officers has caused extreme 
stress and worry for the our family. The GDOC 
don’t even follow their own Standard Operating 
Procedure (SOP), examples below:
    * Ref# II0090001 Section N-8: Inmates shall 
be assigned all of his or her property consistent 
with the length of assignment and security need 
of the unit. (Inmates are not given their property.)
    * Section N-5: Visitation shall be the same 
as the general population. (General population 
has open visitation; Miguel’s visits are behind a glass.)
    * Section N-10: Inmates may order items from 
the commissary. Items for the commissary may be 
withheld if determined by the Correctional 
Supervisor to be a threat to the security of the 
Administrative Segregation Unit.
    * Exercise shall be available five hours per 
week, one hour per day. (This is not happening: 
there is a shortage of guards, so inmates are not given time to exercise.)
Miguel has been held in maximum security for 18 
months. He is being punished for officers beating 
him, and the officers are going on with their 
lives as if nothing happened. Where is the justice in that?


Urgent action needed!

We must demand justice for Miguel Jackson and 
other Georgia state prisoners who are being 
targeted and brutalized for exposing their 
inhumane conditions and standing up for their most basic human rights.

On Dec. 17, 2010, eight days after the strike, 
Oaklanders rallied and marched through a driving 
rainstorm – Jabari Shaw in the lead – in 
solidarity with the striking prisoners in Georgia. – Photo: Malaika Kambon
Pastor Glasgow is organizing a solidarity fasting 
for the hunger strike inmates, including Miguel 
Jackson, and against the inhumane torturous acts 
of Georgia prison officials. He’s hosting a rally 
at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta on 
Friday, June 29, 2012, from 12-2 p.m. Pastor 
Glasgow is calling on all to come and stand with 
him and other groups for Miguel Jackson and all 
inmates being treated wrongly throughout the country.

Please immediately make phone calls and send 
emails and/or letters to Department of 
Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens, as well as 
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (contact info listed 
below). Also, help spread the word by re-posting 
this solidarity appeal on blogs, email lists, 
social media etc. If you are part of an 
organization, send letters and make calls in the name of your group.

Please send copies of protest letters to 
<mailto:nysocialists at hotmail.com>nysocialists at hotmail.com. 
For more information, contact Socialist 
Alternative at (206) 526-7185 or 
<mailto:info at socialistalternative.org>info at socialistalternative.org.


We must demand justice for Miguel Jackson and 
other Georgia state prisoners who are being 
targeted and brutalized for exposing their 
inhumane conditions and standing up for their most basic human rights.

Register your protest and support for the 10 GDCP 
hunger strikers and demand justice by contacting:
    * Georgia Diagnostic and Classification 
Prison, Hwy 36 West, P.O. Box 3877, Jackson GA 
30233, phone (770) 504-2000, fax (770) 504-2006
    * Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens, at
        * (478) 992-5258 (This is the number for 
Owens’ administrative assistant, Peggy Chapman. 
Urge her to give him the message.)
        * (478) 992-5367 (This is the Office of 
the Ombudsman, which is the official channel for 
raising concerns over prisoner treatment)
    * Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, at (404) 
656-1776, by fax at (404) 657-7332, online at 
<http://gov.georgia.gov/00/gov/contact_us/0,2657,165937316_166563415,00.html>http://gov.georgia.gov/00/gov/contact_us/0,2657,165937316_166563415,00.html 
or by mail to Office of the Gov. Nathan Deal, 
State of Georgia, 203 State Capitol, Atlanta, GA 30334.




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