On today’s show – two bills are currently moving through the California state legislature that could impact quality of life for folks inside prisons. Senate Bill 300 would address circumstances under which someone can be sentenced to Life Without Parole (LWOP). We speak with Candace Chavez Wilson, a member of FUEL: Families United to End LWOP. Then we move to Assembly Bill 2632 – California’s Mandela Act on Solitary Confinement. We speak to Eric Harris, Director of Public Policy of Disability Rights California, and Graham Finochio, with Initiate Justice. Wrapping up, we look at how prison guard unions are opposing reforms to solitary confinement in New York, with Victoria Law from the Nation.
Links for Candace Chavez Wilson: www.endfmrnow.org; www.fuelwop.org; https://droplwop.com; womenprisoners.org
Links for Eric Harris: https://mobile.twitter.com/emony21; https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/
Links for Graham Finochio: successstoriesprogram.org; https://www.instagram.com/prisonfeminism/; initiatejustice.org
Links for Victoria Law: https://twitter.com/LVikkiml; Her article: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/labor-unions-solitary-confinement/;
Today’s show featured the song Black Lives by Skip the Needle. Skip the Needle is a collective effort of four Bay Area bandleaders – Shelley Doty, Kofy Brown, Katie Cash, and Vicki Randle. Follow them on instagram @skiptheneedle and buy their music on bandcamp.