AIR | TREES | WATER | ANIMALS |

“The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.”

Amid all kinds of inhumane shit within the prison and incarceration system/industry of the usa
(-Hunger strikes and the force-feeding SOP (STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE) of Guantanamo “detainees”
–Pleasant Valley and Avenal State Prison Outbreak of Valley Fever resulting in over three dozen deaths, which no one hears about, and
–the delay of the order to evacuate inmates)
I received an email today through the F.A.C.T.S. (FAMILIES TO AMEND CALIFORNIA’S THREE STRIKES) newsletter-

From Carol Strickman at prisonerswithchildren.org

“I just received a phone call from a prisoner at Corcoran who reported about a power outage at Corcoran which is resulting in a “modified program” like a lockdown; no air conditioning resulting in “very hot” temperatures (he says in 100’s) with prisoners passing out; medical people are not responding or are responding slowly. Prisoners under medical care can get cold showers but not anyone else. Water is lukewarm, neither hot nor cold.

He states that prisoners have been told that the problem is a broken generator part which must be shipped from Germany and may take 6 months to arrive. The power is being cut off at 3pm daily and not going back on until 1 or 2 in the morning.

I did a google search and found the following corroborative article:

Central Valley Business Times, Saturday, May 10, 2013

Corcoran prison transformer explosion probed
The cause of an explosion of a power transformer at California State Prison-Corcoran is being investigated by state corrections department officials and Pacific Gas and Electric.
Limited electrical power was restored to the prison by Friday morning after the main transformer in a PG&E substation that powers the prison exploded and caught fire late Thursday afternoon.
No one was injured and the fire was quickly extinguished, the state says.
Back-up generators supplied power to the institution Thursday night so prison operations were not interrupted. The acute care hospital and the lethal electrified perimeter security fence continued to be powered by backup generators and, as a result, there were no escapes, the Department of Corrections says.
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The prisoner who called me is well known to California Prison Focus. I also learned from a family member that Saturday visits were cancelled.
This prisoner wants us to make calls to the warden and/or Sacramento to let them know that we know about this, are concerned and demand that the outage be repaired immediately. We could also be calling Senator Loni Hancock and Assembly member Tom Ammiano, and PGE.
The prisoners are really suffering in the heat and need us to raise a protest.
Carol

Carol Strickman
Staff Attorney
Legal Services for Prisoners With Children
1540 Market Street, Suite 490
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-255-7036 ext. 324
FAX 415-552-3150
http://www.prisonerswithchildren.org

To donate to LSPC, click on
https://npo.networkforgood.org/Donate/Donate.aspx?npoSubscriptionId=5384“

From “CDCR TODAY”
FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2013
Transformer explosion knocks out power to California State Prison-Corcoran
Limited power restored early this morning

CORCORAN – Limited electrical power was restored to California State Prison-Corcoran (CSP-COR) by Friday morning after the main transformer in a PG&E substation that powers the prison exploded and caught fire late Thursday afternoon.

The fire started at 4:35 p.m. and was quickly extinguished by the CSP-COR Fire Department, the Kings County Fire Department and the Tulare County Fire Department. The cause of the explosion is unknown at this time. No one was injured.

Back-up generators supplied power to the institution on Thursday night so that prison operations were not interrupted. The acute care hospital and the lethal electrified perimeter security fence continued to be powered by backup generators and, as a result, there were no escapes. As a precaution, CSP-COR administrators restricted movement of the 4,420 inmates housed there and this morning, the prison is on modified program which restricts some inmate movement and participation in rehabilitation programming.

At 1:45 am Friday, PG&E routed some electrical power to CSP-COR from the adjacent California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran, which was unaffected by the transformer explosion and fire. Power to non-essential services at CSP-COR has been shut off, but inmates are being provided hot meals, there is power to waste water operations and all back-up generators are running to power all emergency circuits.

CDCR officials noted that the electrical problems will not interfere with visiting scheduled this weekend at both prisons.

Plant operations staff from both prisons and crews from PG&E are continuing to determine the cause of the explosion and assess the damage to the substation as they plan both short- and long-term repairs