150 Inmates On Hunger Strike To Protest OC Jail Conditions

SANTA ANA, CA — A hunger strike by over 150 male inmates began earlier this week and sparked a protest rallying around the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana, Thursday. Visits to those inmates have been denied, according to Sheriff's officials.

Two dozen protesters, including the mother of a convicted murderer, the son of Real Housewives of Orange County former cast member and American Civil Liberties Union officials, gathered to criticize custody conditions, which has sparked an inmate hunger strike. Daisy Ramirez of the ACLU's Orange County Jails Project characterized the jails as in "dire conditions." Civil rights have been called into question over alleged "overflow" conditions, when jails get so crowded that some inmates are left "in the hole because there's nowhere else safe to put them," Ramirez alleged. "Some inmates who speak up are being subjected to discipline, "Ramirez said.

"Real Housewives of Orange County'' former cast member Lauri Peterson's son, inmate Josh Waring, told Patch through a spokesperson that he is also participating in the hunger strike protest.

"Josh is hoping for justice for constitutional rights being violated, not just his, but for everyone involved," Shelby Slezak told Patch on Waring's behalf. Waring, as with all of the inmates involved, are unable to receive visitors during this time.

The sheriff's department issued a statement claiming that hunger strikes are "uncommon, but are nothing new."

The sheriff's statement claims that hunger strikes are often ploys to "manipulate jail procedures, participate in jail politics or for other nefarious purposes. We believe the purpose of the planned inmate hunger strike is an attempt to manipulate known gang member and convicted murderer Johnny Martinez's housing location, a move that could grant him greater access to other inmates and to further his attempt to advance control within the Orange County Jail."

The sheriff's department criticized the ACLU for joining forces with the protest.
"The fact that the ACLU would knowingly support a hunger strike led by such a dangerous individual is extremely troubling," the statement read.

Sheriff's officials disputed claims that conditions in the jails are poor.

"Claims of inhumane treatment at Orange County jails are patently inaccurate," the statement read.

A leading protester was Dolores Canales, co-founder of California Families Against Solitary Confinement and mother of convicted murderer Johnny Martinez.

Martinez was convicted of murder in a 1994 Orange County case, and was indicted this year on charges of a Mexican Mafia-connected murder of a Placentia man Jan. 19, 2017. He also is charged in connection with an attempted murder in Placentia in August of last year.

Dorsey Nunn, the executive director of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, said he joined the protest when he heard that Canales was not being allowed to see Martinez.

"I can remember being in solitary confinement in 1972," Nunn said, adding that when he was released from prison in 1981 he made it his life's work to "resist the oppression of the state."

"We've been fighting this issue of solitary confinement for a long time," Nunn said. "If Dolores can't get a visit who will be next?"

City News Service contributed to this report.

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