Dozens of inmates at a Utah state prison entered the fourth day of a hunger strike Monday, hoping to force corrections officials to improve conditions for maximum-security inmates who, civil rights activists say, face extremely restrictive living conditions.
In a statement issued Monday, the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said more than 40 prisoners at the Utah State Prison in Draper, roughly 20 miles outside of Salt Lake City, have refused food since July 31.
The prisoners, housed in the maximum-security Uinta facility, are calling for improved conditions for inmates held in what is known as the Special Threat Group, or STG, where violent inmates are locked in cells with a bunkmate for 47 out of every 48 hours, the ACLU said.
"Most of these folks are going to be coming out and released into society again," said John Mejia, legal director of the ACLU of Utah. "If you are sending someone back into the community after years of isolation and no programming and a lot of difficult conditions, it feels in a lot of ways that you're not setting up that person for success."
Though the ACLU understands the security challenges prison officials are facing in maximum-security facilities, Mejia said, policies like those described by Uinta facility inmates are extreme. They are a departure from the national trend toward focusing on reintegrating and rehabilitating inmates, he said.
The ACLU said it has received dozens of letters complaining about STG housing. Those inmates are also denied access to educational or rehabilitative programs, and are not allowed to participate in work programs at the prison, the ACLU said.
"We have nothing in here... how are we supposed to better ourselves when we can't get any programming?" one prisoner wrote in a letter to the ACLU, according to the release.
According to Mejia, another inmate described being housed in the STG area and largely isolated for nearly five years.
Corrections officials have met with the ACLU, the Disability Law Center and the state's prisoner advocate network about those changes, according to the statement.
"While we respect the right of these inmates to refuse to eat, we believe there are more positive ways to raise concerns and bring about change," the Department of Corrections said in a statement. "We do not negotiate or respond to demands, threats or intimidation from inmates."
Initial reports suggested the inmates were calling for the release of specific prisoners, but the ACLU said none of the letters it received from prisoners included that demand. Prisoners also complained of a lack of nutrition and supplies to maintain hygiene and poor medical treatment within the facility, according to the ACLU.
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