By Adrienne Roberts
Hundreds of Californians from the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and the Central Valley will gather in Chowchilla at a Freedom Rally on Saturday to protest the living conditions in Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF).
Some participants have a loved one at the prison; others have spent time inside, while others are activists and residents working to shrink California’s massive prison system. All are concerned about the humanitarian crisis in CCWF and are demanding immediate release for as many people as possible.
“We are traveling all the way from Oakland to the Valley to make the point that attempting to relieve the crowding crisis in men’s prisons by crowding women’s facilities is inhumane. You solve prison crowding by releasing people – period,” said Roger White, campaign director for Critical Resistance.
CCWF is at nearly 200 percent of its capacity, with 3,918 women and transgender prisoners packed into a facility designed to hold 2,000...