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UTAH STATE PRISON — Six days after 42 inmates initiated a hunger strike at the Utah State Prison, all of them are accepting meals again.
Each of previously striking inmate accepted lunch at noon, said Utah Department of Corrections spokeswoman Brooke Adams.
Only 11 inmates were still carrying on with their hunger strike as of breakfast Wednesday, and just two held out before accepting lunches Thursday, she said.
The participating inmates, all of them gang members, were protesting for the relocation of gang leaders within the maximum security area of the prison, less time spent in isolation, and more access to prison programs offered to other inmates.
The Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union supported the prisoners' strike, saying conditions in the prison were unacceptable. Adams called the strike an unacceptable "disruption" intended to intimidate prison staff.
The striking inmates were stripped of various privileges beginning Monday, including restricted access to television and curtailed commissary spending allowances. Inmates were monitored by medical staff during their hunger strike, although many refused checkups, according to Adams.
Related:
Some inmates lose privileges as prison hunger strike reaches 5th day
Forty-two inmates participating in a hunger strike at the Utah State Prison saw some of their privileges taken away Tuesday in a show of discipline by prison staff."We are grateful for the professional manner in which our officers and medical staff responded to this challenging situation," she said in a prepared statement Thursday.
Adams said prison officials considered changes to their housing policies, with a goal of making them less restrictive, long before inmates began their hunger strike.
"Most of the inmates' demands focused on issues the department has been working on for months — which (the Department of Corrections) had communicated to the inmates as well as several advocacy groups prior to the hunger strike," she said. "That work will continue, with the goal of implementing changes in restrictive housing operations as soon as possible while upholding the safety and security of the institution."
