By Mike Rhodes
Boston Woodard, who has been writing for the Community Alliance newspaper for the last seven-plus years, has been put in solitary confinement in a California state prison. This is not the first time this has happened. As Woodard exposes the conditions inside our state’s prisons, he himself has become a target for retaliation and abuse from those who fear what he has to say.
I have received several letters from Boston in the last month, and he wants readers to know that he is OK but unable to contribute an article this month. Being in “The Hole” is a horrendous experience of sensory deprivation that many human rights activists classify as torture.
Coincidentally, we received an article this month from Daniel Treglia (see page 22) in which he details his experience of living in an isolation cell at Pelican Bay, a prison on the coast near the Oregon border. I encourage you to read his article.
I plan on attending a hearing in Sacramento on Sept. 20 at which I will demand Boston’s release from solitary confinement. Rather than being tortured for his telling us what is really going on inside the prison system, he should be rewarded for his bravery and ability to reach out from inside the prison walls and tell us the truth about what is going on.
If you have not purchased your copy of Boston’s book Inside the Broken California Prison System, now would be a good time to do that. It is one way you can protest this injustice and support Boston; his book is available from us for $16.95 or you can get it at www.amazon.com.
