About U.N.I.O.N.
The U.N.I.O.N. is currently the
largest communication system between prison reformers and citizens concerned with human rights in the State of California.
We are a coalition of 5,000 plus individuals, human rights groups and churches. We work by issuing
calls to action to our subscribed members in a daily online newsletter.
The newsletter teaches you how and WHEN to fight back to prevent or cause important
changes in the law. Here are a few of our accomplishments:
***The first Three Strikes Case to have the judgment and sentencing reversed happened because of a UNION volunteer's work. It is the case of Jerry Wayne Morgan in Shasta County. A retrial is in process. Now 340 Three Strikers in for petty theft may have their sentences reduce and/or be released. Our families worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week to reverse the three strikes law since July, 1998. When CAVC ran out of funds and petitions, the UNION stepped in and printed an additional 15,000 petitions. With more funds and circulators, we could easily have won the campaign to Amend 3X. When we entered the campaign, CAVC and FACTS had collected only 12,000 signatures.
***Our Director is journalist B. Cayenne Bird who was the only opposing witness at several warden confirmation hearings (their job reviews)over the past four years. This year she caused major press coverage to the topics of food mishandling and starving inmates at all California prisons, lawsuits in prison and jail mismanagement which exceed $355 million with another $100 million pending and other important reform issues. She is currently meeting with Agency Secretary Robert Presley making the UNION's position on a number of key issues strongly known to all CDC officials and legislators. Often the UNION is the only voice for prisoners and their families at these key hearings..
***Our community appeals and campaigns for prisoner transplants were finally heard and in January, 2002 the first known case of an inmate receiving a heart transplant was performed. This caused such controversy that a second one may never occur, but as our voting group grows and consistently writes letters to editors and applies pressure to legislators, more transplants may be possible. The heart transplant made national news. The UNION has had several campaigns to end medical neglect and give inmates transplants over the years. It was a hard won victory.
***A lawsuit against the Department of Corrections filed by the Prison Law Office resulted in a $123 million dollar award for increased medical care for prisoners. The UNION subscribers railed against medical neglect daily for many years, had thousands of articles published, pressured legislators, attended important hearings, met with officials and submitted documentation and complaints on a daily basis. Our speakers emphasized the problems in appearances on television, radio, and at campuses across the nation. Our journalists detailed many of our member complaints.
***We filled the hearing rooms at legislative hearings for four years on all bills focusing on rehabilitation, three strikes, mandatory minimums, crime prevention through education, compassionate release of terminally ill prisoners and worked for three years on on causing bills to be sponsored on medical neglect. We have also testified at Warden confirmation hearings and presented complaints from families who are members with loved ones at the specified prison. We have a speaker's bureau and do frequent radio, television and print commentaries on prison and human rights issues. View this year's billshere
***We accomplished extensive media campaigns on mistreatment of the mentally ill inside prisons focusing on the great injustice of the James Diesso - Jeffrey Ford case where careless double celling resulted in a needless death. As a result of FOUR YEARS of intense work, an experimental program for alternative sentencing of non-violent mentally ill is going into effect in 22 counties, effective December, 2001. This battle is still unfinished, but it amounts to major reform which did not require an expensive initiative campaign.
***We have worked hard to end high tech torture of Security Housing Units, brought crowds to legislative hearings and appeared on many television and radio talk shows, published many articles on this topic. Without the necessary ground work of public education through our articles and letters to the editor, reform and successful initiative campaigns could not take place.
***Todays foster children are tomorrow's prisoners. We have a full time advocate who has her own foundation but is also a UNION member dedicated to the battle against abuse of foster children. Our journalists have written a number of feature articles on this nightmare exposing it to the voters. The UNION's mission statement stresses a focus on youth and prevention of crime. We have a committee dedicated strictly to foster children and their desperate need for help.
***During the important hearings to fight against Prop 21, we wrote articles, held press conferences, brought others to attend, a dumped a full page of letters on the table to show how children cannot be imprisoned with adults when there are serious problems within the system. Our director delivered a strong speech during this and many other gatherings to end Prop 21, a monstrous law which does nothing to prevent crime and a great deal to cause more crime.
