Salinas, California – In what has become the largest lockdown of California’s prison system since the pandemic, nearly two dozen state facilities have cut off incarcerated people from the outside world — and triggered a growing hunger strike in protest.
On June 12, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) imposed sweeping restrictions on roughly 34,000 incarcerated individuals. The move, prompted by what the department describes as “an uptick in violence, overdoses and contraband,” has suspended in-person visits, rehabilitation programming, and all electronic communications. Most incarcerated people are now confined almost entirely to their cells or dorms, with no clear timeline for when the restrictions will be lifted.
What began as a policy decision has escalated into a moral flashpoint. Advocates and legal scholars say the restrictions amount to mass solitary confinement in all but name — a practice widely condemned for its long-term psychological effects…