Café Society will meet at Panera Bread on Thursday, September 1

From “California prisoners make inroads with hunger strike” by Sam Stanton

“Last month, inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison launched a hunger strike to draw attention to their complaints of being unfairly held in extreme isolation at the Crescent City lockup…Advocates for the inmates contend they are denied basic human rights, are kept in windowless cells, and that corrections officials wrongly label some inmates as gang leaders and banish them to the security housing unit….the hunger strike spawned media interest worldwide, and the corrections department found itself on the defensive against critical coverage.”

Questions for Consideration

How are prisoners treated? What rights do incarcerated men and women have and why should we care? Why is overcrowding in prisons a problem? What kind of prison alternatives exist or can be created in order to ensure that prisoners are treated humanely?

Want to learn more?

• Pelican Bay Hunger Strike: Calif. torture officials might increase tactics
• Angela Davis: make prisons obsolete
• Too many laws, too many prisoners
• Reducing America’s Prison Population With Short, Sure Sentences
• As Prisons Hunger Strike Continues, Force-Feeding Debate Flares Up
• Supermax prisons: 21st century asylums

Free and open to the public. For more information, call 312.422.5580. If you need a sign interpreter or require other arrangements to fully participate, please call 312.422.5580. For parking locations near the facility, please visit ChicagoParkingMap.com.