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Hundreds of prisoners may go on mass hunger strike if Texas does not stop its "harsh solitary confinement practices," according to The Texas Tribune.
Some prisoners have argued that they should not be confined to isolation from their peers "solely because officials identified them as prison gang members, even if they haven’t had any behavioral issues in lockup," according to The Texas Tribune.
"It’s unclear how many prisoners will participate in the hunger strike, but activist Brittany Robertson estimated Friday that more than 300 men held in solitary confinement in more than a dozen prisons across Texas had signed on to the protest," the Tribune reported.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) spokesperson Amanda Hernandez told Fox News Digital that solitary confinement "accounts for less than 3% of the inmate population" within the prison system. (iStock)
However, Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) spokesperson Amanda Hernandez told Fox News Digital that solitary confinement "accounts for less than 3% of the inmate population" within the prison system.
"It is used judiciously," she added explaining that it is mostly "inmates who are confirmed members of the most organized and dangerous prisons gangs, inmates who are escape risks, and inmates who committed assaults or multiple other serious disciplinary offenses" that are chosen for "security detention," another term for solitary.
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Hernandez added that the "agency has made great strides in reducing the security detention population in recent years," sharing a graph that showed that prisoners in solitary confinement decreased by more than 65% since 2007.
Hernandez added that the "agency has made great strides in reducing the security detention population in recent years," sharing a graph that showed that prisoners in solitary confinement decreased by more than 65% since 2007.
The Texas Tribune has repeatedly published stories critical of the Texas prison system, with one Aug. 2022 headline calling life behind bars a "living hell" after some inmates reported dangerously hot conditions in prisons without air conditioning.
If the hunger strike is successful, it may follow a similar path as to what happened in California in 2015, The Texas Tribune reported.
"In 2015, after years of prisoner-led litigation and legislative hearings prompted by the widespread protest, California agreed to no longer place people in solitary based only on their gang status, nor would it keep people in isolation indefinitely."
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Texas Tribune reporter Jolie McCullough tweeted out her story on Monday, one day before the opening of the Texas Legislature.
"Prisoners across Texas are organizing a hunger strike to protest the state’s solitary confinement practices starting tomorrow — the first day of #txlege. Texas routinely keeps people in solitary for years. 500+ have been in isolation at least a decade."
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