See full news story by Lisa Fernandez Published May 24, 2022 Oakland KTVU Fox 2
The Interfaith Coalition for Justice in our Jails and our partner FASMI (Families Advocating for the Seriously Mentally) held a vigil and rally at the Board of Supervisors on May 24th to protest the numbers of deaths in Alameda County Jail and the failure of the Sheriff to safeguard people while incarcerated.
The rally and vigil was a tremendous success! Over a dozen religious leaders representing diverse faiths came together to speak out and to read the names of all of those that have died in Santa Rita Jail since 2014. Speakers also included family members of the deceased and their attorneys who shared their grief, sorrow, and anger at the continual deaths in our county jail.
Black and Brown people account for three-quarters of all jail deaths! We will not allow the deaths of anyone in Santa Rita Jail to remain invisible. We memorialized the individuals by reading the names of the 63 people known to event organizers to have died since 2014. A letter signed by 25 clergy that included our 10 demands was delivered to members of the Board of Supervisors before the rally. (see below)
We will continue to press the demands that family members be notified within 24 hours of the death of a loved one; that the Sheriff disclose deaths that take place after a transfer if the incident began in the jail; and that the family be notified when their loved one is in the medical ward of the jail or hospitalized outside of the jail. We will continue to raise these demands and others with the Board of Supervisors and with Yesenia Sanchez who will be the new sheriff for Alameda County beginning January 2023.
Rev. Derron Jenkins closed out the demonstration with a powerful exhortation to the crowd: “The Board of Supervisors put out a statement this morning say that they are going be working on this. I want them to know that they are 63 deaths too late! You should have been working on this since the first death in 2014. Maurice Monk was sitting in jail because he didn’t have a mask on and argued with a bus driver and now he’s dead. It’s got to stop! We don’t just need the families and the clergy -we need all of us to make these demands real.”
ICJJ is a project of Faith In Action East Bay. Endorsers of the rally included Legal Service for Prisoners with Children / All Of Us Or None, NAMI East Bay and Alameda chapters, East Bay Supportive Housing Collaborative, and the Bay Area Faith Leaders of the California Poor People’s Campaign.
If you want to know more about the campaign to stop the deaths in our county jail, please connect on the Contact Us page on the ICJJ website
Or email: Micky Duxbury: mickydux612@gmail.com
Watch the livestream recording of the event.
Demands to the Board of Supervisors
May 24, 2022
To the Alameda County Board of Supervisors:
The Interfaith Coalition for Justice in our Jails, a project of Faith In Action East Bay, and our partners FASMI (Families Advocating for the Seriously Mentally Ill) along with our endorsers: Legal Service for Prisoners with Children, NAMI East Bay, East Bay Supportive Housing Cooperative, and the Bay Area Faith Leaders of the California Poor People’s Campaign all demand your attention to the numbers of deaths in Alameda County Jail and the failure of the Sheriff to safeguard people while incarcerated.
Black and Brown people account for three-quarters of all jail deaths. We will not allow their deaths to remain invisible. We will memorialize those that have died and lift up their names and the following demands at a demonstration outside 1221 Oak St. on May 24th. We plan to gather at 11:00 with speakers beginning at 11:30.
Following are the demands of the demonstration.
We demand:
1. An independent investigation into the death of Leonard Brown and everyone who has died in the jail over the last two years.
2. That family members be informed within 24 hours of the deaths of their loved ones, and the public is notified immediately thereafter.
3. That the Sheriff publicly discloses deaths that took place after a transfer or in a hospital if the incident or condition began in the jail.
4. That Alameda County establishes an independent coroner separate from the Sheriff’s office.
5. That the family of a detainee be notified when their loved one is in the medical ward of the jail or hospitalized outside the jail.
6. That every person booked into the jail is assessed at intake by a clinician for suicidal ideation, drug or alcohol addiction, and other medical conditions.
7. That the Board of Supervisors implements Sheriff oversight.
8. That the number of people with serious mental illness (SMI) in Santa Rita Jail be reduced to ZERO by 2026.
9. That the County budget prioritizes upstream solutions and adequately funds both hospitalization and treatment in the community.
10. That the Board of Supervisors creates an independent ombudsperson for detainees and family members of the incarcerated.
We expect to receive a response to these reasonable demands. We trust that all of the Board of Supervisors also wants to stop the dying at our county jail.
Rev. Talitha Amadea Aho: Associate Pastor, Montclair Presbyterian Church
Re. Molly Baskette: Senior Pastor, First Congregational Church of Berkeley
Rev. Dr. Todd Benson: Pastor, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Oakland
Rev Dr. Maria Cristina Vlassidis Burgoa: Starr King UU Church, Hayward
Rev. Kelly Cowell: Associate Pastor, First Congregational Church of Berkeley
Rev. George C.L. Cummings, Ph.D Senior Minister, Imani Community Church
Rev. Ben Daniel: Pastor, Montclair Presbyterian Church, Oakland
Rev. Jacqueline Duhart: Director of Spiritual Care, Starr King School for the Ministry
Rev. Mary Foran: Affiliated Community Minister, First Unitarian Church of Oakland
Rev. Dorisalene Hughes: St. Paul AME Church, Berkeley
Rev. Derron Jenkins: ICJJ, FIAEB, Coalition for Police Accountability
Mary Lim Lampe: Executive Director, Genesis Bay Area
Rabbi Chai Levy: Congregation Netivot Shalom, Berkeley
The Rev. Andrew Lobban: Rector, St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church of Livermore
Saabir Lockett: Director, Faith Alliance for a Moral Economy (FAME)
Rev. Laurie Manning: Pastor, Skyline Community Church, Oakland
Jeffrey Melcher, M. Div: Director of Religious Education, First Unitarian Church of Oakland
Rev. Barbara F. Meyers, Affiliated Community Minister, Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Fremont
Rabbi Dev Noily: Senior Rabbi, Kehilla Community Synagogue, Piedmont
Rev. Millie Phillips: Faith Alliance for a Moral Economy
Rev. Theresa Soto: Senior Minister, First Unitarian Church of Oakland
Rabbi Rebekah Stern: Congregation Beth El, Berkeley
Rev. Dr. Allison J. Tanner, Pastor of Public Witness, Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, Oakland
Nichola Torbett: Seminary of the Street
Rev. Michael Wallace: Pastor, Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Oakland
Rev. B. K. Woodson: Director of Clergy Development, Faith In Action East Bay (FIAEB)