Below is an archive of records, press releases, organizing efforts, and informational resources regarding Santa Rita Jail dating back to the October/November 2019 work stoppage and hunger strike. These are a combination of resources created by people inside the jail, Santa Rita Jail Solidarity, as well as media outlets and other organizations who are doing work around this issue.
ORGANIZING STATEMENTS FROM INSIDE
May 30, 2020: Eric Wayne Statement on Anti-Black Racism
March 17, 2020: Collective Grievance
October 29, 2019: Strike Statement & Demands
PRESS RELEASES & UPDATES
October 29, 2019: Press Release: Santa Rita Jail Strike
November 1, 2019: Press Release: Santa Rita Strike Grows and Continues Into Third Day
November 4, 2019: Solidarity Shoutouts to Santa Rita Strikers
December 6, 2019: Press Release: Santa Rita Jail Post-Strike Update
March 16, 2020: Press Release: Collective Grievance
March 20, 2020: Update: Mass Release From Santa Rita Jail
March 28, 2020: Press Release: COVID-19 Reaches Santa Rita, ACSO $85M Budget Proposal
April 5, 2020: Press Release: First Prisoner Case of COVID-19 at Santa Rita Jail
April 15, 2020: Press Release: Car Action, PD Calls for Releases & Addressing “Public Safety”
August 13 & 14, 2020: Take Action Against Medical Neglect in Santa Rita Jail
DEMAND LETTERS & MESSAGING TO ALAMEDA COUNTY OFFICIALS
March 17, 2020: Human Impact Partners Demand Letter to Alameda County Officials
April 7, 2020: Right to Shelter Demand Letter
April 8, 2020: Santa Rita Jail Solidarity Demand Letter to Alameda County Officials
April 22, 2020: Survivors Say: No COVID-19 Deaths in Our Name!
October 2, 2020: Protect Prisoners in Santa Rita Jail from COVID-19 Letter to Alameda County Officials
SRJ SOLIDARITY’S SANTA RITA JAIL BULLETINS
MARCH 2020
APRIL-MAY 2020
MEDIA COVERAGE
November 21, 2019: “Alameda County Sheriff, Aramark Are Forcing Prisoners Into ‘Involuntary Servitude,’ New Lawsuit Says” (The Appeal)
May 7, 2019: “The Most Dangerous Place in Alameda County” (East Bay Express)
May 12, 2020: “How safe is Santa Rita Jail under COVID-19? Inmates and the sheriff paint very different pictures” (Berkeleyside)
PENAL CODES & LEGAL DOCUMENTS
California Penal Code 4011: Prisoners in need of medical or surgical treatment may be ordered to be transferred to a hospital
THIRD PARTY REPORTS
April 22, 2020: Flattening the Curve: Why Reducing Jail Populations is Key to Beating COVID-19 (ACLU)
HOUSING RESOURCES
All Of Us Or None is a grassroots organization of currently and formerly incarcerated and systems-impacted people who are providing resources to help formerly incarcerated people upon their release. Please contact:
Bridget Cervelli
Phone: (805) 270-9853
Email: bridget@prisonerswithchildren.org
Time for Change Foundation is located in Pleasanton, CA, and is helping people connect with temporary 14-day housing upon release. Please contact:
Kim Carter
Phone: (951) 271-0971
Email: kcarter@timeforchangefoundation.org
Young Women’s Freedom Center (YWFC) and Five Keys are partnering on a COVID-19 Emergency Housing project as part of their larger Home Free program collaboration to provide transitional housing for formerly incarcerated, systems-involved women and transgender, gender non-conforming people who are survivors of various forms of violence, particularly those recently released. Write the email address below and include the following information: Name, age and situation; if the person has children, number and ages (if they plan to move in with their children; where they are currently living/residing; contact information (email and/or cell phone). Please contact:
Luna Salemme
Email: luna@youngwomenfree.org
RE-ENTRY RESOURCES
Transitions Clinic Network (TCN) is a national network of health clinics with programs for returning community members who have medical or mental health concerns. All of these programs have at least one community health worker with a history of incarceration who works with patients on their health and re-entry goals. TCN has launched a Re-entry Healthcare Hotline for returning community members in California to call for assistance with their healthcare needs. The hotline is staffed by trained community health workers with histories of incarceration who can provide information about local clinics, how to get enrolled in Medi-Cal, and how to navigate the healthcare system. The number for our hotline is (510) 606-6400 and people can call it collect from inside California prisons as well as from jails that use GTL phone services.