August 7, 2019: According to prison officials, two prisoners allegedly conspired to attack a prison guard at the Central Utah Correctional Facility. One prisoner blocked a surveillance camera while another struck the guard multiple times in the face, causing damage to his nose and eye sockets.
2019
31
Jul
Hunger Strike at Scotland Correctional Institution, North Carolina
July 31, 2019-end date unknown: According to the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC), an unknown number of prisoners participated in a hunger strike in protest of arbitrary denial of recreation time and lack of access to notaries for legal work.
17
Jul
Attack on Guards at Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility
July 17, 2019: According to prison authorities, five prisoners attacked two guards during a nurse visit at Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility. The attack continued until another guard fired “less lethal shotgun and pepper ball grenades.”
04
Jul
Hunger Strike at SCI-Fayette, Pennsylvania
July 4, 2019-end date unknown: According to the Pennsylvania-based prisoner rights advocacy group the Human Rights Coalition, 16 prisoners went on hunger strike to protest a variety of conditions including “repeated physical abuse from guards, sexual harassment, extensive use of pepper spray, theft of mail/legal documents, and restriction of access to basic goods such as toilet paper, toothbrush/paste, yard time, shower time, and clean clothes.”
27
Jun
Food Strike at California State Prison, Corcoran
June 27, 2019-ongoing: At least half of the prisoners in the 3C unit of the California State Prison, Corcoran began a food strike on June 27 in protest of a change in prison policy that would take kitchen jobs away from general population and give them to prisoners in protective custody, according to multiple sources. Prisoners are refusing state-issued “trays” but are instead eating bag lunches provided by the prison.
22
Jun
Protest at Minnesota Correctional Facility – Shakopee
June 22, 2019: According to the Industrial Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC), 100 of the 130 prisoners in the Anthony Unit of the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee wore blue to protest treatment of LGBTQ prisoners at the facility. The Shakopee prison is a women’s facility.
14
Jun
Hunger Strike at Limestone Correctional Facility, Alabama
June 14, 2019: Five men incarcerated at Limestone C.F. went on a hunger strike that lasted for close to two weeks.
03
Jun
Disturbance at Alder Conservation Camp, California
June 3, 2019: Three prisoners and one staff member were injured after what the California Department of Corrections called a “riot” at Alder Conservation Camp. While details remain unclear, about 40 prisoners reportedly participated in the disturbance at the camp that houses about 100 minimum security prisoners.
07
May
Uprising at Spring Creek Correctional Center, Alaska
May 7, 2019: Approximately 62 prisoners barricaded themselves inside of their housing unit, Hotel Mod, and destroyed prison infrastructure. The Alaska Department of Corrections estimated that the riot caused $100,000 in damage to computer lines, cameras, interior glass, fire suppression systems and plumbing.
14
Apr
Escape at Maui Community Correctional Center, Hawaii
April 14, 2019: Two pretrial detainees kicked open a “termite-eaten” door while guards slept and escaped the prison. One of the prisoners, Barret “BJ” Paman, turned himself in to law enforcement later that day, stating that he escaped because the conditions at the prison were so bad. According to his lawyer, Paman, “voluntarily turned himself in as soon as he felt safe,” Parker said.
