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Scott Hechinger

25 Feb, 9 tweets, 4 min read

"I have been intentionally sterilized. And I have been lied to."

Meet Kelli Dillon. While she was incarcerated in California prison she was the victim of *systemic modern-day eugenics.* Then she discovered she wasn't alone. Doctor's response: "It's cheaper than welfare." More:

The law prohibits sterilizing people in prison for the purpose of birth control. But California was doing it anyway. Kelli's lawyer: "The state has admitted that they have done these illegal surgeries. But we don’t know who they actually did them on."

Central California Women's Prison is the world's largest women's prison. The farmlands surrounding it helped conceal the brutal human rights violations happening on the inside. "Inmates become numbers," Kelli says. "They don’t get names. And that’s why it’s easier to abuse them."

Kelli teamed up w/ radical female lawyers to spearhead investigations to try to bring accountability. In the process, they discovered it was more than just forced sterilizations. It was sexual assault. Inadequate healthcare. All targeting women of color.

As part of the investigation prompted by Kelli speaking out, the Center for Investigative found California State audit & prison records showed nearly 1400 sterilization procedures occurred btwn 1997-2013. FOIA requests to other states confirmed: only 6 have banned sterilizations.

@BOTBFilm

Kelli Dillon had the foresight & courage to engage filmmakers to chronicle her fight for truth. They followed her for *7 years* & finally that film has come out. I had the opportunity to watch @BOTBFilm. It's beyond powerful. Infuriating. More details: ff.hrw.org/film/belly-bea…

We are coming up on the 100-year anniversary of the infamous 1927 Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell, upholding a statute of compulsory sterilization of the unfit "for the protection & health of the state," & set a precedent for states to legally sterilize people in prisons."

Keep context in mind:

-Women are fastest growing prison population
-Nearly 80% are mothers
-44% are Black
-3/4 of are of child-bearing age (18-44)
-92% of women in CA prisons have been "battered or abused" in lifetimes
-231k women incarcerated. 1.3 women on state supervision

The fight now continues: Doctors & prison officials still contend procedures were in their best interests & an overall societal benefit. "We have yet to get an apology. We have yet to be acknowledged. The state has yet to be made accountable." More here: bellyofthebeastfilm.com

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More from @ScottHech

Scott Hechinger

@ScottHech

26 Feb

For those who think solitary confinement is reserved for the "worst of the worst." A) "Worst of the worst" is propaganda invented by cops. B) Just heard a call from a man in Michigan who got 18 months in the hole for saving some chicken from lunch. C) That's not unusual. Routine.

Facts: There are over 3000 people in solitary in Michigan. No restriction on length of stay. 47% of people in solitary have been in over 2 years. Longest serving have been in over 40 years. Black men are 7% of MI population. 54% of prison population. 65-80% solitary population.

How to get solitary:

Disobeying an order
Yelling
Cursing
Arguing
Fighting
Too many alcohol swabs, toilet paper, toiletries
Too much medication or food
Asking to speak to a superior officer
Standing up for vulnerable person
Refusing meals
Filing grievances
Requesting protection

Read 4 tweets

Scott Hechinger

@ScottHech

24 Feb

THREAD: In Hildago County, TX last week, a 24-year-old was arrested & then caged in the jail during a pandemic & a historic winter storm crisis for being *40 minutes late for his curfew.* His fiance called terrified: "It’s been over 72 hours he’s been sleeping on the floor."

"He was doing okay about 6 days ago. Living at a halfway house. Went for a walk. The time for him to return passed about like 30/40 minutes. He asked if he could go back. They said no. He was crying to me and I told him to just call your parole officer. They locked him up."

I called up there & said "Can he at least get a mat? It’s been over 72 hours sleeping on the floor." They said: "I don’t have any mats & I’m not going to move him until a bunk becomes available. You know there’s nothing you can do about it so that’s just what’s gonna happen."

Read 8 tweets

Scott Hechinger

@ScottHech

24 Feb

THREAD: On how a law passed by the KKK 80+ years ago to maintain white supremacy keeps disproportionately Black people locked up in Oregon. How a jailhouse lawyer got the case to the Supreme Court. And how to topple this monument to racism. Read on & watch:

Most think of the KKK in terms of physical violence. Lynchings. Intimidation. But they also used legal & legislative process to pass laws exacting legal violence. In Louisiana & Oregon they pushed laws to silence Black jurors. To convict who they wanted. "Non-unanimous juries."

Every juror’s voice is supposed to matter. In every other state in the country *every juror* has to vote that prosecution proved guilt beyond a reasonable donut. Oregon & Louisiana allowed up to 2 jurors to be disregarded & silenced. The jury could and did convict without them.

Read 31 tweets

Scott Hechinger

@ScottHech

23 Feb

TORTURE: Firsthand account from solitary in Michigan from a local organizer. "Just got a call from a young man put in solitary for a fight. His voice was so shaky and f*cked up. They didn't let him use the phone once. He’s now almost a year past his earliest release date." More:

"He kept stuttering through things they did to him. I’m like it’s okay, you can tell me, it’s alright. But we cant focus on it past this, we gotta get you downstate, we gotta get you out of there. He’s like, 'Please, I don't know myself anymore, I just want to go home.'"

This young man is serving up to 40 years for drug possession. Black men are 7% of the population in Michigan, 54% of the prison population. 65-80% of solitary.

"And what we just did to his brain, to his spirit, he will likely never recover from. For what? For F*cking what?"

Read 4 tweets

Scott Hechinger

@ScottHech

23 Feb

PLEASE LISTEN: Phone call from 2 men caged pretrial on affordable bail in Harris County, TX. Last week: No food. Denied meds. Freezing. Over 7000 caged during a pandemic. Treated like animals. "Theyre not worried about us. Theyre not worried about nothing going on with us." More:

"I’m a little bit tired and our kiosk still doesn’t work so I won’t be able to refill my seizure medication and I really need my seizure medication."

"There were days with no water. Sharing their water. No visitation. Stuff like that. There’s a lot of people in here and they’re not trying to get anyone released. They ain't giving no bonds, they ain’t trying to do nothing."

Read 10 tweets

Scott Hechinger

@ScottHech

22 Feb

LISTEN: A man caged pretrial in Harris County, TX. Called with terrifying details. Freezing. Starving. Denial of care. Lack of food. "I’m calling this morning because I don’t really have anywhere else to turn. I really need your help." He asked this to be shared. Listen. More:

"We haven’t had power since Monday morning. We don’t have any outlets that’s working. There’s a backup generator but it’s only being used for computers. That’s it. So we can’t use our hotpots. We didn’t get anything til about 4:30 this morning. A peanut butter & jelly sandwich."

"We don’t have any hot water. Medical guards only give us our medication but we’re not, they’re putting people in triage. Nobody's walking around, nobody’s in the day room. Everybody’s under their blankets. Nobody is moving lately. We’re cold."

Read 11 tweets

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