Someone Is In Jail

Hunger Strike Puts Focus On Calif. Prison Conditions

A hunger strike for three weeks by prisoners in California also highlighted perceived problems with the system of large state prison. The protest was mainly driven by the demand to end long-term isolation. And while the prison authorities showed some willingness to compromise, advocates of prison reform say that there are much wider issues to address - many of them related to how the belt system permeates prisons.

(Note: Officials with the Department of the state of corrections and rehabilitation of inmates said they had started eating again after some of their demands were met. Advocates for prisoners say they can't confirm that the strike has actually ended.)

Cruz Gallegos' brother was convicted of murder 26 years ago. Right now he's in California's Pelican Bay State Prison, near the Oregon border. Gallegos says he's been in solitary confinement for 20 years.

"They are supposed to rehabilitate him; that's not rehabilitation, it's not, it's inhumane, it's cruel," Gallegos says. "It's a punishment. He's already in prison; this is a prison within a prison."

Gallegos' brother is being held in a Secure Housing Unit. Prisoners are kept isolated in small cells 22-and-a-half hours a day and aren't allowed phone calls or visits. Officials say the SHU is for the most violent criminals and identified prison gang members.

For weeks, family members and prisoner rights advocates have been holding rallies in support of the hunger strikers.

Dolores Canales was at one earlier this week in downtown Los Angeles. Canales' son John, who is in jail for murder, has been in Pelican Bay's SHU for 10 years.

"He has not had any human contact whatsoever, he has not had a phone call," Canales says.

Strike Involved Thousands

Hundreds of prisoners started refusing to eat on July 1. At its peak, the protest spread to more than a third of the state's facilities, with up to 6,600 prisoners participating.

Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the state prisons, says officials are willing to meet some demands. Inmates will now get wool hats in cold weather, wall calendars and some educational opportunities. And Thornton says officials will review gang management and isolation policies. She says under current policy, someone is only put in the isolation unit after careful review.

"An investigator has to take all the information and it has to be from multiple sources," Thornton says. "You can't just look at one tattoo and say, 'Oh, that person is a gang member.

How to *Decide When to Bail Someone Out of Jail*

If you have a family member, friend or spouse who has been booked in jail for whatever reason there is most likely the option to bail them out of jail.

Bail is an amount of money that is set for each type of crime. Bail could be in the amount of hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars but there are some crimes that carry “No Bail” which means they cannot bail out of jail.

You can bail someone out of jail by paying the full amount of bail or by contacting a bail bondsman who will require you to pay 10% of the full bail as his fee and then the bondsman will put up 90% of the rest of the money.

But how do you decide whether you should bail someone out of jail or not?

Consider these tips before spending your hard earned money or putting any of your personal property up as collateral to get someone out of jail:

* First of all, most of the time when a person gets arrested they are only held in holding cells either at a Police Station or at the County Jail.

The person could spend one day or many days in the jail/holding facility depending on the crime that was committed until they can be brought before a Judge to answer for their charges.

The reason why you might want to think about bailing someone out of jail and coming up with a lot of cash and collateral is because the person being held most likely will go to court within a day or so and could possibly get out so, it may be a good idea to just let them tough it out and stay in jail for half a day or so.

* You may want the person to sit in jail for a day or two because you might want that person to think about what they did or you may be too angry about them getting arrested in the first place and getting that person out of jail may create problems for you. Sometimes spending a night in jail is a good lesson learned.

Once the person goes to court the Judge could lower the bail making it easier for you to bail the person out. The person could be released on his own promise to return to court at a specific date. In any case, you may be saving yourself some money.

* You can bail someone out of jail with the ‘full’ amount of the bail money and the person being held will be able to get out of jail.

A court date will be set for a later time and the person will have to appear on that date to face a judge.

After the court case is settled you will either get the entire amount of bail money reimbursed back to you or you may only get some of your bail money back less any fines, court fees and restitution fees.

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