Our Protest appeared on the National AP Wire Services, newspaper, radio and televison
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A UNION Action Against broken family ties caused by California's prison policies
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The Protest was covered by the Salinas Californian and Associated Press. UNION Director Rev. B. Cayenne Bird is interviewed here by journalist Sunita Vijayan.
Salinas Valley Prison Protest Decries Visiting Abuses to Families
History was made on August 27, 2006. Elderly and ailing Mothers and other family members of the UNION confronted the notoriously abusive Salinas Valley Green Wall Prison Guards.
On Sunday, August 27, 2006 U.N.I.O.N. family members of prisoners demanded the firing of Visiting Sgt. K. Nuckles This is the first time a successful protest was ever held at Salinas Valley Prison and Ca. Training Facility, two prisons on the same grounds. One of the most shocking points of this protest was the prison's attempt to intimidate. There was an incredible police presence behind the walls that the media could not see. This tactic worked on other protesters in the past, but not the mature mothers and fathers and other family members of the UNION.
To view some of our other campaigns since 1998 www.1union1.com/index.htm.
Or email Rev. B. Cayenne Bird
At the beginning of the protest, a team of UNION members with loved ones inside Salinas Valley distributed information to more than 100 family members parked alongside the road IN THE DARK. Mostly young women with children, elderly parents and other family members must line up beginning at midnight to get a visit due to the ridiculously long processing time it takes. While these family members are lined up, there is no place nearby for them to use the toilet.
After waiting all night long, and traveling from long distances at a
cost that is beyond the means of most people who have lost a loved one to
prison, Visiting Sgt. K. Nuckles and her team finds any reason to turn the
family members away. This denied visiting due to selective and arbitrary
enforcement of vague policies is a cruelty that is used as a form of
retaliation. Other times it is used as a power and control game or
to limit the number of visitors going inside. Visitors may not wear green,
brown, blue, white and there are many restrictions on styles which are
ridiculous and demeaning.Sometimes the families are strip-searched,
especially if they have dared to simply question policies.
When the gates finally open at 7 a.m. only those at the very beginning of
the line will get a chance to be processed by approximately 9:30 a.m. The
penal code guarantees prisoners 12 hours of week of visiting but this isn't
happening at Salinas Valley and most other prisons statewide because of the hours-long processing time. There is no oversight to make certain that the prisons obey the Title 15 and the D.O.M. The families are treated as if they are criminals. Little children are interrogated by guards wearing guns, mace and carrying nightsticks.
The signs say "More Windows for Ad Seg Visits" and
"Let us say Good Bye to our loved ones. Once a prisoner becomes ill
and goes to the hospital, all visits end. Hundreds of prisoners have died
while there their families are denied final visits to them. This type of
pain is something that the family unit will never be able to forget and it
happens daily at prisons throughout California.
The UNION banner, a gift from a Head Start Program in 1999 is a
reminder that the callous state policies punish little children who are
separated from their mothers and fathers by uncaring bureaucrats.
 Photojournalist
Scott McDonald of the Salinas California interviewed group leaders and
family members about their issues UNION Director Rev. Bird had written about
visiting abuses, especially to Hispanic families in her column at American
Chronicle on several occasions for the year preceding Sgt. K. Nuckles' personal
attack on her. When UNION members learned of this false accusation, typical of
what they do to prisoners at Salinas Valley Prison, a large protest drawing
attention to these routine abuses was the only alternative possible. The Green
Wall is known for accusing the prisoners of a wrongdoing, then all the guards
cover it up in a "code of silence." One lies, the other swears to it.
An appeal to CDC Director James Tilton has yet to be answered.
Some 30,000 children may not visit their own parents across broad categories
of the penal code even though their crime may have had nothing to do with
a child. There are not enough windows for those housed in cruel
"Administrative Segregation" units to be able to get a regular one
hour visit behind glass. Those in "the hole" need
visits more than regular prisoners because they are locked in a cell the size of
a small bathroom 23 hours a day. Typically these prisoners are mentally ill.
