Crescent City, Calif.
Prison protest: Around 30,000 inmates in California’s prisons kicked off what could be the largest prison protest in state history by refusing meals this week. Inmates in two thirds of the state’s 33 prisons refused breakfast and lunch on Monday to protest the state policy of holding some inmates in isolation indefinitely—sometimes for decades—because of their ties to prison gangs. Around 2,300 prisoners also refused to go to work or to their classes. The protest was organized by a small group of inmates at the Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City. Many of the inmates involved led a series of similar protests in California prisons two years ago, when more than 11,600 inmates went on a hunger strike. The corrections department will not acknowledge this week’s protest as a hunger strike until inmates have missed nine consecutive meals.
Corona, Calif.
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Inmates sterilized: As many as 248 female inmates in California prisons were sterilized without proper authorization between 1997 and 2010, according to a report published this week by the Center for Investigative Reporting. The report relies on state documents and interviews with former inmates at the California Institution for Women in Corona and the Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, who claim that repeat offenders were coerced by prison medical staff into signing up for tubal ligation surgery while they were pregnant. Former Valley State Prison inmate Crystal Nguyen, who worked in the prison’s infirmary, said she often overheard medical staff persuading inmates to be sterilized. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s not right,’” she said. “Do they think they’re animals, and they don’t want them to breed anymore?” State documents support the claims, revealing that in the years in question, California paid doctors $147,460 to perform sterilizations.
Austin
Perry for president? Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced this week that he will not seek re-election next year, raising the possibility of a 2016 White House run. “The time has come to pass on the mantle of leadership,” the Republican governor said. Since taking over from George W. Bush in 2000, Perry has become the longest-serving governor in Texas history. Though his 2012 bid for the Republican presidential nomination crumbled, Perry said this week that another presidential run was “an option.” Perry’s departure sets up the state’s first open-seat race for governor since 1990. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott looks likely to win the Republican nomination, though he has yet to declare his candidacy. Meanwhile, Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis—who recently rose to prominence by filibustering an abortion bill—has said she’ll take a “second look” at the race.
Lakeland, Fla.
Sex scandal: Nearly a dozen Lakeland Police Department employees, including some high-ranking officers, have been implicated in a series of alleged consensual and coerced sexual encounters with a civilian crime analyst in motels, patrol cars, and fire stations. A 59-page report by Polk County State Attorney Jerry Hill details Sue Eberle’s account of sexual liaisons she felt forced into with officers, on and off duty, including in the parking lot of a cemetery after the funeral of a slain cop. Hill said he could not prosecute the cases because too much time had passed since the alleged encounters and there was a lack of physical evidence, but an internal investigation is under way. Already, several employees have resigned, retired, or been placed on administrative leave. “We find the conduct to be at best a waste of taxpayer dollars,” wrote Hill. “At worst, their actions indicate a moral bankruptcy.”
New York City
Spitzer is back: Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in a prostitution scandal five years ago, announced this week that he intends to run for comptroller in this fall’s New York City elections. The crusading Democrat—who made his name prosecuting Wall Street firms as state attorney general—left politics in disgrace when it emerged that he had patronized prostitutes through a high-end escort service. “I’m hoping there will be forgiveness,” said Spitzer this week. “I am asking for it.” If Spitzer secures the 3,750 signatures required to get on the ballot, one of his opponents will be Kristin Davis, an ex-madam who spent three months in prison for running an escort service that she claims supplied Spitzer with prostitutes. “This is going to be the funniest campaign ever,” said Davis. “I’ve been waiting for my day to face [Spitzer] for five years.”
Boston
Tsarnaev pleads not guilty: Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev this week made his first public appearance since his arrest, uttering the words “not guilty” seven times in response to charges that he used a weapon of mass destruction to kill at the Boston Marathon in April. Wearing an orange prison jump suit and with his left hand in a cast, the 19-year-old fidgeted before entering the plea in federal court, turning to look at about 30 victims and family members who attended. Authorities say that Dzhokhar and his now-dead older brother, Tamerlan, planted two bombs near the race’s finish line, killing three people and wounding more than 260, and later killed MIT police officer Sean Collier. Prosecutors say Dzhokhar wrote a confession before his capture, saying he planted the bombs in response to the U.S.’s killing of Muslim civilians.
