Limestone Correctional Facility, Harvest, Alabama
June 14, 2019- end date unknown
Five men incarcerated at Limestone Correctional Facility went on a hunger strike that began on June 14 and lasted at least ten days. The action was in response to a call put out by prisoner organizations including Free Alabama Movement (FAM) and Unheard Voices O.T.C.J., as well as incarcerated activists Kinetik Justice and Swift Justice.
One of the strikers, Kenneth Traywick Jr., began his strike two days earlier and ended it after 14 days when the Alabama Department of Corrections agreed to transfer him. This extended period of refusing food allegedly caused Traywick to have liver problems.
The hunger strikers issued the following six demands:
1. Immediate action in the form of a Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit for all 8th Amendment Violations uncovered in the DOJ investigation;
2. No new prisons;
3. Corrupt Limestone administrators must be removed;
4. Any and all retaliation against prisoners following “bucket detail” exposure must stop;
5. A commitment to instituting true rehabilitative and good time programming; and
6. An end to the abusive use of solitary confinement.
On June 22, outside supporters organized a protest at the facility. Mona, one of the organizers of the protest, told the media that the demonstration was organized in order “to let the visitors know what these prisoners experience, and let the prisoners know that they are fighting for them from the outside, while they fight for their rights inside.”
According to Truthout, prisoners were still refusing meals as of June 23.
The hunger strike at Limestone followed another hunger strike organized at Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama in March. Traywick had also staged a hunger strike earlier that year in March.
Citations:
“Alabama Prisoners on Hunger Strike Demand End to Inhumane Conditions“, TruthOut, June 23, 2019.
“Protests for prisoners in Limestone Correctional Facility rang out on the facilities visitor day“, WHNT19 News, June 22, 2019.
Background/ Updates:
“Alabama prison hunger strike spreads to Limestone Correctional Facility“, San Francisco Bay View, April 1, 2019.
“Hunger Strike at Holman Correctional Facility, Alabama“, Perilous Chronicle, March 18, 2019.
