Utah State Prison
Prisoner Hunger Strike in Utah Over After Just 6 Days
Via ksl.com
UTAH STATE PRISON — Six days after 42 inmates initiated a hunger strike at the Utah State Prison, all of them are accepting meals again.
Each of previously striking inmate accepted lunch at noon, said Utah Department of Corrections spokeswoman Brooke Adams.
Only 11 inmates were still carrying on with their hunger strike as of breakfast Wednesday, and just two held out before accepting lunches Thursday, she said.
The participating inmates, all of them gang members, were protesting for the relocation of gang leaders within the maximum security area of the prison, less time spent in isolation, and more access to prison programs offered to other inmates.
The Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union supported the prisoners’ strike, saying conditions in the prison were unacceptable. Adams called the strike an unacceptable “disruption” intended to intimidate prison staff.
The striking inmates were stripped of various privileges beginning Monday, including restricted access to television and curtailed commissary spending allowances. Inmates were monitored by medical staff during their hunger strike, although many refused checkups, according to Adams.
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Prisonworld View:
Reiterating, prisoner hunger strikes do not normally work as the administration do not negotiate with terrorists, so to speak. The demands were ludicrous and self-serving. Albeit the inmates are caged animals with very little outlets for rehabilitation, had the strike been more directive for prison programs and not just gang demands, maybe they would have been taken more seriously. Also, it was not a true strike as some of the inmates was accepting food and others were eating their commissary. There is much to be said to being tru to da game. This is not the first time inmates have stage a strike and probably wont be the last. True guidelines and legitimate demands with plausible resolutions should be sought. But that’ s just our 50 cents.