***Our members placed hundreds of phone calls to Governor Davis, wrote hundreds of letters to the editor and cooperated with major media to bring attention to illegal activities of the State on parole issues. This has been a large and ongoing battle. Many of the published articles are on webpages. Go to Index.
***When Governor Davis said there was no voting lobby which cared about the rights of prisoners, our members mailed nearly 500 boxes of rotten onions and messages in bottles into him to show that there is in fact a voting lobby that will write and demonstrate for the rights of prisoners, and all other related social groups who are members of the U.N.I.O.N. This was called our Raise a Stink Campaign, and we had a great deal of fun making the point. The Orange County Register printed the story which was a great embarrassment to Gov. Davis.
***There is no group in California with enough funds and volunteers to be able to do adequate initiative campaigns or hire lawyers. However, three of our members have filed multi-million dollar lawsuits against the State of California with our assistance and back up. We cannot get involved in every case but the ones we support represent the interest of EVERY California inmate. They are Stephanie Hardie, wrongful death at Chowchilla Prison, Charles Wesley, medical neglect at Chino Prison, and the Eddie Dillard, booty bandit case at Corcoran. We support these pro bono lawyers with attendance and letter writing which is necessary to reform. We have four lawyers who are members but ALWAYS need pro bono work for the poorest of the poor. We need volunteers who will write letters to media about these cases as they progress and show up for hearings. It's vital to reform!
***Our work to end the death penalty, especially for those who are mentally ill has been consistent for four years. With our criminal justice system in shambles, and so many alternative sentencing methods available it doesn't make sense to use the death penalty which has never been a real solution to crime. We are proponents of prevention, rehabilitation, education, dealing with poverty and mental illness, attacking crime prevention at its roots instead of dealing from the ignorant perspective of retribution
***We saved packages to prisoners by generating thousands of letters to CDC for three years. Every year there is an attempt to ban packages from home and go to commercial, profit-making packages.Now CDC has illegally banned packages from home. Let's boycott commercial packages and file a lawsuit. Join us in this project or it won't get done.
***We have our own legislative rep to handle U.N.I.O.N. member medical complaints, if not we picket. Our subscribers are able to file medical complaints with us. We stick together and do not allow abuse to happen quietly!
***We publish a daily online newsletter to keep people informed because media is banned from prisons. This is read by our subscribed journalists, legislators, human rights organization directors and paid subscribers. Our members participate and we lay out examples of how to write letters to the editors on current topics.
***Our members are social workers, professors, mental health professionals, doctors, nurses, teachers, human rights org leaders, and prisoner families from ALL occupations, 36 journalists/publishers who understand fighting back. Will you be the victim of a voting lobby? UNITE! No one is going to do the work for you to write, show up to important hearings, recruit other families and build a strong UNION. Nobody can or will do your share for you, we must all share the load inorder to achieve the numbers necessary to change the laws by the initiative process.
The power of Numbers acting in unison to do initiative campaigns is your only hope! The UNION is four years old. We are striving to find 6500 intelligent people who can change any law when they are formally organized and ACTIVE. Reform is up to you! It cannot happen without your investment of two hours a week and regular donations to pay for postage and printing.
You can do little on your own, the Power of Numbers bombarding on one issue at a time is the key to success. The key word is bombard. We issue up to Three Calls to Bombard each month with the philosophy that it is better to do a few things right.As our funds and volunteers grow, we will be more successful with projects.
We understand that without the Power of Numbers and support of Democratic voters that no changes can be made, we work in the mainstream....not in the far left. Reform happens at the polls. We have good ettiquette at protests and have never had one member arrested.
There are team leaders in your area who want to fax you the Calls to Action so that you can participate and help win prison reform! It's up to you to be a victim on the sidelines or an ACTIVE writer and demonstrator making change happen.
What will you do? This requires about ten hours a month. You can do it! Click on the links below to learn more about becoming a U.N.I.O.N. member.
Your commitment to fight for freedom requires two hours a week -go to form
Who are the members of the UNION?
Testimonial letters show how members fight for themselves together