Quick Take
Five men have been on a hunger strike at the Santa Cruz Main Jail since Nov. 8. They are asking for better conditions, more oversight, cheaper prices on commissary goods and assurance that mail they get from their lawyers remains private. The writer is a pre-trial detainee who has spent close to five years inside the jail. “We think the public should know what happens to people inside these walls,” Jason Cortez writes. “Many of us have been inside for years awaiting trial. We are not yet guilty of any crimes, yet we are treated abominably.”
I am a pre-trial detainee at the Santa Cruz County Main Jail.
I am currently on a hunger strike with four other male detainees in hopes of bringing about an improvement in the standards of living within these walls. We started out as nine strikers on Nov. 8, but now we have dwindled to five.
Specifically, we are calling for:
- An evaluation of the way guards treat detainees.
- A review of the conditions we are held in (many of us are often kept in cells for long periods for no understandable reason).
- Oversight of the internal complaints process (none of our complaints get answered).
- A discussion of the high cost of commissary goods, communicating with our loved ones (50 cents per email, $7.50 for a video call).
- A full explanation of what is happening with our legal mail. We worry our correspondence with our lawyers is being read by jail officials.
Nine of us have made several attempts to verbally communicate our concerns to the administration. We have exhausted all administrative remedies available to us to express the unfair and unjust treatment we receive here. All our attempts at conversations and complaints have gone unheeded. We have seen no changes – no efforts toward change.
On Nov. 8, the nine of us began our peaceful protest. The five of us continue to practice our First Amendment right to peacefully assemble and refuse our meals. We do this in an effort to show this facility and its administration how serious and determined we are to see these changes. All the changes would still meet safety and security of the facility and Title 15, which outlines the minimal state standard required for detention facilities.
We think the public should know what happens to people inside these walls. Many of us have been inside for years awaiting trial. We are not yet guilty of any crimes, yet we are treated abominably.
Long gone are the days of “innocent until proven guilty” in Santa Cruz County.
We believe this facility and its administration are violating our constitutional rights, including the right to due process and equal protection under the law. Although we are detainees, we should not be unfairly deprived of an ability to complain and have our complaints heard.
We feel the facility and administration often cover up and/or justify without explanation officers’ inappropriate treatment of us. Some officers provoke and intentionally belittle us. They disrespect us by remaining indifferent to our requests. They face no repercussions for their behavior, and we feel they are always looking for reasons to write us up. They do this because they know we are powerless and they can act with impunity.
Every email we send costs 50 cents. Every 30-minute video call is $7.50. If people send us packages, they have to pay extra charges. Why?
Another big problem is we find ourselves housed in separate “ad-seg” without due process. An “ad-seg” is a modified unit where we are allowed only limited movement. That means we are allowed out of our cell for only a limited number of hours per day. You can imagine the effect this has on mental health.
Many of us find ourselves placed in these units without cause. Just seven months ago, most of us were in the open unit, where we could be out of our cell for 135 hours a week. Now, we are severely restricted, under the pretense we are “gang dropouts.”
Such housing is for inmates who are violent and/or a security threat to the facility. But here, there are inmates with low-level custody, who are serving time for probation violations or other low-level offenses. Why are they and we in this terrible, mentally destructive ad-seg environment?
We regularly get served “write-ups” without an explanation for what we did. We have no rights, no way to protest, no control over our fate.
Such an environment is causing mental health issues like stress and depression that often lead to suicidal tendencies.
Another big problem is the commissary prices. It is ridiculous that we have to pay to communicate with our loved ones. That means people with less money get fewer chances to talk to their families.
Every email we send costs 50 cents. Every 30-minute video call is $7.50. If people send us packages, they have to pay extra charges. Why?
Commissary prices have gone up in the past year without explanation. A 3-ounce bag of coffee now costs $7.30. Chips are $1.55 and ramen is $1.28. Money is hard to come by – our only way of getting it is if our loved ones put money on our accounts. They have troubles and struggles of their own, so many of us – even though we are not guilty of anything yet – have nothing.
Finally, we are worried about a new system where all legal mail gets scanned. This uploads it to a tablet system so we can read it. However, we are worried it is not secure and that jail personnel can read our private, legal mail. Legal mail comes from our attorneys and is supposed to be private between us and our attorneys. We are concerned the administration is not following protocol and may have access to our communication with our lawyers. We also feel the jail is not keeping an accurate log of incoming mail as directed by a federal mandate.
Do we think our strike will do anything?
We don’t know. It’s our current best hope for justice.
In 2013, more than 29,000 inmates across the state of California went on a hunger strike to stop unfair solitary confinement. After two months, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation gave in to some of their requests.
In May of 2019, about 130 inmates at the Santa Cruz County facilities went on a two-week hunger strike to complain about the facility. It resulted in some changes.
Here we are at the end of 2023, still looking to improve our circumstances and conditions of confinement. The current situation is unfair, unbearable and violates our rights. It is making us mentally ill, not helping rehabilitate us.
We want the public to take notice of our plight. We are trying to make changes in our lives and have faith. But it is increasingly impossible when we are continually oppressed and denied our humanity.
We have exhausted all efforts. Hunger is our last hope.
Jason Cortez is a pre-trial detainee in the Santa Cruz County Main Jail.