Nora Weber, whose son is being tortured at California State Prison Corcoran
stood, at the age of 66 years, in the freezing cold, damp weather
with major health problems for seven hours. Her sign says "Stop the
Prison Torture" She has appeared before Senate Committees begging for
help for son but received none. Finally she had no choice but to file
a lawsuit and still the neglect continues. Her son Mark Grangetto, who was
born with brain damage, weighs less than 100 lbs due to deliberate starvation by
the prison guards. He is denied a wheelchair and forced to crawl around in
his cell like an animal. Nora is denied visitation, he may not call her.
No one will help her find relief, not even the new Receiver has taken action on
her desperate in-person plea. Her son was stabbed twelve times at Salinas
Valley Prison after he testified in one of the medical neglect lawsuits.
Once a prisoner becomes too sick to make it to the visiting room, that is
the end of their relationship with their families. If they become too sick
to fill out forms, their parents and brothers and sisters will never be
able to see them again. Family ties are vital to the health of mentally
ill prisoners who have no business being sent to prison in the first place. The UNION is working to have all 27,000 mentally ill prisoners taken out of the dysfunctional criminal justice system and put into hospitals so that they may heal. The mentally ill are often beaten by the guards for being unable to follow the rules then locked away so no one can see their injuries, not even their family members
One family was protesting because their son and brother has been on lockdown
for more than a year at Salinas Valley Prison. He may not call home and
they cannot visit him. Often mail is blocked, especially when the
guards have beaten or caused a prisoner to be injured because they "can't
follow the rules" Prisons aren't hospitals, they are places of
torment that are breaking family ties. If and when a prisoner is released,
he has often lost his wife and children, his relatives have died and he is much
worse off than before incarceration. This does not benefit the public safety in
any manner.
Most citizens might be asking themselves why anyone would tolerate this type of abuse and not file lawsuits against the State. In 1996 the State of California changed laws that essentially eliminated the right to visit and turned it into a "privilege." The families of prisoners in the past were known to be too uneducated and fearful to organize into a voting lobby strong enough to file lawsuits, or elect or re-call people from office. The UNION's work is educating people that they have the ability as voters to get together and make dramatic changes when the number of active writers, protesters and voters exceed the law enforcement labor unions who capitalize off their suffering. More lawsuits are planned as the UNION grows.
The UNION is a coalition of groups and individuals who work
to better conditions for the prisoners and teach the poor how to vote people out
of office who are purchased by law enforcement labor unions such as CCPOA. There
are now 3,000,000 voters attached to a state prisoner. UNION
subscribers are clergy from almost every religion, teachers, nurses, social
workers, doctors, attorneys, journalists, retirees, secretaries, bank
tellers, members of large labor unions all of whom who have lost a loved
one to the devouring prison machine. More than 200 protesters from every
occupation, race and religion joined in over the six hour period that the
protest took place.
At one point during the day, the line of desperate signs
made by the families of prisoners went all the way to the freeway offramp. The prison guards at various institutions have been caught numerous times bringing in bricks of drugs but their Volkswagen-sized lunchpails are never searched. The UNION works to make searches of guards mandatory since they are the primary source of the drug trade - not the visitors. On those rare occasions when a visitor does have contraband, it is in very small quantities, how much can a body cavity hold. The families ARE NOT the source of the abundant drug trade yet they are treated as criminals and harlots, even elderly women.
This family may not visit their son and brother
because he is too sick to fill out the papers. He is a young man who will
never see his family again due to these harsh and unconstitutional policies.
Cruel and unusual punishment is business and usual statewide. The
bureaucrats make absolutely no effort to correct such problems and there
is no place to go in an emergency. The results of this unbearable
incompetence are suffering, death, and lawsuits, all due to callousness and a
lack of humanity.
These are a few family members of Larry Saldivar who died June 17 at Mule Creek Prison, Ione. It happened just after another statewide filth
disease hit twelve California prisons due to an epidemic of Campylobacteriosis.
Once they learned of his bad condition, he family begged for medical help for Salidivar which was denied.
