1221 Oak Street
Oakland, CA 94612
USA
On February 13, 2014, members of the Justice 4 Alan Blueford Coalition were protesting at the State Building in Oakland. Anne Weills was there as a legal observer from the National Lawyers’ Guild. The protesters and Attorney Weills were arrested, driven to Santa Rita and placed in the custody of the Sheriff.
The sheriffs’ deputies demanded that the women take off their shirts in front of male deputies and other male prisoners. When Attorney Weills refused, considering the request to be sexual harassment, she was thrown into a solitary closet, denied access to a toilet. Then she and the other plaintiffs were then placed in severely overcrowded cells, which were filthy with feces, blood, urine, garbage and rotting food on the floors and walls. Women who were bleeding were denied feminine hygiene supplies.
They will be at the Board of Supervisors meeting to demand that the Board end sexual harassment and improve conditions at Santa Rita Jail.
At the press conference the four plaintiffs will describe their experiences.