Drivers on the Vine Street Expressway (I-676) were treated to something a little outside of the norm today. The banners dropped from the overpasses served the purpose of showing solidarity and support for the 6600-plus prisoners in California who are currently on a hunger strike to protest conditions in California prisons. According to the Philly Independent Media Center, the banners are done to particularly protest the conditions in solitary confinement that include:
- • 23-hour lockdown behind a solid steel door
- • isolation from human interaction
- • frequent threat and occurrence of physical torture via prolonged placement in punitive restraint devices
- • assault, often with chemical weapons
- • mental torture via sensory deprivation and disorienting temperature and light fluctuations, along with rampant psychological neglect
- • sexual intimidation and assault.
Do prisons serve a useful purpose in helping reform criminals and provide punishment for their crimes, or are they a place where criminals simply get tortured and learn how to become better criminals? Where do you stand on the issue? Do you support the idea of Philadelphia showing solidarity with the striking CA prisoners?