They were not allowed to visit even in his final days, he died in pain and alone. Saldivar did not have a life sentence but that was the result. The UNION has inspired 27 lawsuits which helped
to bring about the current efforts toward medical care reform. Hundreds of
people died unnecessarily and the problems have yet to be fixed. There is
no place to go for help in emergencies and the media is banned. The
lawsuits are buried across many budgets in a multi-billion dollar human bondage
industry set up by political voting machines so that law enforcement will have
employment.
The National Association for the Mentally Ill from Butte County (NAMI) with
millions of members nationwide were well represented at the protest.
Many UNION members are also members of other large groups such as NAMI and major
labor unions such as the Operating Engineers and Communication Workers of
America. Members of the Nursing and Teachers' Association as well as
members of the clergy were also present. The goal is to get the 27,000 mentally
ill completely out of the prison system and into hospitals under new agencies
other than CDC or the Department of Mental Health. These two failed agencies do
not deserve to be expanded with millions of dollars more in taxpayer funds.
A new agency should be created that focus on healing the sick instead of
mindlessly punishing them.
Some of the mothers were too ill to stand up all day. The stress of losing
someone to the prison machine causes a lowered immune system. Most of the
parents of the prisoners are always worried sick, until they have developed
serious diseases such as cancer, heart disease, arthritis, high blood pressure, all of it due
to intentionally-inflicted stress. At least half the prisoners have a
life-threatening disease as well, most of this suffering is preventable.
Chairs gave some relief as the weather went from freezing to baking in the hot
sun within a few hours. These mothers are organizing out of desperation.
Nora Weber wears a look of determination as she makes her
sign, "Stop the Prison Torture." She went car to car in the
dark at 6 am asking the other family members to join the UNION and stopped
every car passing by to give them a flyer.
Imprisonment touches the lives of millions of California voters who have
learned that law enforcement labor unions have purchased the lawmakers and
put them into office. Desperate appeals fall on deaf ears.
There has been no response to the UNION from James Tilton, the Director of
the Department of Corrections to appeals or anything even acknowledging the
protest. If necessary the UNION families are prepared to protest at his
office next as they have protested other Directors in the past.
Salinas Valley turns people away for wearing white, gray, blue, green,
brown, all the normal colors that people wear. IF the Friends Outside trailer
has their size in donated, used clothing in clown colors of Orange, Yellow and
Red, located on the far edge of the prison property, too far to walk to, the
family may go through the lengthy waiting process again. At this point most
families are so upset they just leave, totally stressed out.
UNION protests over the past decade have been numerous and the media always turns out full force since four California journalists have a loved one in prison. The media has been unconstitutionally banned from covering what actually goes on behind the walls since 1998 but thousands of families of prisoners have been trained to report all deaths, disease outbreaks and riots directly to the media.
Police Presence
Was Extreme Overkill Designed to
Intimidate Us
But it Didn't Work. We stayed.
The media couldn't see the heavy police presence from the road. An entire
field was set up behind the walls with card tables that said "Riot Control
Training Day" All police agencies were notified well in advance that
the protest would consist of about 200 mostly ailing and elderly mothers.
It was held on Sunday which meant that the overtime costs to the taxpayers were
most likely huge. This was money wasted that the taxpayers will likely
never know about, so typical of the California Department of Corrections
The Highway Patrol Jackboots were dressed in full riot gear at 6 am when the
UNION "mamma bears" arrived. The prison sent a guard on the back
of a pick up truck to take video of the protesters in an effort to intimidate
everyone to leave. The UNION is comprised of mature professionals who
simply waved and smiled at the cameras. Someone noticed a Green Wall tatoo
on the arm of the guard with the video camera. They were waiting for any excuse
to use their weapons.
As the day wore on, the sun became hotter and hotter. The CHP stayed
huddled and told everyone not to come on "their" side of the street.
At one point an elderly lady in her late 60's tried to cross the road to
get a group shot with her camera. At that point all these jackboots took
out their plastic handcuffs to capture her. She came back got into her car
drove around the block and went inside the prison (she's an approved visitor)
and got her shot of the crowd without them ever realizing what happened. Older
people do not respond well to intimidation tactics on property financed with
their tax dollars and improperly managed in their name as Californians and US
Citizens.
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